Jeremy Corbyn’s Momentum supporters take over local party and demand apology from Luciana Berger for speaking against Labour leader
JEREMY CORBYN supporters have taken over a local Labour branch in Liverpool and demanded the MP apologise to the leader for criticising him in the past.
Hard-left group Momentum took nine out of ten positions on the local committee last night, and immediately turned on Wavertree MP Luciana Berger.
The MP quit the shadow cabinet last year in the wake of the EU referendum result, which saw waves of MPs step down to try to oust the leader.
Despite a no confidence vote where 172 MPs called on him to go, Mr Corbyn refused to step down, and went on to win an extra 30 seats in June's election.
And the move comes as other Labour figures hinted at deselection of MPs in the future.
Last night the new members of the committee vowed to hold her more accountable for her actions.
Roy Bentham, who booted out a Liverpool council cabinet member from his spot on the committee, told the : "Luciana needs to get on board quite quickly now."
He went on: "She will now have to sit round the table with us the next time she wants to vote for bombing in Syria or to pass a no confidence motion in the leader of the party - she will have to be answerable to us.
"We would like her to come out publicly like other MPs have done and apologise for not supporting him in the past."
The Jewish Chronicle today linked Mr Bentham with Trotskyist Gerry Downing, who runs the website Socialist Fight and was expelled from the Labour party over comments he made on Twitter and on his blog.
Mr Downing suggested that the "Jewish Question" must be addressed - and included a line in a bloc which suggested the 9/11 hijackers "must never be condemned."
Mr Bentham has written for his site as recently as March last year.
Last month's election saw Ms Berger increase her majority in Watertree from 24,000 to 29,000 - and she bagged almost 80 per cent of the total vote.
Mr Bentham also said that the results last night sent a clear message about the effect Jeremy has had" and what can be achieved.
"There was about 160 members there last night and the atmosphere was crackling, it’s one of the biggest attendances I have seen in many years of those meetings," he said.
Following the meeting Ms Berger issued a joint statement with the local party, clearly highlighting support for Mr Corbyn.
It said: "We are united in wanting to secure a new General Election and the return of a Labour government under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn as soon as possible.
"We had a great local result on June 8, with the Labour majority going up for the third election in a row and almost four in five people voting for Luciana Berger as the Labour candidate. That is thanks to the hard work of local members and a revitalised national party under Jeremy Corbyn.
"It is a fantastic foundation for the next General Election, whenever it comes."
The news came as new shadow minister Chris Williamson said that no MP has a "God-given right to rule", hinting there may be deselections of MPs ahead.
He told Politics Home: "No MP should be guaranteed a job for life and it's crucial that we all get with the times.
"MPs elected in earlier phases of this party run the risk of failing to understand what is really going on out there in society."
And he said the party must listen to its members in order to succeed.
And recently Labour party chairman Ian Lavery made similar comments.
He said that the party was "too broad a church" and MPs should "work very hard" to avoid deselection.
