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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/21/tom-watson-plan-to-remove-me-as-deputy-leader-is-drive-by-shooting
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| Tom Watson: Labour ditches vote on abolishing deputy leader role | Tom Watson: Labour ditches vote on abolishing deputy leader role |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Jeremy Corbyn has attempted to defuse an attempt to oust the deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, after a huge backlash from unions and MPs. | Jeremy Corbyn has attempted to defuse an attempt to oust the deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, after a huge backlash from unions and MPs. |
| The Labour leader proposed reviewing the post of deputy leader after a surprise attempt to abolish the post narrowly failed. | The Labour leader proposed reviewing the post of deputy leader after a surprise attempt to abolish the post narrowly failed. |
| The proposal to abolish Watson’s role had been due to be put to a vote at a meeting of Labour’s ruling national executive committee. | The proposal to abolish Watson’s role had been due to be put to a vote at a meeting of Labour’s ruling national executive committee. |
| The row, which erupted on Friday night, plunged the party into a major crisis as its annual conference began in Brightonon Saturday. MPs, shadow ministers and officials all expressed anger at the move. | The row, which erupted on Friday night, plunged the party into a major crisis as its annual conference began in Brightonon Saturday. MPs, shadow ministers and officials all expressed anger at the move. |
| Tom Watson, who has been Labour’s deputy leader since 2015, has been an MP since 2001. The 52-year-old served as a minister in the Labour government and was appointed the deputy chair of the NEC by Ed Miliband. | |
| Watson stepped in to personally handle complaints in the midst of Labour’s antisemitism crisis. He backed automatic exclusion of members accused of anti-Jewish racism. | |
| Earlier this year, Watson called on centrist MPs to stay and fight within the Labour party, putting an end to rumours he would lead a split of centrist Labour MPs. | |
| In his speech earlier this month, Watson said his party must “unambiguously and unequivocally back remain” in a second referendum, a move that Jeremy Corbyn believes to be the wrong approach. | |
| As well as regularly being in conflict with the Labour leadership, Watson has had a long-running feud with Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, Labour’s biggest donor. The pair, who were once close friends, have clashed over Corbyn’s leadership and Brexit. | |
| Watson said he was in a Chinese restaurant in Manchester when he heard of the motion to scrap his position within the Labour party. He described the move as a “straight sectarian attack on a broad church party”, adding it was “a sort of sleight of hand of constitutional change to do a drive-by shooting of someone you disagree with on the issue of the day.” | |
| A Labour party source said: “Jeremy Corbyn proposed that the motion not go to a vote and instead that there be a review of the position of deputy leader and other positions in support of the leader. | A Labour party source said: “Jeremy Corbyn proposed that the motion not go to a vote and instead that there be a review of the position of deputy leader and other positions in support of the leader. |
| “This will consider how democratic accountability can be strengthened to give members a greater say, expanding the number of elected positions, and how diverse representation can be further improved. The NEC agreed to his proposal.” | “This will consider how democratic accountability can be strengthened to give members a greater say, expanding the number of elected positions, and how diverse representation can be further improved. The NEC agreed to his proposal.” |
| Momentum chief Jon Lansman, who was behind the move to oust Watson, tweeted: “I welcome and fully support Jeremy’s proposal to review Tom Watson’s position. We need to make sure the deputy leader role is properly accountable to the membership while also unifying the party at conference. In my view, this review is absolutely the best way of doing that.” | |
| Watson had earlier described the move to abolish his post as deputy leader of the Labour party as a “drive-by shooting”. | Watson had earlier described the move to abolish his post as deputy leader of the Labour party as a “drive-by shooting”. |
| The vote threatened to plunge the Labour party into a fresh civil war on the eve of its annual conference. | |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Watson said: “I got a text message in a Chinese restaurant in Manchester to say that they were abolishing me.” He added that Corbyn had the power to stop the vote from going ahead. | |
| A 62-year-old Labour veteran who joined the party in 1974 and worked for Labour icon Tony Benn during his deputy leadership campaign in the 1980s. Lansman served as director of operations for Corbyn’s leadership campaign. After Corbyn was elected as the leader of the Labour party in 2015, Lansman founded Momentum, a pro-Corbyn campaign group. | |
| Momentum, often described as a ‘party within a party’, has radically transformed the Labour party over the last four years. Local groups have challenged party orthodoxies and national membership rules, and fought to get their activists selected. | |
| “I don’t want the Labour party to become a faction fight,” Lansman said in a 2016 interview with the Guardian. “What I want is a level playing field. I want the Labour party to be able to have a democratic debate.” But in recent weeks, Lansman, and Momentum, are back in the news for being key figures behind another Labour party civil war. | |
| Lansman was behind the move to scrap Labour’s 40-year-old student wing last week, arguing the group needs reforming and had not paid its affiliation fees. Critics described the move as a cynical attempt to shut down a “moderate” wing of the party. Lansman also tabled a last-minute motion at the NEC on Friday night calling for Watson’s job to be scrapped. The motion was withdrawn after Corbyn intervened. | |
| Lansman, the founder of the pro-Corbyn campaign group Momentum, tabled a last-minute motion at the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) on Friday night calling for Watson’s job to be scrapped. | |
