Watson and Dugher: Can't they fight the Tories instead?
Watson and Dugher. Perhaps its just me but doesn't that sound like a cheap cigarette brand? Or even a back-street solicitor firm that specialise in defending the indefensible?
I have to admit, I voted for Tom Watson to be the Deputy Leader of The Labour Party. I, like thousands of others already knew that Jeremy Corbyn would secure his first overwhelming mandate back in September 2015, it was a case of who would work best with Corbyn. Angela Eagle was never an option and Blairite Caroline Flint, undoubtedly a solid campaigning MP, was offering more of what torpedoed Labour towards their biggest electoral defeat in a generation. So it was Tom Watson. He can't be that bad, he took it to Rupert Murdoch, what could possibly go wrong?
And we come to now. A hugely damaging and ill-timed coup failed to remove Jeremy Corbyn and likely ended any realistic chance of Owen Smith ever becoming remembered for anything more than a neoliberal former Pfizer pill-pusher that got found out. They tried attacking the man however they could, they tried smearing his supporters as Trotskyite arm-twisters and they even suspended his supporters for liking American rock bands as part of what became known as Labour Purge 2. But no matter what they threw at Corbyn and his passionate supporters, they threw it back, with interest. The PLP underestimated Corbyn's resolve.
There is a name that pops up more often than not, both publicly and privately, and that's Tom Watson. Mr Watson's latest ready-to-fail plot begins with the appointment of fellow anti-Corbyn Labour MP Michael Dugher as head of something or another. Mr Dugher has been given the task of shutting down 'fake news' sites, which Watson himself described as a "threat to democracy" and urged a crackdown on these sites that "peddle untruths".
In plain English, Tom Watson wants to censor his critics and he's organised his own witch-hunt to go about it.
Tom Watson attending a Labour First gathering. |
So, back to Tom and Michael. Its best to get these things out in the open, before we all get swallowed up by the Tories Snoopers Charter or worse still, caught up in Watson's fake news circus. I am under the impression that they are both public servants, they answer to their constituents and the wider electorate. Their generous salaries are covered by the taxpayer as are the day-to-day costs and expenses involved in being a representative of the people. Maybe I have it wrong? I'm also assuming both Tom and Michael are keen advocates of REAL NEWS.
I decided to ask Tom a question about his excessive expense claims, albeit from a few years back.
I also asked Michael why he decided to use public money to give his wife a massive pay rise back in 2013, just as austerity was taking hold of communities up and down the land. IPSA won't release exact figures, just pay bands. Michael said wife Joanna's wages had risen from up to £19,999 to as much as £34,999 as part of a staffing overhaul. The position is part time.
First we have Mr Watson's rapid but rather blunt reply:
Followed by this well thought out response from Mr Dugher:
I thought they liked real news? Was it something I said? My little homemade meme was all sourced from information widely available to the public so its not like I'm revealing anything people aren't already aware of. Both of them had the opportunity to put the record straight, Tom on more than one occasion.
I have asked over 200 Tory MP's about their reasons for voting to cut ESA back in March 2016. They have all been asked more than once and as a result around 80 of them have blocked me. It seems Watson and Dugher, as well as Tristram Hunt and Ian Austin, have all gone for the same method of communication as the 80 Tory members. Perhaps its not just political values that they share.
If Mr Watson or Mr Dugher fancy a chat I'm not hard to find.
@Rachael_Swindon
Thanks Rachael. I shall follow your blog with interest. Maureen
ReplyDeleteI am a new Labour party member, although I have voted Labour for the past thirty-six years
ReplyDeleteI have the misfortune of having Michael Dugher as my Labour MP, and I am not happy with some of his voting nor his rabidly anti-Corbyn stance.
Also some of his tweets have been quite skillfully worded attacks on Jeremy Corbyn, that have left me really angry with him.
The question is, what can I do?.
Go to his surgery and tell him, I don't mean threaten or any other form of abuse. But remind him he will be needing your vote in any reselection after the boundary changes are confirmed, In fact he needs your vote full stop.
DeleteThere should be a deputy leadership contest. Watson is a Tory.
ReplyDeleteHe is evil. The right wing and Ian McNicholl should be expelled.
DeleteGreat to see the blog Rachael.I will be following it.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start going to branch meetings to gauge the feelings of the other members,
ReplyDeleteIt should be informative.
Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteNice to see a new face on the block, looking forward to more of this. Anyone blocked by so many tories(on both sides of the house too)must be worth following
ReplyDeleteGreat to see that you've now started a blog - I've been enjoying & sharing your tweets for some time!
ReplyDeleteThanks all for your kind words x
ReplyDeleteGreat blog.
ReplyDeleteTom Watson blocked me on his Twitter account when I was have an interaction with him, very respectfully. All I said was we will have to agree to disagree. That was it end of story.
He is duplicitous and as someone put it a serial usurper. I cannot stand the man. His latest stupid action re false news is a total joke. He and Dugher pump out false news all the time.
What a crazy world we live in.
Well said, Rachael! Sharing the 'real news' is vital in a real democracy. I see the Labour right's latest attack on free speech as just another part of controlling the narrative ... along with seeking to breach the unions, CLPs and Momentum and other twists in the 'Anaconda's' tail. Then there's the promise of the imminent return of that old 'centrist', Blair ...
ReplyDeleteNice to see you've started blogging Rachel, how can I subscribe via email?
ReplyDeleteNice to see you've started blogging Rachel, how can I subscribe via email?
ReplyDeleteLove your style Rachel. Keep up the good work. (Brad, editor @ The Dangerous Globe)
ReplyDelete