Labour deputy leader Tom Watson again accused of appalling behaviour at an NEC meeting – but NEC members were in no mood

Tom Watson

Last week, Labour deputy leader Tom Watson was accused of “vile” and “appalling” behaviour after he disrupted a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) ‘disputes panel’ when cases involving his allies and opponents were on the agenda for discussion.

It was the first time he had ever attended a disputes panel meeting.

At this week’s full meeting of the NEC, it seems Watson was determined to continue his run of poor behaviour – having already been ‘carpeted‘ by colleagues at the latest Shadow Cabinet meeting for his policy gaffe over Labour’s position on Theresa May’s attempts to get her awful Brexit deal over the parliamentary line.

However, Watson found the NEC in little mood to let his behaviour slide.

One Labour source told the SKWAWKBOX:

Tom was generally being a vile and obnoxious bully. He got quite a hard time from members about a range of his bad behaviours.

Another said:

Tom only stayed until his own report report was finished. He didn’t seem to have his phone on him this time [one of Watson’s disruptions at the Disputes meeting was his refusal to hand over his phone in keeping with NEC policy] but he had his sidekick with him. His report was hilariously disingenuous and he got a right pasting in questions.

NEC member Pete Willsman also touched on the backlash – euphemistically – in his public report on the meeting:

In the following discussion a large number of very perceptive questions were put to the Deputy Leader by CLP and TU reps, in relation to his recent statements and actions. The Deputy Leader responded at length to the questions, many of which were somewhat critical.

Watson was also in the news this week for his failure to suspend his chief of staff – well-known right-wing peer Alicia Kennedy – after she was accused of racially-driven bullying by a former staff member. The industrial tribunal case is scheduled for September.

In response to his performance as deputy leader, he is the subject of a censure motion expected to be passed by hundreds of constituency Labour parties.

Tom Watson was contacted for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.

SKWAWKBOX comment:

Tom Watson is unfit for the role he is blocking and has no place on the NEC. It’s high time he showed some courage and gave Labour members a chance to replace him.

The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here for a monthly donation via GoCardless. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.

If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.

Like this: Like Loading...