| The chair of the NEC initially ruled Lansman’s motion out of order, but NEC members agreed to return to the issue on Saturday morning. | The chair of the NEC initially ruled Lansman’s motion out of order, but NEC members agreed to return to the issue on Saturday morning. |
| Neither Watson nor Corbyn were present at the meeting. Watson said he was yet to speak to Corbyn. | Neither Watson nor Corbyn were present at the meeting. Watson said he was yet to speak to Corbyn. |
| Watson said: “It’s a straight sectarian attack on a broad church party and it’s moving us into a different kind of institution where pluralism isn’t tolerated, where factional observance has to be adhered to completely and it kind of completely goes against the sort of traditions that the Labour party has had for 100 years.” | Watson said: “It’s a straight sectarian attack on a broad church party and it’s moving us into a different kind of institution where pluralism isn’t tolerated, where factional observance has to be adhered to completely and it kind of completely goes against the sort of traditions that the Labour party has had for 100 years.” |
| Watson believes his position on Brexit is behind the move to oust him. He added: “If we’re serious about changing the political economy in Britain, of giving people the benefits of a transformative Labour government then let’s focus on that this week rather than having what seems like a sort of sleight of hand of constitutional change to do a drive-by shooting of someone you disagree with on the issue of the day.” | Watson believes his position on Brexit is behind the move to oust him. He added: “If we’re serious about changing the political economy in Britain, of giving people the benefits of a transformative Labour government then let’s focus on that this week rather than having what seems like a sort of sleight of hand of constitutional change to do a drive-by shooting of someone you disagree with on the issue of the day.” |
| Labour MPs came to Watson’s defence. The former prime minister Tony Blair said a decision to abolish the post of deputy leader would be “undemocratic, damaging and politically dangerous”. | |
| He added: “To suggest it at this time shows a quite extraordinary level of destructive sectarianism. The Labour party has always contained different views within it and the deputy leader’s position has been one way of accommodating such views. | He added: “To suggest it at this time shows a quite extraordinary level of destructive sectarianism. The Labour party has always contained different views within it and the deputy leader’s position has been one way of accommodating such views. |
| “Getting rid of it would be a signal that such pluralism of views was coming to an end despite being cherished throughout Labour’s history.” | “Getting rid of it would be a signal that such pluralism of views was coming to an end despite being cherished throughout Labour’s history.” |
| The former Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “The move to abolish the deputy leader post without warning or debate is undemocratic, wrong and should not happen. Those who came up with the idea for the eve of Labour conference have taken leave of their senses.” | The former Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “The move to abolish the deputy leader post without warning or debate is undemocratic, wrong and should not happen. Those who came up with the idea for the eve of Labour conference have taken leave of their senses.” |
| The Ilford North MP, Wes Streeting, tweeted that the move to remove the deputy leader was “outrageous, it’s self-destructive and must stop”.Former minister Yvette Cooper tweeted: “This is completely mad and incredibly destructive. Country faces serious challenges and general election could be imminent. UK Labour conference should be about country and about pulling together. Instead we get this.” | |
| The former Cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw said the attempt to “purge” Watson was “totally fucking insane”. | |
| The Tottenham MP David Lammy tweeted: “Tribal infighting in the middle of a Boris Johnson-inspired national emergency makes me want to weep. | |
| “My constituents and millions of others across the country desperately need the Labour party united right now. The Tories, not Tom Watson, are our opponents. Let’s fight them.” | |
| A Momentum source previously told the Guardian: “No one person is more important than beating Boris Johnson, ending austerity and tackling the climate emergency. We just can’t afford to go into an election with a deputy leader set on wrecking Labour’s chances. | |
| “Labour members overwhelmingly want a deputy leadership election, but our outdated rulebook won’t let it happen. You need 20% of Labour MPs to trigger an election, and they just won’t let the members have a fair and open election.” | “Labour members overwhelmingly want a deputy leadership election, but our outdated rulebook won’t let it happen. You need 20% of Labour MPs to trigger an election, and they just won’t let the members have a fair and open election.” |
| The Labour shadow cabinet member Dawn Butler said she was surprised at moves to try to abolish the position of deputy party leader. Referring to moves to remove Watson from the role, Butler told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I think it’s a good position to have an elected deputy leader. | The Labour shadow cabinet member Dawn Butler said she was surprised at moves to try to abolish the position of deputy party leader. Referring to moves to remove Watson from the role, Butler told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I think it’s a good position to have an elected deputy leader. |
| “I was quite surprised at the motion, if that is what you want to ask me … It just came out of the blue for me.” | “I was quite surprised at the motion, if that is what you want to ask me … It just came out of the blue for me.” |
| Butler said she understood the frustration of the members. “I have my frustrations with Tom too. I haven’t seen him at a shadow cabinet meeting for a while.” | Butler said she understood the frustration of the members. “I have my frustrations with Tom too. I haven’t seen him at a shadow cabinet meeting for a while.” |
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