Labour has suspended Unite's assistant general secretary from the party after he tweeted that Home Secretary Priti Patel "should be deported". “She can go along with anyone else who supports institutional racism. She is disgusting.” Let's hope that influences the GS elections
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57109007
Full text of Beckett's tweet is: Priti Patel should be deported, not refugees. She can go along with anyone else who supports institutional racism. She is disgusting.
Clumsy language - I think anyone on the left should avoid statements of the form, "Dark-skinned person X should be deported". But the context makes it clear that this is about institutional racism, not the colour of Patel's skin. Therefore, anyone arguing that Beckett is a racist, on this basis, has an agenda, and should not be taken seriously. In any event, Beckett quickly deleted the tweet and apologised, so the suspension is an overreaction.
Also, it's hard to give too much of a damn about a woman who has overseen the deportation of many people to their deaths. Patel
is a disgusting human being with blood on her hands.
As you suggest this story is best viewed as another episode in Labour's factional wars. I've seen Labour councillors say worse things about Diane Abbott, with zero consequences. But because Beckett is from the left, he is targeted with laser-guided precision as soon as he puts a foot wrong. One Labour source said the quiet part out loud:
https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1392970115642183681
In other words, the suspension is a nakedly factional manoeuvre. I guess it deprives Beckett of his vote on the NEC, for as long as he's suspended.
It's worth thinking about that Labour source's comment in the context of the EHRC report into Labour.
The central recommendation of that report was that the party's disciplinary process should be independent and free from political interference. The suspension of Beckett is about as clear an example as you could wish for of disciplinary action being taken for political reasons.