Let’s get some things clear in Young Labour

Last night I was in London Labour’s offices, finishing two hours ringing Londoners to talk about why they should vote for Sadiq Khan and our Labour Assembly Members. As the canvassing session wrapped up, my phone started beeping perpetually. A fellow member of Young Labour National Committee, Conrad Landin, had written for the Independent signalling the start of the NEC Youth Rep campaign on behalf of his close friend and long-time political ally, James Elliott.

I wanted to reply at the time, but I was busy thanking Young Labour volunteers for giving up their evening to campaign for Labour. So alas, I reply today.

In a flurry of twists and turns on a journey through Landin’s conspiracy drenched piece I was attacked for my leadership of London Young Labour’s committee. As Chair of London Young Labour, and its 13,000 members, I appreciate there will be a level of criticism. And that’s welcome — I’m proud of Young Labour and I give my free time to help run it for that reason. I was elected on a promise of putting the factional infighting behind us and to unite our party behind Corbyn and onwards to taking the fight to the Tories, Conrad instead is determined to reopen the old wounds of the past.

The charges laid at the door of the Labour Party are as absurd as they are serious, and if Landin had any proof of this they should be presented to the General Secretary, rather than used in the most thinly veiled piece of factional warfare I’ve ever seen. Sadly for him though his fantasies are just that, a fantasy and no cloak and dagger machinations have taken place in the office now presided over by Jeremy Corbyn.

Scarborough is an inaccessible and frankly poor choice of location to hold a conference for an estimated 500 young people. Criticism of that decision has been full throated and consistent from those across the political spectrum within the Labour party. It’s a shame then that Landin’s attempt to tar his allies opponents with slander failed to mention his own role in the national committee of Young Labour. For three years, he has been part of the ‘Young Labour Establishment’, yet on several occasions over the past few months, failed to mention the supposed wide ranging conspiracy taking place within our party, and more stunningly, failed to tackle it until it became politically expedient for him.

The reality is even worse than that. Not only have Conrad and James’s group refused to help young people on the NEC, they have been dishing out money through Unite only to young people willing to vote for James Elliott. They are refusing to give money to working class and struggling young people who do not vote for their NEC candidate. Instead of using their power on an NEC they control, they’re funneling through the backdoor to get another of their mates elected. I refuse to be lectured by an Oxbridge educated clique — one from Hampstead, the other from boarding school — about how the working class need them. Conrad has never lobbied his friends who control the NEC. And he makes no reference to the fact that I, one of the people he singles out, have arranged a coach for all London members — no matter who they intend to vote for — to cut their costs from £120 to £35. During which time he has done nothing.

What Conrad Landin has done would make Jeremy Corbyn balk. An unashamedly political attack on young members running for election in order to draw attention from his and his cronies own privileged pasts. The leader of our party deserves more respect than having his name dragged through the mud in order to try and spark a factional battle in Young Labour. Our youth organisation deserves better than that. The young members who have put themselves through the ridiculous delegate process deserve better than that. They want a real debate about where Young Labour goes and how we move forward, not a tribute act rehashing Labours lowest points.

I hope the remainder of this campaign will not be marred by these sort of absurd conspiracy theories and attacks. It’s an open secret that many want to turn our youth wing into an ideological warzone when we most need to be turning our fire on the Tories, not each other. It’s saddening that a Young Labour committee member would rather devote his time to personal attacks. It’s a shame for the millions of people who rely on us to be attacking the Tories, not each other, that this article threatens to drag us back to the ways of the past.