Ignore the media meltdown. Here’s what really brought down the Labour Friends of Israel Chair.

refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date

Israel withholds the right of indigenous Palestinians who were forced out of their homeland to return. By contrast, Israel grants citizenship to any Jewish person around the world.

In the Al Jazeera documentary, the pro-Israel lobby group LFI admitted that it works “really closely” with the Israeli embassy “behind the scenes”.

Undermining Labour during 2017 general election

Ryan also undermined the Labour party during last year’s general election. Writing to voters in her constituency, the MP for Enfield North said:

I know from speaking to people around here that many who have previously voted Labour are thinking hard this time because, they tell me, they have more confidence in Theresa May as prime minister than they would have in Jeremy Corbyn.

The polls are all saying that the Conservative party will win a large majority, possibly with more MPs than they have ever had before. Realistically, no one thinks Theresa May will not be prime minister or that she will not have the majority she needs to negotiate Brexit.

In reality, Corbyn’s Labour removed May’s majority and increased Labour’s vote share by more than at any point since 1945.

No one votes for their local MP

In response to the no-confidence vote, Ryan echoed the establishment conspiracy theory that Corbyn supporters are mainly “Trots”, “Stalinists” and “Communists”.

So lost 92 to 94 votes hardly decisive victory and it never occurred to me that Trots Stalinists Communists and assorted hard left would gave confidence in me. I have none in them.

— Joan Ryan (@joanryanEnfield) September 6, 2018

Ryan also attempted to shift the emphasis onto her general constituency, rather than the local Labour party:

I will be out tomorrow morning working hard for the people of Enfield.

— Joan Ryan (@joanryanEnfield) September 6, 2018

The thing is, hardly anyone votes Labour because of their local MP. Just 6% of Labour votes chose red at the ballot box because of who their local MP is. 28% backed Labour because of the Corbyn-led manifesto, 15% in opposition to the Conservatives and 13% because of Corbyn himself.

Labour voters aren’t living in the clouds. People know that policy is decided nationally and individual MPs have little power in comparison. Most MPs are elected primarily on the back of Labour as a whole. So many argue that MPs should be democratically accountable to their local party.

The media appears to be wilfully misrepresenting no-confidence votes to protect pro-establishment MPs. But the permanent position of some Labour MPs may soon come to an end. At the Labour conference in late September, the party will vote on introducing ‘open selection’. This means that members would get to vote on who represents them in parliament, based on a one member, one vote, electoral system. That could well see the end of MPs such as Ryan who cannot win over the grassroots.

That’s called democracy, not deselection. And it cannot come soon enough.

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Featured image via Al Jazeera/ YouTube