Thread by @gsoh31

So let's get some things straight on this #laboursplit then. /THREAD

People resigning today are hardly 'cateerist' or 'opportunist'. They are fairly likely blowing up their political careers because they've had enough. That's the very opposite of 'opportunism'.

The huge amount of hatred that will be poured out on them online (and elsewhere) today is one MO of New New Labour. It's a design feature, not a bug.

See the effect on Owen Jones and his tweets on this. Sure, Annakin is probably still in there somewhere, but he's more machine now than man. The hatreds fanned by Labour's leadership are like The Nothing in The Neverending Story.

Yes, that one was a bit 80s, wasn't it.

Overall, it is a mistake (despite the usual grey areas of politics) to believe that social democrats have no principles. They do. And you should have at least the chance of building them, rather than Die Linke/ Syriza.

Next, it is an awful dark irony that Labour, above all a party that seeks to build dignity and rights at work, has become so toxic so quickly. Imagine some of your co-workers screamed abuse at you and told you to get out every day. I don't know, maybe you'd walk?

It is *inherently* a failure of leadership if your party splinters while you're in charge. For all talk of 'broad church', key elements in Lab leader's office have made clear they don't want compromise beyond what is strictly necessary to limit *size* of the split.

So no doubt there's been tough stuff all around. But ask yourself what was done with the brief period of goodwill that followed #GE2017. Answer: almost nothing. Complacency and smugness.

In the end, there is one key reality for me, though I respect the views of others. Milne and Murray in No. 10 would be a deeply worrying development for all sorts of reasons. Myself and many others simply cannot countenance helping them get there.

The hard-of-counting go on about 'split the vote, SDP, helped Thatcher' etc. Not knowing that there's a lot of mythology to that concept. I actually think that if a new entity did emerge, it could threaten Tory hold on liberal Remainers more than Labour's share.

We're always hearing that people should be themselves, say what they mean, work across party lines. Don't berate MPs if some of them try to do that.

Actually see this as one stage of a much bigger crisis: social change, devolution, Europe and #Brexit, social media use are buckling our politics out of shape and the shells of the old parties can't cope. There'll be more of this now, not less: new normal.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for most Labour MPs who are staying - large majority are hard-working and sensible. Their working lives are about to get a lot worse, if such were possible.

Parliament overall faces a long, grim slog ahead - low productivity and sagging growth matched against ever more expectant and rage-filled activists. That will also intensify splintering.

Meanwhile - maybe we can spend some of today listening, rather than shouting? No doubt a forlorn hope, but there you are. /END