• AS a Camden Labour Party member I was disheartened to read the comments of Katharine Bligh (Why wasn’t there an all-women shortlist for the Labour leadership? January 23) amplifying slurs against Sir Keir Starmer (“stories … of strife, friction and feelings of exclusion”) none of which are recognised by any of the party members I speak to and canvass with.

Ms Bligh shows with her letter how crucial it is to establish unity as a party (which Keir Starmer, as leadership candidate, has put at the top of his agenda) and to halt the unfounded smears against our members and their representatives, including their principled, caring and hard-working MP.

The explanation that Ms Bligh gives for Labour’s serious election defeat, “Labour’s disastrous Brexit policy”, does little to add to the current debate and seems motivated, instead, by the need to score narrow, factional points. The causes of that defeat are complex and cannot be simplified like this: to do so will only end in further, inevitable, electoral failure.

Let’s stop the uncomradely nitpicking and get out there to engage with the new members who have joined our ranks since the election, wherever they sit on the broad spectrum of opinion we have historically welcomed in the Labour Party.

WILLIAM GREENSLADE
Wellesley Road, NW5