If there is one person who symbolises the rotten and corrupt state of New Labour in Britain today then step forward Luciana Berger, former Director of Labour Friends of Israel. She was parachuted in the previously rock solid Labour seat of Wavertree by Jane Kennedy, the former Labour MP and another LFI supporter.

This was done via the imposition of an all-woman shortlist. Interesting how feminism today is used to bolster the Right, just as anti-racism of the ‘anti-Semitism’ variety is used to support racism!

Berger has no connections with Liverpool. She couldn’t even name the legendary manager of Liverpool Bill Shankly or tell us who wrote ‘Ferry Across the Mersey’. One can only hope she knows the names of the Fab Four!

Berger is a friend of the Blairs and his son Euan, although the latter has denied that the reptile is/was his girlfriend. She was the ex of Sian Simon, another New Labour rat. She is a good example of New Labour today. No roots in the working class, no experience of any struggle, hostile to third world peoples, racist to the core and committed to the free market.

Wavertree has a chequered history. It used to be a Conservative seat when I lived in Childwall 30+ years ago. It was held by Antony Steen, a pompous and retiring Conservative MP, long ago.

Then it was captured in the 1980’s by Terry Field, who was in Militant Tendency. Terry, a member of the Fire Brigades Union, captured the seat at a time that the Labour Party was being defeated by Thatcher nationally. Liverpool, whose Council was challenging the Tory Government, though it caved in under Derek Hatton in the end, moved leftwards and the final Tory presence on the Council and in Parliament was eliminated.

But the Left failed to build and Militant retreated into a sectarian corner. The Tories left by the front-door and New Labour entered by the back door. And that was the only change.

Terry Field, loved by the working class in his constituency, represented all that was honest and upright in fighters for the working class. He went to prison rather than pay the poll tax and he was an inspiration to people for his humility, living on a council estate with them. Berger by contrast knows nothing of the working class. Her job as Director of Labour Friends of Israel meant supporting the most racist and right-wing government in the hemisphere and doing one’s best to undermine solidarity.

Terry was expelled by the Labour Party and bequeathed a 20,000 majority to New Labour. Jane Kennedy, the present incumbent right-winger, has reduced this to 5,000 and with boundary changes the seat is now a marginal.

It’s no wonder that Labour’s minders will not let Berger loose among her constituents for fear that she will open her big mouth and let the cat out of the bag.

The Liberal Democrats are challenging for the seat and although I’ve never voted Lib-Dem before, if I were still in Wavertree constituency, I would have no hesitation in voting for the Lib-Dems.

Ricky Tomlinson to challenge Luciana Berger for key Liverpool seat?
by Natalie Evans.
Published Fri 05 Feb 2010 12:28,
Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson wants to stand for parliament at the General Election. Left-winger Ricky aims to run against Luciana Berger – one of “Brown’s Babes” selected from an all-woman shortlist to contest what was regarded as a safe Labour seat.

Actor Ricky needs to overturn the majority of 5,173 in Liverpool Wavertree scored by long-serving MP Jane Kennedy who resigned is stepping-down. Ricky decided to stand because he is incensed that Labour selected Londoner Luciana Berger who was “parachuted” into the seat in controversial circumstances.

Scouser Ricky will seek the backing of the the Socialist Labour Party, of which he is a member, to stand as its official candidate. If selected to run Ricky said his campaign slogan could be “Berger? My arse! ” a nod to the catchphrase of his famed TV character Jim Royle.

His move comes as a further blow to 28-year-old Berger, whose selection has been mired in controversy. The Director of “Labour Friends of Israel” beat Liverpool councillors Wendy Simon and Joyce Still by a margin of around 2-1 to win the candidacy on all-women shortlist. However, veteran Liverpool Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle branded her a “student politician” who lacks the experience to do the job. UNISON has also challenged her appointment with an official complaint to Labour, demanding answers and questioning Miss Berger’s relationship with former Wavertree MP Jane Kennedy, at whose home she stayed during the selection process.

Condemning Berger’s lack of local knowledge, comedian Ricky said: “This woman that they have parachuted in from London could not even answer some easy questions about Liverpool. “People say if you want you could be letting the Tories in. But there is no difference between the Conservatives and New Labour. “

At one time, Liverpool had a contingent of working class MPs. If I get nominated it would be an awful cut in wages. But I just think the state of British politics is abhorrent.”

A firebrand trade unionist who was once jailed for alleged violence on a picket line, Ricky, argues any MP representing a Liverpool seat should understand unemployment. He said: “I just can’t understand why they have picked someone from London. It just does not make sense to me.”

Tomlinson was jailed in 1973 for acting as a flying picket during the building strike in which unionists confronted the then Conservative government. He was sentenced to six years but was released after two following mass protests and has always contested his innocence.
See also Liverpool Echo