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Durham Miners' Gala: Tory MP mocked for claiming Labour is 'culturally appropriating' trade union event

Richard Holden under fire as he vows he and other local Conservatives will defy a ‘ban’ on attending

Rob Merrick
Deputy Political Editor
Thursday 23 January 2020 17:15 GMT
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Conservative and Labour MP discuss 'ban' on Tories attending Durham Miners Gala

A Conservative MP was ridiculed for claiming Labour is “culturally appropriating” the Durham Miners’ Gala – when it was set up and is run by trade unions.

Richard Holden came under fire as he vowed he and other new Tory MPs in the area would defy a ‘ban’ on them attending the tradition-soaked event addressed by leading Labour figures.

“I think there’s a danger of some parts of the Labour party almost culturally appropriating these working-class traditions, which have become cultural institutions,” he told the BBC's Politics Live programme.

“The Marxist, Momentum wing of the Labour party travelling up from London to turn these into very political....”

The new MP for North West Durham – one of four seats in the county snatched from Labour last month – was then interrupted by Thangam Debbonaire, a Labour MP.

“The Labour Party is literally the political wing of the trade union movement,” she pointed out, adding: “It’s not appropriation.”

When Mr Holden claimed the Gala was “much broader” than another trade union event, the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, Ms Debboniare added: “You’ve not been, so I don’t know how you would know.”

But the MP added: “It’s important for the region that MPs who are now representing those communities are represented.”

The clash came after the Gala organiser suggested local Conservative MPs might even need police protection if they decided to attend, in July.

“To paraphrase [Boris] Johnson, I'd rather be found dead in a ditch than invite them or Johnson to the gala,” said Alan Mardghun.

“We never saw Arthur Scargill invited to the Tory party conference. Why would we invite Tories to the Durham Miners’ Gala who did their best to absolutely destroy the Durham miners and the miners of Great Britain?

The controversy was first sparked when Michael Gove hailed Boris Johnson’s election triumph by saying: “Both the Durham Miners’ Gala and the Notting Hill Carnival will take place in seats held by Conservative MPs.”

For many years, Tony Blair and other Labour leaders shunned the event as too closely-linked to the miners' case, but Ed Miliband restarted the tradition of the party's leader giving a speech.

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