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Labour MPs face internet deselection threat
Anti-war campaigners have set up a website encouraging Labour Party members to deselect MPs who back the government on Iraq.
Established by Cambridge University professor Glen Rangwala, the website says it is a "resource file for Labour Party members who disagree with their MP's stance over the Iraq crisis".
It lists how MPs have voted on motions relating to the crisis, and whether they have signed Commons motions critical of the government.
"This site identifies those Labour MPs who continue to back the government's stance in the face of overwhelming public opinion and the lack of a plausible case for war.
"It provides details for Constituency Labour Parties on how to change their Labour Party candidates for the next parliamentary election, if they consider their MPs' stance to be sufficiently duplicitous or irrational on this crucial issue," says the site.
But those behind the campaign insist they have no "joint aspirations for reshaping the Labour Party in a particular way", saying they are simply members of the Labour Party who are opposed to war.
MPs who have backed the government's stance have faced anger from some grassroots party activists.
Last week Bethnal Green and Bow MP Oona King narrowly survived a deselection vote, while social exclusion minister Barbara Roche faces a decision later this week.
The campaigners say they may also be able to provide speakers for local party meetings where members are "seriously considering the position of their MP".
Offering advice on how to deselect a sitting MP, the website highlights reports there are "pro-war MPs with anti-war majorities in the CLPs moving through the [reselection] process quickly to catch members unaware, and thereby avoiding triggering a ballot for reselection".
"It is all too easy for MPs, who have the time and resources, to get their automatic reselection through trade union branches or other affiliates if those affiliates take little interest in the local party. Where affiliates have anti-war policy you should make sure that they are aware of the full implications of reselecting their pro-war Labour MP," explains the site.
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