Margaret Hodge lawyers up

Stalinist also sprang to my mind when I read Labour's letter. And denunciation. It's like the Cultural Revolution in the LP at the moment. I am very frightened of them actually getting into power. The far left frightens me as much as the far right.

I don't really care about MH tbh - but I do care about anti-semitism and misogyny and I do care that the opposition party has such a problem with it. There really is something about "You insulted our Great Leader" here, isn't there?

Oh good the Labour Party have returned to the days of witch hunts. Who the fuck are women supposed to vote for in this political landscape?

The Labour Party who only tolerate women who do what they're told? The Tories who are purposefully hurting low income women and mothers through ideologically driven cuts? The Lib Dems who want to promote prostitution as a career choice in school and lower the age to appear in porn to 16? Or perhaps the Greens who have decided we're non-men?

Gee what a choice! Unless one of these parties stop being total misogynistic cockwombles soon it's going to have to be a protest vote. Is the Monster Raving Loonies still going?

Say what you want about the Labour Party but they absolutely excel when it comes to cock-ups. So entertaining.

I agree.

They have no self awareness do they? The party are under intense scutiny for being “anti semite”, May complaints have been made and nothing much done. Yet they decide to take action 12 hours after MH is supposed to have said something.

Don’t they see how this makes them look?!

This is what happens when you don’t have a Malcom Tucker

I note that, once again, “Mr Corbyn’s door is always open”. Remind me where we’ve heard that one before? It never is, of course, because he’s only too happy to put his Momentum heavies onto Labour women, and spare himself the trouble of dealing with dissenters and wrong-thinkers.

I thought the form of the letter was very telling. "We're calling you for a disciplinary hearing for something unspecified which we've already made our minds up about, and if you do that thing again (whatever it is) we'll really get you."

It reminds me of the Jennifer James interview transcripts as well - another occasion where the men in charge had clearly already made their minds up and were interested only in exacting retribution on the woman who dares to step out of line.

Thanks. Yes, John Mann. (I have the most terrible memory for names. I'd put it down to middle age, but in fact I've always been terrible with names.)

ICJump

No but the transcript is available. gendertrender.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/actual-transcript-official-labour-party-interrogation-of-a-feminist-member/

I've had dealings with DH previously however, so feel able to speculate how it went.

Fermats

The MP who said his wife and daughter had been threatened with rape after he spoke out against antisemitism was John Mann.

@pastabest do you have any footage of the Dan Hodges/Venice Allen interview.

'The letter from the Labour Party is Stalinist in tone.'

Yes, spot on

The letter from the Labour Party is Stalinist in tone.

It absolutely is.

Labour has become the party of denunciation. It's taken the usual factionalism to a whole new level.

Even despicable people can be right on occasion. And even despicable people deserve a proper disciplinary investigation following due process. And no despicable people deserve to be subjected to antisemitic abuse

I despise Margaret Hodge. The manner in which she has been reinvented is staggering. Google 'Margaret Hodge childrens homes Islington' to see what she is really like. Her lack of action has been directly responsible for so much pain and suffering.

Yeah, I'll be filing the Mishcon de Reya letter.

I'm not a fan of Margaret Hodge but compared to how much I'm not a fan of Corbyn I have to support her.

The letter from the Labour Party is Stalinist in tone. The response from Mishcon de Reya is brilliant (and handily could be adapted for use by anyone else getting a similar letter)

Margaret Hodge - Is she the one that ran the Rottweiler sub-committee ???

She chaired the Public Accounts Committee for a while, which is one of the most powerful Parliamentary committees, with wide ranging powers regarding who they can call to give evidence

That letter though.... Labour want to run the country and they can't even run a disciplinary hearing

Margaret Hodge - Is she the one that ran the Rottweiler sub-committee ???

(as opposed to Margaret Becket that goes on caravan holidays?? I get the two mixed up when they talk about them on the radio)

Yes, I agree with that. Even though I view her as tainted, if she is doing a proper public service in Parliament or in the Labour Party, that can be supported quite apart from her record.

I just think people should have a warts and all view of Hodge.

I am a fan of Margaret Hodge - nope she is not perfect but she is a strong woman within Labour who gets things done - and there aren't many of those!

Cheering her on... and wow, what an own goal Labour.... I suspect they did not imagine she would so publicly get Mishcon de Reya onto the scene..... Good on her

I have very mixed feelings about Hodge. As others have said, her record of obstructing the child abuse enquiry in Islington was shocking. But she's one hell of a tough politician, and some of the stuff she's done in Parliamentary committees has been first rate.

But whatever the pros and cons, she is right on this one.

I wonder if Dan Hogan will be interviewing interrogating her?

I could almost hear his knees knocking when he interviewed interrogated Venice Allen. DH v MH I would love to watch

While I hope Margaret Hodge gives the Labour Party a kicking over this, I am not a fan of hers. Her record of obstructing investigations into child sexual abuse while leading Islington Council is bad:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hodge#Islington_Council

Firmat, Assassinated, thanks.
And so it came to pass, Jeremy Corbyn has been exactly the liafuckingbility I predicted he would.

The astonishing bit is when the Labour Party apparatchik threatens MHodge, saying that if she repeats the (unspecified) behaviour she will face 'further disciplinary action'.

In other words, there is no investigation. The so-called investigation is 'disciplinary action' in itself, and there is a presumption of guilt. So much for fairness, eh?

I loved her Twitter rant (and don't give a fuck if she swore at him), the speed of the letter just showed that it was a knee jerk reaction to a mere woman confronting Corbyn, there is no way a man would have gotten a letter this quickly. I just wish there was a competent politician in the Labour party capable of taking advantage of the situation.

Nobody has been building support for a new candidate behind the scenes, nobody can agree anything and until they start playing politics (their job) Corbyn will remain leader.

This terrifies me, partly because you cannot lead a party if half of them worship you and the other half are trying (incompetently) to assassinate you. Like him or hate him, he cannot even lead the Labour party, how can he lead parliment?

But mostly because the party is fast becoming (returning to) a misogynistic shit show where women are ignored, slapped down and just expected to pick up the shit work and thank the men for the opportunity