IN THE days following the first glut of defectors resigning from the Parliamentary Labour Party, one thing has now become abundantly clear — this is now likely to become a war of attrition.  

Unable to muster the big beasts that the SDP did — all of the original gang of four had served in either Harold Wilson or James Callaghan’s governments — and taking their cues from the Thick of It playbook, this group of saboteurs will slowly drip feed their resignations one by one, stringing out the process as long as possible in an attempt to chip away at the energy, enthusiasm and excitement that has unified the Corbyn movement.  

The Labour Party is no longer a neoliberal party. It is no longer a slave to mass privatisation, rampant austerity and imperialist foreign policy. It is now a mass movement, and this is not just an attack on Jeremy Corbyn and his socialist agenda, but an attack on the entire labour movement, the members and activists who give up their free time and work tirelessly night and day so that when the time comes, we elect the most progressive and transformative government in the history of British politics. 

Unlike the SDP, which at least had some sort of policy agenda, this group — which now boasts three Tories within its ranks — is bereft of any ideas or inspiration on how to tackle the cataclysmic conditions created by their own devotion to the neoliberal dogma that has dominated our economic, social and political arenas over the last four decades.  

Let us be frank, for many of these MPs the writing was already on the wall, and the only thing that truly unites them is the desire to cause as much damage as possible before they are consigned to the dustbin of history.  

Unable to shed their fanatical loyalty to an economic project that has failed, they have now taken the decision to dedicate their lives to undermining the first real chance in generations that we have to redress the balance of power from the few to the many. 

To do this at a time when there is so much at stake — with the turbulence and fallout of Brexit only just about to begin — the desperate need for a green new deal to tackle impending and catastrophic climate change and the shame of rising inequality under Tory rule burdening ordinary people with poverty, while offering no actual alternatives is a level of disgraceful treachery of the highest order. Only one word comes to mind when describing these apparatchiks of the neoliberal Establishment — scabs. 

The arrogance that has led the hateful eight to portray themselves as the saviours of tepid social democracy at a time when centrist consensus is collapsing all over Europe — the yellow vests movement overwhelming evidence of this — is the same arrogance that led them to believe they could topple Corbyn despite him having the support of the mass membership in 2016.  

No member of Parliament epitomises this arrogance more than Chris Leslie. Despite standing on the Labour manifesto in 2017, and this returning him a majority which had increased by around 10,000 votes, Leslie’s constant undermining of the leadership and the party had left the now aptly named spokesperson for Which? magazine’s list of friends desperately thin.  

He had suffered a vote of no confidence from his constituency party and an open letter which was signed by several members including the leader of Nottingham City Council Jon Collins — who is by no means a dyed-in-the-wool socialist — calling upon him to consider his position after his appalling behaviour. 

It was almost certain Leslie would have faced a trigger ballot after the changes to the rules regarding reselection of sitting MPs at last year’s Labour Conference — and lost. 

Far from being a hard-left stitch-up as so often portrayed, this level of accountability to party members, who after all are members of the public, is something that Leslie and his other cohorts simply could not bring themselves to face.  

Stacey McMullen, a musician and constituent of Leslie’s in Nottingham East has expressed the dissatisfaction that so many ordinary voters felt. 

“I voted for a Labour MP and a Labour manifesto, the one that saw Chris increase his majority in 2017. Chris’s name however mattered little when I ticked it on the ballot paper. Indeed, I ticked it reluctantly with the greater advancement of the Labour Party at the forefront of my decision. 

“He is now no longer a Labour MP and he no longer stands by the manifesto he was elected on. Chris owes Nottingham East the decency to call a by-election and test whether his position has any support. 

“This would demonstrate, at least, his commitment to democracy as well as a trust of local people to make their own choices. Not doing so brings into disrepute his own credibility. This is the action of a career politician protecting his salary before being asked to stand aside by constituents who have long desired a different MP but have tolerated him out of circumstance.”

Only time will tell what lasting impact this will have on the success of the Corbyn project. Despite the chaotic and shambolic nature of the Independent Group’s launch — Angela Smith’s quite frankly racist “funny tinge” comments coming just hours after leaving the Labour Party accusing it of institutional racism — we must not underestimate the financial clout and sympathy from the mainstream media that the new cohort will command.  

No longer restrained by accountability to the Labour Party and its values, they will now be able to freely express their vitriol towards the Corbyn movement at the behest of capital — aided and abetted by a sympathetic platform granted by the British press. 

However, despite the fact that the splitters have almost word for word, bar the accusations of institutional anti-semitism, copied and regurgitated the narratives from the nascent days of Tory enablers the SDP, there is a stark contrast between now and then.  

When the Gang of Four split (neo)liberalism was a rising force, now it is a failed economic project. Brexit has proven that the popular consensus has rejected it.  

Directionless and irrelevant, the so-called charisma of Chuka Umunna that they sought to rely on has proven to be shallow and lacking substance. It has failed them already. 

It is easy to respond with nothing but vitriol, and the left must be careful not to fall into traps such as buying into dangerous tropes regarding anti-semitism.  

Labour MP Ruth George accused the defectors of receiving “support from the state of Israel” which she was later made to apologise for, justifying their narrative and giving them the moral high ground. 

While it is evidently clear that the Israeli state does in fact assert its foreign policy interests through often secretive means, it is important we do not push narratives that are conspiratorial and damaging. In critiquing Israel we must be careful to take an evidence-based approach. 

On the morning of the schism Labour councillors in Derby were in their communities from 7.30am helping them remove rubbish. Over the course of this week activists have been knocking on doors, having those vital conversations in playgrounds and workplaces. 

Every day socialists from all walks of life stand up to fight the burning injustices that plague our society armed not just with the strength of our argument, but with the argument of our strength.  

The Labour Party membership is the backbone of the party — and the real heroes of our movement. These heroes stand in solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn — a concept and feeling that the valueless and ideologically moribund malcontents cannot fathom.  

This is a call to arms for our movement. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.