Paul Mason was on the Daily Politics (BBC2 12 noon) today.
He said, “I have never been to a Momentum meeting”. Then went on to have a lot to say about it. Specifically, “If Jill Mountford [National Committee member of Momentum] is not allowed into the Labour Party and I cannot see her being… and remains basically an expelled member of the Party and remains in Momentum I will not remain in Momentum.”
What's he saying? Does Paul Mason think all expelled members of Labour should not be allowed in Momentum, (of which there are thousands as far as we know). Does he think Labour's Compliance Unit is doing a bang-up job? Or does he think just Workers' Liberty members and supporters who have been expelled from Labour should be excluded from Momentum?
Or maybe he just doesn't like the far left any more. Or Trotskyists. Agreeing with Tom Watson is his privilege of course. As part of the media establishment, he's got plenty of that. It's a great shame he sees fit to use that privilege to come very close to calling for the permanent exclusion of a socialist from the Labour Party on national television.
Postscript: Let's hope that Paul Mason and others will be convinced that the dispute in Momentum has been blown out of proportion, largely a product of the pressure the left has been under in recent months. Let's hope this was an extempore outburst.
• For our more general take on the debate and arguments in Momentum, see here and here.
