Letter to the Editor from a Labour Party member

In September this year Labour Affairs published an articled entitled “Purges in the Labour Party” which began:

“Starmer’s campaign of exclusion and harassment.

This topic requires a report on the scale of the Forde report, which took two years to investigate complaints of all sorts regarding the behaviour of officers and members.  What follows is a selection of headings of topics that need to be investigated to explain how the current leadership of the Labour Party is purging it of its left wing, with the result that the Party is no longer a ‘broad church’.

1.  Persecution against individual members, against MPs and other elected persons
2.  Banning organisations
3.  Interference with CLPs (Constituency Labour Party branches) activities.
4.  Censorship”
5.  

The following letter comes under the heading:  “Interference with CLPs activities”.

Letter to the Editor of Labour Affairs

I went to my first meeting of Tottenham Labour Constituency Party (CLP) Thursday, 22nd November, 2023, as elected delegate from a branch transferred into Tottenham in the recent redrawing of constituency boundaries. 

In the way the Labour Party has chosen to respond to the changes called for by the redrawing of constituency boundaries London Regional Labour stood down the serving Branch Officers and appointed its own nominees to take their places without any consultation as to the reason for that, or its duration. 

This has means, for example, that Secretaries are no long able to call meetings, communicate with their Branch officers or members or to consult the membership list on the internal Labour Party Organise system. 

Local democracy is cancelled, in effect. Indefinitely.  

At the entrance to the venue, a large school, was a gathering of Unite members, some with Unite flags, all handing out leaflets to arriving delegates and answering questions about their presence there. 

That turned out to be a dispute with their Council over pay and conditions which they thought Labour Party members ought to know about. 

One of the Unite people I happened to know  through the Labour Party of which he is also a member. 

I being a workplace rep  myself,  I was interested in the case which happened to be about management’s abuse of a productivity scheme. 

Other arriving delegates were doing similar and, some people knew each other, so there was the bit of banter. All  good humoured. With invites to the Irish pub across the road after our meeting. – which happened. People were wishing the Unite reps good luck. 

Passing into the school yard, we were met inside the entrance gate by an unelected  London Regional Officer (redacted, ed.) who informed us that the meeting was cancelled,. He gave as the reason the presence of Unite the Union presence outside the entrance to the meeting,. He referred to the union reps as “protestors” and “demonstrators”  whose presence delegates might be upset or intimidated by.  

Soon a great crowd had gathered as the time of the meeting approached.  They were very angry with the Regional Officer at the short notice of the cancellation and the reason given. 

“What?” The chorus went up: ” Be upset by 4 or 5 trade unionists giving out leaflets to Labour delegates about a dispute they were having with a Labour Council?” 

In my former CLP I don’t think I ever attended a CLP meeting where I didn’t have to push myself past people selling political papers and pamphlets, or, like the Unite lads, giving out leaflets about some local issue or other. It’s part of the whole experience of attending meetings. That and the meeting after the meeting. In the pub. 

The main business of the  first meeting of the newly constituted  CLP organised by Region – the elected CLP Officers also being stood down –  was to be the AGM. 

And on the Agenda was the election of Officers for the coming year.

In the pub later I had learned that the person (name redacted ed) had, in fact, received a letter of Suspension earlier in the day of the meeting and it was brought to my attention that her name had been taken off the list of nominees to be voted on if the meeting had been held. 

From what I heard in the pub it seems similar scenes are occurring across the country. 

The consensus in the pub that the members of one of Labour’s biggest donors was being scapegoated to cover up for the real reason for the meeting: gerrymandering.

It also appears that an AGM is not likely this side of Christmas.

This was the email, timed at 19.29, 22 November (meeting due to start at 8pm – after signing in and credentials check scheduled for 7.30pm start.

(names redacted):

This was amongst my emails when I got home.

Dear Delegate 

We are so sorry to have to send this urgent notice.

We regret to inform you that due to a demonstration outside of the venue, the CLP AGM has been cancelled.

We will be in touch as soon as we can with further information.

Kind regards

xxxxxxxxxxx Interim Chair

xxxxxxxxxxx Interim Secretary

xxxxxxxxxxx Interim Treasurer

( names redacted. Interim Chair, etc. means appointed by Region ed.)

Dated 22nd Nov 2023, 7.16p for a meeting due to start 7.30 for 8pm

Signed xxxxxxxxxxx.  (Name redacted ed.)

What is going on in the Labour Party? 

Does Labour Affairs have any opinion on it? 

Or advice to give ?

(The photo above shows Martin Forde QC who led the enquiry on bullying and misconduct in the Labour Party)