Will the last socialist left in Keir's Labour Party please turn out the light?
Pete Lowe, lifelong Labour activist and councillor, has quit over welfare cuts, triggering an exodus
“The Labour Party has lost its soul, forgotten its core purpose, it now chooses to prioritise the few over the many, the privileged over the most vulnerable.”
With that damning indictment, proud socialist and activist for 41 years Pete Lowe took his leave of his political tribe and ventured into the wilderness.
Lowe, leader of the Labour group on Dudley Council, and mastermind of Richard Parker’s winning mayoral campaign in the Black Country, says he is heartbroken to leave the party he has served for decades, but felt he had ‘no choice’.
He decided he could no longer reconcile his political beliefs and values with a Starmer-led government that is preparing to save £5 billion on welfare, a move hitting disabled people. Three more of his colleagues quit hours later.
Over in Birmingham, there is also disquiet. One backbencher, Martin Brooks, quit the party earlier this year, blaming local decisions to axe day centres for adults as his tipping point. Then Sam Forsyth voted against the Labour Budget, giving up the whip to do so, in frustration over a plan to charge families to get rat infestations eliminated.
And in Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, there was a mass resignation by 20 Labour members in January amid claims the party had “abandoned traditional Labour values”. The council is no longer under Labour control because of their defections.
Many Labour MPs are said to be restless and worried. Stoke-on-Trent South MP Allison Gardner distanced herself from a letter supporting welfare system reforms, saying her name was added "erroneously" and reaffirmed her commitment to advocating for disabled, ill, and unable-to-work constituents. Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, has emerged as a vocal critic of the planned reforms.
Laurence Turner, MP for Northfield, has listed his ‘serious concerns’ in a newsletter to constituents. Elected last year, he has proved a powerful advocate for those with disabilities and families of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and is hoping the proposals will be ‘amended’ as a result of representations.
Further, deep cuts to public spending - described as a return to austerity - are on the horizon too as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares her spring statement. On Wednesday she will announce plans to cut public spending by several billion pounds to try to meet her fiscal rules, which have been put at risk by stagnant growth and high government borrowing costs.
Shabana Mahmood (Ladywood MP and Justice Secretary) is said to have spoken up with her concerns about this during what’s been described as a ‘tense’ cabinet meeting this week.
It all bodes ill for the Labour party locally. Will the Dudley exodus trigger more resignations? Will the silenced Birmingham Labour Group finally find its voice? Are more councillors ready to fly the coop? Will there be any socialists left in the Labour party by the year end - and would Keir care? I’d love to hear what you think.
Some housekeeping first. My newsletters have been fairly haphazard for a while. That in part reflects my own lack of discipline, but also the all-consuming nature of ‘the day job’. So I’ve roped in some help from brilliant colleagues - brace for more regular offerings this coming month!
Exodus: ‘movement of people, mass departure, the act of leaving a place or situation’
Pete Lowe was in his local pub when we first caught up about his decision to quit the Labour Party. His announcement would not become public for a while, but his decision was made.
In my mind’s eye I imagined him sitting on his lonesome, an ‘Up the Miners’ badge or some other rebel slogan shining on his jacket, nursing a pint of Batham’s ale, staring at a crumpled copy of Das Kapital, bereft.
He laughs at the image, though he does like a Batham’s.
“Look the reality is that I’m not leaving the Labour party - it has left me,” he says. “Being a member of the Labour party now means you always have to have one eye on Westminster before you can deliver your position locally.
“I’ve had to sit quietly while the Government has made decisions I find unpalatable. On WASPI women, the winter fuel allowance cuts - these were two decisions that were unpalatable…but you don't have the freedom to speak out because of the discipline within the party.
“Now we have the welfare cuts and they will hurt people, no doubt. I had to decide - do I fight for the party or do I fight for the people I am there to represent? And certainly in the short term, the only conclusion I've reached is that if I want to be a voice for those who elected me, who feel voiceless, this is the only path.
“Principles over party, people over power. Now, I won't be going quietly - my principles remain intact and I will offer people an alternative, and then we'll see where that takes us.”
Within hours of his public announcement, three other Dudley councillors followed suit. Karl Denning (Castle and Priory), Peter Drake (Coseley) and Matt Cook (Brierley Hill and Wordsley North) quit in what was likely a choreographed move and together with Lowe they announced they were forming the Dudley Independents Group, DIG for short.
Also on board are two more recent Labour departees, fellow Dudley councillors Steve Edwards - kicked out for slating Keir Starmer publicly - and Karen Westwood, both representing Brockmoor and Pensnett, while current Independent member Shaun Keasey is considering joining them. Together they would form a seven-person independent bloc on the council.
They intend to seek to ‘give the people of Dudley a real voice and alternative, one founded on anti-austerity, tolerance and inclusion.’ It will be, says Lowe, ‘a voice for the people of our community….one free from the constraints of Westminster. One that celebrates our history whilst promoting a future for all. I am leaving the Labour Party to spend more time on the politics of the people.’
