Crisis-Riven Momentum Shifts to National Populism: “This our Brexit”, “Taking back control is not the preserve of the right.”

Momentum to Narrative Farage and Brexit Back Under Control. 

Momentum is undergoing a major crisis, amidst factional fighting and personal antagonisms.

This git so bad earlier this month that it appeared in the mainstream media  (How Momentum entered the crisis zone . Momentum was the engine of Jeremy Corbyn’s victory. Now a civil war is tearing it apart. New Statesman)

 Some of the exchanges are far worse than have been made public to a wider audience.

The latest has been an interminable dispute about its national structures.

It began with this, “MxV, an innovative digital democracy platform to enable Momentum members to shape the organisation’s purpose, ethics and structures.”

An on-line consultation resulted, we hear, in more suggestions for how the group should be run than a debate on how many angels can dance on the head of pin (see:  Democracy denied: Momentum’s online democracy platform.)

Or, the classic Left Unity conference debate on such issues.

Now Momentum is set to collapse into further in-fighting as the pro-Brexit – that is Lexit –  Populists take the initiative.

We observe that this ‘initiative’ has not been discussed with the Momentum membership at all. 

Corbyn’s Momentum group launches nationwide campaign to ‘Take Back Control’ of Brexit

‘Taking back control is not the preserve of the right.

Momentum has announced it is to host a series of nationwide events and debates to coincide with Government’s triggering of Article 50 in 2017.

Alongside The World Transformed the organisation – set up in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s victory as Labour leader – will launch a series of political and cultural events in local communities across the country.

The events will run under the name ‘Take Back Control’ – the political slogan used by the Leave campaign during the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.

Emma Rees, one of Momentum’s national organisers, told The Independent: “After the success of The World Transformed in Liverpool, ‘Take Back Control’ is a series of exciting events that will bring together leave and remain voters to debate the terms of Brexit, the future of Britain and give a platform to voices too often left out of political conversations.”

Lotte Boumelha, a Take Back Control organiser, *added: “Theresa May claims ‘Brexit means Brexit’. But this empty phrase has been used to hide the fact that the government is in chaos. Many people, both leave and remain voters, have felt dis-empowered since the referendum and shut out of the debate.

“Take Back Control will be about reclaiming the narrative and opening up the negotiations. This is our Brexit. We should get to decide what it means and what it will look like. And while Theresa May has only a majority of 14 MPs – she will have to listen to us.”

…

In March, to coincide with the Government’s anticipated triggering of the exit process from the EU, The World Transformed will work with local Momentum groups, constituency Labour parties, and trade union branches to “bring together leave and remain voters, open up the Brexit negotiations and discuss how we can take back control from economic elites and establishment politicians.

How on earth these meetings are going to ‘take control’ of any negotiations, elites and politicians,  is as clear as mud. 

Anybody, anybody, who talks about “reclaiming the narrative” with Farage on the loose amid the Carnival or Reaction,  is a kenspeckle fool.

What are they going to do: story-tell it all to sleep?

The New Statesman comments,

While The World Transformed is “definitely” part of Momentum, according to Todd, its exact relationship remains under discussion, as does its relationship to the wider Labour party.

To repeat, nobody seems to know how the hare-brained initiative was decided on (certainly not by Momentum membership, or any accountable body, then by whom?), who controls it, and, as for its consequences…..

Anna Chen says,

Jeremy Corbyn’s Momentum betrays the 70% of Labour voters who voted Remain