Why would anyone try to defend the Labour Leave shills?

On the day that Brexit was announced I pointed out the undeniable fact that Labour Leave were massively bankrolled by a bunch of hard-right Tories. Every single one of their major donations came from extremely right-wing individuals and organisations. I then described this as "shilling" and said that some people within the Labour Party should be ashamed of themselves.

Some extremely touchy and defensive people came along to attempt to argue back. One of them accused me of insulting fellow socialists, and another one crudely traduced the words I actually said to "So Tony Benn, Bob Crow, Dennis Skinner all well known right-wing Tories".

This is my response to those accusations:

I didn't insult anyone for being a socialist. If you actually read my words I didn't actually insult anyone.

What I did do is point out the undeniable fact that Labour Leave was completely bankrolled by hard-right Tories, and the described that as "shilling".

If anyone thinks that a so-called Labour movement that is completely bankrolled by Tories is not an example of "shilling" I'd be genuinely interested to hear your explanation (displays of bizarre mental gymnastics are always fun to watch).

PS - Tony Benn would never have taken money from a bunch of Tories in order to make the case for Brexit. He opposed the EU but (unlike some in the Labour movement) he also passionately opposed the Tories too.

The main question these angry defensive reactions from Labour supporters raises is why so many people within the Labour movement are prepared to actively defend the Labour Leave campaign's decision to accept so much Tory cash and turn themselves into paid Tory shills to such an extent that they make (completely lame) attempts to shoot the messenger? 

Another question is why people feel compelled to drag the names of people like Tony Benn and Bob Crow through the muck to defend this blatant Labour Leave shilling?

Yes Tony Benn and Bob Crow argued against the EU when they were alive, but the idea that they would have accepted cash from a bunch of radically right-wing Tories to make that argument is, in my opinion, an insult to their memories. They were both, as far as I'm concerned, left-wing men of integrity, not anti-EU fanatics who would bend their left-wing principles beyond breaking point in order to criticise the EU.

Insinuating that they would have behaved like the Labour Leave mob in accepting huge amounts of Tory cash is insulting to their memories, and an insult to anyone who has the misfortune of reading such a weak display of excuse-making too.

 Another Angry Voice  is a "Pay As You Feel" website. You can have access to all of my work for free, or you can choose to make a small donation to help me keep writing. The choice is entirely yours.

OR