On the splintering seven; also,my tribute to Paul Flynn

The breaking news of the seven Labour MPs who left the Labour Party earlier to form a new "Independent Group" should come as no surprise, given their voting records.

The seven, with respective constituencies in brackets, are Luciana Berger (Liverpool Wavertree), Ann Coffey (Stockport), Mike Gapes (Ilford South), Chris Leslie (Nottingham East since 2010, Shipley 1997-2005), Gavin Shuker (Luton South), Angela Smith (Penistone & Stocksbridge), and Chuka Umunna (Streatham). All three of the seven who were in Parliament during the Blair years consistently voted for British involvement in the Iraq War in the sessions they attended, and five voted to support British air strikes in Syria in 2013. It is not really about the European issue-it is about reestablishment of Blairite, elitist, establishment wing. And ironically for such pro-Europeanism, the Mirror reported that their office is above a branch of Wetherspoons, a pub chain notable for its support of Brexit: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/independent-groups-office-revealed-above-14016696?fbclid=IwAR2z4ye135BEukXCh1iYPRzpldQ2Tn65s-1RpNQ35kzNvZMXV0OUtb3SgLA

The splintering seven are just opportunists, first and foremost.

On a sadder note, a genuinely principled and independent minded MP, Paul Flynn, died today after a long illness. In his 31 years and 8 months as MP for Newport West; he supported republicanism and was one of the few MPs in the 1990s to call for the decriminalisation of cannabis. He also authored "How to be an MP" in 2010, a book I rather enjoyed personally. Regardless of the fact he was a Labour MP, Paul Flynn was an independent-minded MP and he will be missed by many on all sides.

In memory of Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West from 1987 to 2019, born 9 February 1935, who departed this life on 17 February 2019, aged 84 years.





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