Even with over a thousand members there, the party still disallows Labour candidates to stand in elections.
So it has been rather ironic that in the Brexit debate Labour MPs have been queuing up to mention Northern Ireland.
What happens at the border after we leave the EU has become the “big sticking point” causing our Prime Minister to make commitments to backstops that few understand and even fewer support.
The repeatedly stated aim of the EU, the UK and the Irish government is to avoid creating a hard border.
They never actually define what a hard border is, but I assume that they mean not having huge structures acting as barriers with flashing lights and cameras as used to be there.
It is conveniently forgotten that those barriers were only there when the IRA was active, bombing and killing our soldiers and police officers.
A border is there at the moment, although not visible.
The Irish Republic has different excise duties, VAT rates and currency to the UK.
Yet all those differences are handled remotely by technology and pre-paperwork.
If intelligence arouses suspicion about smuggling, the vehicle will be stopped.
In other words, with goodwill and co-operation, there is no need for a “hard border”.
The Irish government, in cahoots with the EU, has deliberately made the border an issue.
Unfortunately, our Prime Minister and her officials have completely fallen for it by agreeing to a backstop that would potentially see Northern Ireland being treated differently to the rest of the UK.
Implying that the peace process is threatened by a hard border is scaremongering of the worst kind.
We should be prosecuting those who are breaking the law, not allowing them to shape our policy on leaving the EU.
The Irish Republic and UK shared a common travel area long before either joined even the Common Market.
We have always had a closer relationship with the Irish than other EU citizens, and the EU has not objected.
All the Irish living in Great Britain were able to vote in the referendum and many voted to Leave.
After the financial crash in 2008 British taxpayers pumped £20billion into the Irish economy and helped bail out their banks.
Yet despite all this the Irish government is playing hardball even though they would suffer most if the UK were to leave on World Trade Organisation rules.
The EU wants to keep us locked in to their regulations and rules and the Irish seem to be doing everything they can to support the intransigent EU Commission.
Irish leader Leo Varadkar has behaved rather shamefully with some of his rhetoric and is perhaps intent on becoming a future EU commissioner.
The previous Taoiseach Enda Kenny had allowed his officials to talk to British counterparts about Brexit, but Mr Varadkar has stopped that.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking because his government has already erected a hard border against fishermen from Northern Ireland.
Pre-dating membership of the EEC, a 1965 neighbourhood agreement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland granted reciprocal access to fishermen from each jurisdiction to fish in each other’s territorial waters, reflecting traditional and historic fishing patterns around the island.
But as a result of a decision by Dublin’s Supreme Court two years ago Northern Ireland vessels are no longer allowed to fish in Irish waters, yet Irish fishing vessels continue to benefit from access to fish in British waters around Northern Ireland.
Mr Varadkar’s government has erected and maintained a hard border against Northern Ireland fishermen in the hope that this will exert influence on the UK during wider Brexit negotiations.
Our UK government claims to be maintaining the moral high ground on these issues, but the question arises — how long does the UK keep to the moral high ground when dealing with an Irish government that is taking our goodwill for granted?
When will the Prime Minister speak out and condemn this behaviour?
When will she start speaking out in support of British citizens rather than seeming to care more about Irish views?
When will she stand up for the Northern Ireland fishing community.
It is this hypocrisy from Dublin that makes it certain that I and many other MPs will not support an agreement with the EU that panders to this kind of behaviour.
- Kate Hoey is the Labour MP for Vauxhall and campaigned to leave the EU.
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