'Too many Labour members are giving up the Union flag to the far-right'
3 February 2021, 16:17
'Too many Labour members are giving up the Union flag to the far-right'
Too many Labour members are effecting "giving up" the Union flag to the far-right, the party's former Head of Elections has told LBC.
A leaked report prepared for the party, which was seen by the Guardian Newspaper said Labour should “make use of the flag, veterans and dressing smartly” as part of a rebranding effort to win back “red wall” voters who backed the Tories in 2019.
In response to the report, Labour MP Clive Lewis told the Guardian: “The Tory party has absorbed UKIP and now Labour appears to be absorbing the language and symbols of the Tory party”.
“It’s not patriotism; it’s Fatherland-ism. There’s a better way to build social cohesion than moving down the track of the nativist Right,” he added.
"I haven't renewed my Labour membership because of Keir Starmer"
Harry Burns, who was Labour's Head of Elections & Campaigns Support for the 2017 General Election, told LBC: "Thankfully there's not that many Clive Lewis' in the parliamentary Labour Party.
"But there are still in my view too many people with those sorts of views to make Labour a proper contender for Government in the next election.
"It's giving up the flag to the far-right and to political forces that we might not agree with."
