Starmer's war on the left continues as he gags Young Labour.

Keir Starmer has seized control of the Young Labour twitter account, cancelled their conference & stripped their funding. Fresh from his Stalinist assault on 11 of his own MP’s yesterday, today Keir Stalin has seized control of the Young Labour Twitter account. This is a clamp down on an elected, representative section of the Labour party itself, the last bit actually acting like an opposition, the last bit of free speech within the Labour Party gagged arbitrarily by its own leadership. Starmer has cut their funding and scrapped their annual conference as well. Labour, the party of democracy and socialism acting in a way so many of us have come to expect and associate with Starmer’s leadership – undemocratic and authoritarian. Do as you are told, don’t step out of line, vote as you are instructed, do not disobey, the only free speech you are permitted is that which comes out of our exhalted leader, bask in his nasally blandness as we support the government and never oppose no ifs or buts except when we abstain, which is the strong opposition the electorate want to see. Except this isn’t what young people want to see. They were enthused and inspired by the previous leadership, they were welcomed and appreciated, their ideas made Labour stronger, their activism out on the streets knocking on doors, delivering leaflets, having conversations made Labour stronger. Now they’ve been told in no uncertain terms their ideas are unwelcome, their commentary off message and therefore wrong, to be silenced until Starmer lets them off the naughty step, punished for daring to have opinions of their own. Free speech is not welcome in Starmer’s Labour. Of course the Blairites who have taken over the party in the wake of Starmer’s deceitful leadership victory cheer the decision. Has-been John McTernan, one of the architects of Labour’s collapse in Scotland simply tweeted ‘good’. Gurinder Singh Josan who sit’s on Labour’s National Executive Committee tweeted out that ‘This is a welcome step by the Party’. Why? What possible gain for you is there, when you’re disenfranchising every under 27 member? I can only assume you don’t want them or value them and wish they’d go away. One Starmerite source called them a haven for factional rubbish. I think you’ll find that’s Keith’s Office and front bench.So what did they do to deserve it? Over the last week they’ve supported striking workers, pushed to get the vote out in Erdington, advertised a Tony Benn event with Richard Burgon and posted a thread on the Russian invasion condemning Putin, urging de-escalation, calling for Labour to demand protection for refugees and expressed solidarity with Ukraine. Oh but they dared criticise NATO for eastward expansion didn’t they – an uncomfortable fact for Labour since that is what NATO have been doing since the 90’s. Being pro-NATO prohibits such talk in Starmer’s regime. Seems to me to be another example as we saw yesterday, of Starmer using the cover of this war, to clamp down on the left. He’s an authoritarian nightmare and must never see power.