Straight talking toff tells it how it is.....
Labour is turning into a sect, says Tristram Hunt
Former shadow minister tells Cambridge University students party is ‘in the shit’ and they are ‘the top 1%’ who must take charge
Frances Perraudin
Monday 2 November 2015 08.37 GMT
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/02/labour-is-in-the-shit-tristram-hunt
The Labour party is “in the shit” and risks turning into a sect, the former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has reportedly told students at Cambridge University.
Speaking to Cambridge University’s Labour club in an event entitled Principles, Politics and Pathway to Power, Hunt said: “My fear is algorithmic politics [where because] everyone shares the same views as you on social media and in your social circles you become a sect rather than a party.”
According to the Cambridge University student newspaper Varsity, Hunt told students: “You are the top 1%. The Labour party is in the shit. It is your job and your responsibility to take leadership going forward.”
Hunt was one of a group of former members of the Labour shadow cabinet to rule out serving on Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench if he was elected Labour leader and has been outspoken about the party’s need to prioritise efforts to return to government.
Speaking last month at Sheffield University, Hunt argued that Labour had “marched decisively away from the views of voters on issues that are fundamental to our electoral prospects: immigration, personal financial interest, welfare, public services, and business”.
Asked about Corbyn’s leadership, Hunt reportedly told members of the Cambridge Labour club that Corbyn was “leader until he is not”, stressing that he had won 60% of the vote. “The way you serve the Corbyn leadership is to be as dissenting and creative as possible,” he said, adding that the party was in a “period of intellectual renewal”.