Leadership tricks

Fifteen years ago I worked for a Liberal Democrat MP in Edinburgh. At that time, because of a controversy in the constituency where I worked, I discovered the Labour Party had rules against entryism – the practice of new people joining to vote for a particular candidate in a selection contest.

You had to be a member of the Labour Party back then for at least a year before you could vote to select your Labour candidate for parliament.

But in this current Labour leadership contest am I right in thinking you can join an affiliated organisation like the Fabians, for instance, and pay a levy to then vote as an affiliated member in the forthcoming contest as long as you do it by 12 August?

Would it not be better for all concerned if this bandwagon was halted and for Harriet Harman to announce that only those who have kept up continuous membership and been members for a year or more can take part?

This must be producing a bonanza in fees for affiliated organisations, trade unions and the Labour Party.

But never mind the socialist workers; aren’t a lot of right-wingers getting into this electorate through the back door and voting for Jeremy Corbyn just to stop Labour winning in 2020? This is worse than the Watergate burglary!

Nigel F Boddy

Fife Road

Darlington