Response to Times accusations of Labour ‘infiltration’

Responding to the Times’ front page accusing Left Unity members of ‘infiltrating’ the Labour Party, Salman Shaheen of Left Unity said:

“Labour should be thrilled that so many people want to join the party – instead it is stirring up a desperate panic over people who it thinks are too left wing.

“Left Unity is a party with many disaffected former Labour members. It’s no wonder that some people genuinely wanted to have a say in the Labour leadership contest.

“They fully agree with the aims and values of the Labour Party – it’s the Labour leadership who abandoned those values.

“Left Unity has never encouraged its members to sign up. We’re not entryists – that’s ludicrous. The Labour Party needs to realise that the 1980s are over. It is a disgrace that someone in Labour HQ leaked parts of the Labour supporters list to the Murdoch press.

“The surge for Corbyn is a genuine popular movement that the Blairites can’t stop. It’s not about us – they say they found just 18 Left Unity members on the lists. Tens of thousands have signed up to support Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-austerity, true Labour politics.”

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