Labour Exodus EXPLODES As Starmer Faces MASS Resignations!

Right, so Keir Starmer’s resignation woes are getting even worse following the departure of former Scottish Labour MSP Neil Findlay earlier this week, as reported on by this channel and in a show of just how bad things are getting for Team Keith we only actually need look at one council as an example of the scale of collapse, in what is seen broadly as a staunch Labour right heartland, so those leaving not necessarily of the left particularly at all and how the Labour group there is now imploding and all less than year after they were elected to their posts at that. This one council is acting as a signpost for how things are also reportedly falling apart for Labour before we even get to this year’s local elections elsewhere in the country as well, widely expected to be catastrophic for Starmer’s Labour given the mandateless attacks on the elderly, children and the disabled that they have come out with, to fund more defence spending and billions to hand to Ukraine and whilst the resignation of the Labour group leader on this council might have garnered some mainstream media attention, damaging enough in and of itself you might think, his departure is only a fraction of the full story.
Right, so that was the now former Labour group leader, now Independent Councill on Dudley Council, Peter Lowe, a Labour member of 41 years, explaining exactly why not only he has resigned from the Labour group on that council but has resigned entirely from the Labour Party.
Lowe’s departure is not merely a localised event but a symptom of a broader crisis within the Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership and down to Keir Starmer himself. Lowe’s resignation, followed by that of three more Labour councillors; Matt Cook, Peter Drake, and Karl Denning – all quitting the Labour group and party as well, highlights growing discontent within the party, particularly over its stance on disability benefit cuts. This wave of resignations, coupled with the expulsion last month of another Dudley Labour councillor, Steve Edwards, for criticising Starmer, which itself prompted yet another resignation, has left the Labour group in Dudley in disarray. Now this group of six former Labour councillors is preparing to form an Independent group to oppose both the Tory-run council and the diminished Labour group, all in all having severe implications for Keir Starmer’s leadership, and the broader risks facing that and his Labour Party across the country, that they have only brought on themselves and some of which I’ll come onto as well.
Let’s start with the more high profile bit of this story and go from there which is Peter Lowe’s resignation as leader of the Dudley Labour group and his departure from the Labour Party after more than four decades of membership, which has sent shockwaves through the local area and the local Labour Party. Lowe has of course cited the party’s shift away from its core values as the primary reason for his decision. In particular, he expressed deep dissatisfaction with the Labour Party’s support for cuts to disability benefits, widely attacked around the country as inexcusably cruel and is absolutely a betrayal of the party’s commitment to social justice. An excerpt from the Morning Star makes Lowes feeling on this very clear:
‘Announcing the decision, Dudley councillor Pete Lowe wrote: “I always believed I could better serve my community from within the Labour Party.
“I no longer believe that is the case under Keir Starmer’s leadership.
“The national party is not only attacking the most vulnerable in society but silencing voices within the party who dare to speak up.
“First, they came for the pensioners and our children and now they are coming for the sick, vulnerable and disabled.
“I cannot attack the Tories in Dudley for cutting support for the most vulnerable, whilst staying silent when the government does the same.
“The Labour Party has never been perfect but it always offered a voice for working people.
“Unfortunately, I no longer feel this is the case.”’
Lowe’s resignation has been quickly followed by three more Labour councillors, Matt Cook, Peter Drake, and Karl Denning, who echoed Lowe’s concerns about the party’s direction.
Drake, who represents the Coseley ward, accused the government and the national Labour leadership of
‘Attacking the people they are meant to represent…
They're undermining our country, and we cannot defend that. Principles matter.’
Karl Denning went further, having been quoted in the local press:
‘Councillor Denning, who represents Castle and Priory ward, said he expected 'one or two' more councillors to follow suit in the coming days.
He said the anger was with the Labour Government, and not with the group on the council.
"It all stems from the welfare reforms they want to do, we are just not happy," he said.
"We are not happy with the language they are using, we are not happy they are going to cut the disability benefits before they cut anything else. We just decided it wasn't the party we joined.’
