Return Of The Abstainers
Posted on October 23, 2013 by Rev. Stuart Campbell

The coalition government’s horrific new immigration bill passed its first hurdle in the House Of Commons last night by 303 votes to 18.

The administration that brought us vans touring cities telling foreigners to leave or be arrested, gangs of armed officers sweeping tube stations for any dark-skinned undesirables, British citizens being harassed by text message and incomers to Scotland met with UK Border Agency posters urging them to go home intends to make life even more wretched and intolerable for vulnerable refugees and people who want to come here and contribute to our economy and culture.



And Labour? Labour bravely abstained from the vote.

(Indeed, most news reports claim that the party actively supports the bill, but plans to table unspecified “amendments” at some point in the future. What they’ll do when those amendments are rejected remains to be seen.)

We’ll add last night’s craven display of snivelling cowardice to the list below, updated from a piece we originally ran back in March detailing how turning a blind eye is Labour’s new form of standing up to the Tories:

On a Tory bill for an early EU referendum

On retrospectively depriving workfare victims of compensation

On the right of civil servants to strike

On rejecting the siting of nuclear weapons in Scotland
(see also the renewal of Trident, in both 2010 and 2007)

On condemning the Iraq war

On free tuition for students

On minimum pricing of alcohol

On opposing the 50p-rate tax cut

On opposing savage cuts to public-sector pensions

On stopping fuel-duty increases

On maintaining concessionary bus travel for the elderly

On massive pay rises for councillors

On the criminalisation of squatting

On reducing VAT from 20% to 17.5%

On the Scottish budget

But the underlying truth is worse. It’s not that Labour are just a gutless, useless opposition standing meekly and impotently by while the Tories and their obedient Lib Dem flunkies rip up every last remaining shred of compassion and decency in Britain they can lay their hands on. The truth of the matter is, as suggested by the press, that Labour agree with them, but don’t have even the courage to vote with their convictions.

At least with UKIP you know where you stand.

http://wingsoverscotland.com/return-of-the-abstainers/

Not all of us GUS listen to John McDonnel in his interview with the Artist Cabbie thats the proper face of REAL Labour

Labour's record speaks for itself Trots. An oppositions job is to oppose, not sit on their hands while the people they represent are being shafted.
People like John are too few in number, the neo-liberal Blair types are still running the show. You need to take your party back from them.