The biting tone of the resignation letters circulating this week should cause consternation in the corridors of power in Westminster, though there appears little sign of it hitting home yet. West Midlands Labour merely referred to its ‘disappointment’ at the resignations.
But while Lowe and co might be publicly flexing, similar discussions are taking place over a pint or a cuppa all over the region, with Labour members, councillors and MPs all said to be considering their next steps. One high up Labour insider said this week: “Morale is at rock bottom. It is hard to find any positives to say about anything.”
Lowe wrote in his letter: “Even if the (welfare cuts) attacks are mitigated and reduced, the very fact that a Labour Party can cause such fear and worry to many of the most vulnerable people is I believe intolerable. These are not Labour values.”
Pete Lowe’s story
Pete Lowe, 56, says he has had ‘many disagreements’ over the last four decades with Labour colleagues. “I've got many, many friends in the party, some of which agree with me, some of which passionately disagree with me, but there's always been a safe space to engage, debate and then have a cheese cob and a pint and move on. And, unfortunately, that's gone.”
Fear of disciplinary action is said to be keeping councillors off the front line at rallies and protests, except those pre-sanctioned by the party hierarchy.
Councillors in Birmingham, for example, have to sign contracts pledging to give up weekends and spare time volunteering for the party alongside their ‘day job’; their every dissent is noted; they can’t even speak to the media about local ward issues without the approval of the party leadership.
Lowe reflects on how he was once able to be both a proud Labour member and a frontline activist at rallies and marches; able to openly debate issues and express misgivings without fear of being drummed out of the party for doing so.
“But more recently, I've had to hide my allegiance when I want to go and show my solidarity with people, whether that be on a local, national or an international scale. I haven't been able to shout out about what I passionately believe.”
It’s led to a disconnect between Labour representatives and the public, believes Lowe. That is why so many are seeing the likes of Reform as an alternative, he said.
And he fears the Government is playing right into Reform’s hands. “The Labour Party nationally, in their attempts to ‘out-Reform Reform’ will drive people in that direction.”
Lowe says his new Independent group, and allies around the country, will ‘offer people a very proud alternative that welcomes all.
“We believe there's an alternative to austerity and that’s about everybody paying their fair share, dependent upon their ability to do so. We believe that is a message that resonates on the doorsteps, not multi-millionaires like Nigel Farage with his French passport, who actually don't offer any long term solution to working class people in our communities.”
Since taking power last July, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party has made a series of calls that, while financially pragmatic, have put him at odds with many in the party.
Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves have largely justified their decisions by pointing at the £22 billion black hole they inherited, their ‘fiscal rules’ and the need to stimulate growth.
But that can’t excuse doing harm, says Lowe. His resignation letter is quite something. It begins: “This is the hardest letter I have ever had to write, but also, I believe the most important,” he starts.
Over two closely typed pages, he describes how his Labour was once the party that wanted to ‘change the world’.
“While the party was never perfect, it at least gave a voice to those most in need of being heard, a place to debate, socialise and fundamentally campaign towards a government that would make our communities a better place,” he laments.
He tells of the many times he had ‘put party before family, friends and myself’; and of serving (or attempting to serve) as an MP candidate and a councillor.
“I have been a councillor for over 20 years, representing proudly one of the most deprived communities in our borough. I have sought to promote unity, be an advocate for the most vulnerable in our society, defend their rights and promote their aspirations. I represent a community I was born in, and fundamentally believe in. A proud working-class community where all contribute, given the opportunity, according to their needs and abilities.
“Generations of our family were Labour before me, my mom even met Jenny Lee after the war as our NHS was created. They were proud, as I was, to be Labour and fight for real and lasting change.
“I was proud to be the elected leader of Dudley Labour Party, a proud, good group of people demonstrating the very best of Black Country values. Bostin’ people as we say around here...in body and in soul.
“I have been loyal, arguably beyond loyal, to the Labour Party throughout my 41 years, having the discipline to argue and debate behind closed doors, uniting behind a position and then campaigning on it. When the party chose a path I did not agree with, I was always comforted by the fact that there were still likeminded people within the party, or within the wider Trade Union movement with a voice like mine to argue the alternative. I still had a home....my home...a party of working people striving for inclusion, equality, tolerance and compassion.
“Last month, as leader of Dudley Labour, I led the campaign to oppose the local Tory budget of £42million of cuts to the people of Dudley. Included in this were significant cuts to local voluntary organisations and welfare rights advisors. I told them that this was wrong and unnecessary. Labour Group proposed an amendment that would have protected the very people that the Tories, and now the government seem so keen to attack.”
He goes on: “I cannot in all honesty be consistent to my principles, or the community I serve if I choose my party over the people I was elected to represent. If it’s wrong for the Tories to be attacking the most vulnerable in our community in Dudley, then it must be wrong for my government to be doing the same. To be associated with this attack is not something I can be part of. Even if these attacks are mitigated and reduced, the very fact that a Labour Party can cause such fear and worry to many of the most vulnerable people is I believe intolerable.
“These are not Labour values.”
He says friends and family will be impacted, in some cases severely.