All of this blowing up this week however, isn’t even the start of the crisis in Dudley Labour, it’s just deepened now. Last month the local party was on the receiving end of Starmer’s petulance through the expulsion of Steve Edwards, for publicly criticising Keir Starmer, having made public a letter he had sent Starmer asking him to do more to help ordinary people. Starmer doesn’t care about ordinary people, he never has, but to expel a sitting councillor for daring to ask? Frankly it should have created much more noise than it did. Nevertheless his expulsion, which as heavy-handed and politically motivated as it clearly comes across.
Edwards’ expulsion had a bit of a ripple effect, which led to the resignation of Karen Westwood, another Labour councillor. Her resignation in solidarity with Edwards underscores the feeling among many current and former Labour members who feel that the party under Starmer has become increasingly authoritarian and blatantly intolerant of internal criticism.
All of that however, followed the resignation and defection to the Liberal Democrats last year odf Andrew Tromans and the resignation of the Labour Groups then Deputy leader Jody Foster, who also quit her seat, triggering a by-election Labour then lost to the Tories just months after winning it.
The resignations of Lowe, Cook, Drake, Denning, Edwards, Westwood, Tromans and Foster, eight Labour councillor losses in under a year, have left the Dudley Labour group in absolute tatters. Now, the six most recent former Labour councillors are preparing to form an Independent Group to challenge both the Tory-run council and the Labour Party. This new group aims to provide a voice for those who feel disenfranchised by the current political establishment and to advocate for policies that prioritise social justice and community welfare.
The formation of this Independent group is a significant development in Dudley politics as right wing dominated as it has been between the Tories and Labour, in an area seen as the last bastion of the old school Labour right. It represents a direct challenge to both and it could potentially reshape the local political landscape if these former Labour figures now choose a more progressive path, though that will need to be seen to be believed perhaps given the reputation Labour has in the Midlands for being so right wing.
The crisis in Dudley is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of discontent within the Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership though, it’s alright looking at one council and me saying Labour crisis, that in itself might be considered a bit of a stretch, but its not an isolated incident. Across the country, Labour councillors and members are expressing frustration with the party’s direction, particularly its stance on austerity and welfare cuts. Reports suggest that Starmer faces a potential exodus of councillors and members who feel that the party has abandoned its core values in pursuit of electoral success. Another example would be word coming out of Doncaster, that many of those standing for Labour there in this May’s upcoming City Council elections, a council that has been under Labour control since 2010, will resign the whip upon being elected from the party in protest over social security cuts and cuts to disability benefits.
The cuts to disability benefits, in particular, have been a source of deep moral and political controversy. For many Labour figures, these cuts represent a betrayal of the most vulnerable members of society and a departure from the principles of solidarity and compassion that have traditionally defined their Party. The fact that these cuts have been supported by a Labour government has left many members and supporters feeling disillusioned and betrayed and so we should hardly be surprised when even elected officials in a right wing Labour heartland say enough is enough – complain and they face expulsion. Those in Dudley certainly know that.
The crisis in Dudley and the broader challenges facing the Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership should serve as a call to action for all those who care about social justice and progressive politics. It is not enough to simply lament the state of the Labour Party; Labour is dead if he continues to mislead it and turn it ever more Tory and given the state of those he ensured were selected to Parliament, even that may not be enough and fundamentally more people may reach the point as I have in believing that Labour is now the biggest obstacle to everything it supposedly stands for and was built on and it needs to fall for progressive alternatives to cut through.
It isn’t just at home here in the UK that Starmer may be facing a massive headache though, he might be heading for the dock soon enough if all of the arms sales, intelligence flights and political cover he has given to Israel end up seeing him charged with aiding and abetting in the genocide of Gaza and with a brand new coalition of lawyers having assembled in order to prosecute those who have supported Israel from afar, is Keir Starmer in their sights now? Check out all the details of that story in this video recommendation here as your suggested next watch. Please do also hit like, share and subscribe if you have not already done so, so as to ensure you don’t miss out on all new daily content, whilst also supporting the channel at the same time which is very much appreciated and I will hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.