“I always believed, and voiced, that the Labour party was on the side of not just working people, but also those on welfare, who were dependant on the system to survive. It appears I was wrong. My likeminded colleagues’ numbers are dwindling, either leaving the party though choice or via suspension/expulsion. I have now concluded which side I am on.”
So, I will be leaving the Labour Party, resigning my position as Leader of Dudley Labour Group with a heavy heart.”
He adds: “I leave the party with my head held high, I have been part of massive transformations and movements, from standing against Thatcher’s Clause 28, to campaigning with my Trade Union to expose PFI and its impact on working class workers in the NHS. I’m proud to have stood, united, against the BNP and then EDL when they came to our town to spread their hatred. For decades I could march, protest and campaign proudly with my Labour placards held high.
“More recently I have had to show my solidarity undercover, fearful that if discovered I would be sanctioned from within.
“My family and friends, who have always been supportive now question if my values, the value of peace, social justice, equality, solidarity are still compatible with today’s Labour Party.
“I always said it was redeemable, that we could get the party to change from within, to have hope for my party. But I have finally concluded, and it’s heartbreaking to say so, that my party has left me behind, found new friends and priorities in the city and the markets, whilst the very people who look to the party for a real alternative, good, honest working-class people in the Black Country and beyond have been abandoned.
“I am not leaving the Labour Party....the Labour Party left me some time ago. To paraphrase Tony Benn...I shall be leaving the Labour Party to spend more time on politics.
Yours in sadness.”
Matt Cook’s story
Matt Cook, 30, a self employed decorator who only recently joined Labour and was elected as councillor for Brierley Hill and Wordsley South in 2024, said he was gutted to leave but also felt he had to follow his heart.
"It's a big deal for me, my great uncle was a Labour councillor, my family always voted Labour, but the cuts now will affect some of them.
"I have put my heart and soul into being a Labour member and councillor but it is just not working."
Karl Denning’s story
Karl, 55, is a recent convert to party politics and to the Labour Party, becoming a councillor representing last year. He went blind following an accident at work when he was 39 and has a guide dog.
He speaks stoically of the devastating impact of his sight loss, agreeing it was a terrifying experience but ‘you learn to get on with life, things change, that’s all.’
‘I have been fighting for disability rights ever since and what’s coming out of Westminster now is repugnant. They are stigmatising disabled people. The language being used is not the language of my Labour party.
“I agree that the benefits system does need reform. The Blair government started that process. Disabled people need to be given the capability and resources to work, which did start under Blair with the disability acts and the equalities work - but we have now had a new Labour government come in and want to start reforming and cutting benefits before they have put anything else in place.”
He added: “I have got a lot of disabled friends and the majority of them work, full time, and are exceptional at what they do, but they do require adjustments and support which can cost. and require bidding for grants and so on.
“The Dudley Labour group are hugely supportive, I can’t speak highly enough of them, but I could no longer align myself with the Labour Party nationally.”
He said his family had supported his decision - an older son telling him: ‘Dad, if you don’t feel like you belong there then that’s that, whatever anyone tells you.’
Denning, who was blinded in a workplace accident aged 39, and has since championed disability rights, opened his own resignation letter thus: “Today is the anniversary of my father’s death, I woke this morning with his voice on repeat in my head.
‘Doing the right thing is rarely easy but if you don’t it has more of an effect on your soul than you realise’…do I put party before myself and others in my community? As a disabled person the recent discussions from many Labour representatives, with some notable exceptions, has been heartbreaking.”
His letter goes on: “I have been asked how I can be a member of a party that is willing to turn on disabled people so easily, if ‘I’ll be able to sleep at night.’
“I have been reminded that I am always the one to speak up for those who cannot. My late mother and grandfather were believers in community and “pay it forward.”
“After much heart searching and thought, I do not think I can remain a member of the Labour Party. It is one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make. I joined the Labour Party fighting for disabled and those without a voice and it seems I leave the Labour Party doing the same thing. I was elected to fight for my residents and never thought it would be fighting a Labour government for a fair deal for Dudley and disabled people, but it seems to be that way.”
Peter Drake was more blunt. "I refuse to defend a national Labour government which does not and will not represent the working class and ordinary people of the United Kingdom.”
What does it mean for Labour locally?
Several local councils go to the polls next year - among them Birmingham. Labour members are already braced for attacks on their local record amid anger over ongoing budget cuts to balance the books after the council’s financial implosion.
The prospect of also having to defend government cuts to services will pose real problems on the doorstep, fear Labour members.
Labour’s hold over Birmingham City Council could be gone next May. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where they hold on to power.
And if the council falls, the mayoralty is also at risk.
I’d love to hear what you think. What does the Labour Party in the West Midlands mean to you? What do you think it stands for? Do get in touch - either by leaving a comment here or by sending me an email at jane.haynes@reachplc.com
Thanks for reading!
Whilst I may disagree with staunch socialists, I can respect them as they have an ideology and principles. The current Labour Party are as corrupt as the previous Tory administration and have zero ethics or strategy. Good on the black country rebels for having the backbone to walk away.