For a report of the fantastic meeting, click here.
Film director Ken Loach talks about writer and poet, Kevin Higgins who was suspended from the Labour Party in June 2016 for writing a satirical poem about Tony Blair.
LAW honorary president Moshé Machover:
LAW chair Jackie Walker:
LAW vice-chair Tony Greenstein:
For videos from the event, click here.
Continue Reading “Ken Loach: “This witch-hunt is a complete nonsense””
To the NEC, Compliance Unit and Constitutional Committee
Sisters and Brothers
23 January 2018
We have waited for 19 months for the Chakrabarti Enquiry’s recommendations to be put into practice, and give our party the fair disciplinary procedures it needs and deserves. We hope that the NEC will make a start today by clearing David Watson of unfounded charges and letting him return to Walthamstow where he was a valued officer.
We have seen so many good comrades across the Labour Party suspended on the basis of anonymous accusations, and still waiting to be reinstated. There have been waves of factional purges which are shameful in a democratic party. First members were accused of being Green, then trade union militants, then antisemites and then transphobic. Accusations seem to have come down most heavily on people of colour, thus further excluding them from our party which we say that we want to reflect the society we live in. Continue Reading “On the case of David Watson: Open letter to the NEC, Compliance Unit and Constitutional Committee”
LAW member Marc Wadsworth needs help covering his legal fees to fight his suspension from the Labour Party. His hearing is in less than two months’ time.
Marc is – like hundreds of others – a victim of the ongoing civil war in the Labour Party. Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn have been expelled and suspended for the most ridiculous of charges – and the charge against Marc of being ‘anti-Semitic’ is up there with the most nonsensical ones. His ‘crime’ was to call out Ruth Smeeth in the press conference that launched the Chakrabarti report. You can see the video for yourself here.
It is worth fighting back: The reinstatement of Moshé Machover and Tony Greenstein’s successful injunction at the High Court prove that. All these cases are not just about the individuals concerned, they are important stepping stones in our campaign to end the ongoing witch-hunt against the left in the party.
Now please dig deep and support Marc’s campaign (more background below)
Dear Comrades,
I was notified this evening that my hearing of the disciplinary charge that has been presented by the NEC against me will take place on Saturday 27 January 2018, starting at 12 noon, at a venue in Oxford, details of which will be confirmed shortly. Needless to say, I will keep you posted.
As I have already made clear, I am not going to make any attempt to reason with those who are determined to seize every opportunity to sabotage the Party and stifle Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. They have most magnanimously granted me permission to be represented by a lawyer but I will be represented by myself – and not only because I can’t afford hiring the services of a high-powered member of the legal trade. The bubble of a show-trial like this can only be bursted if the accused become accusers- and that is precisely the show which yours truly intends to stage there. To accuse an Israeli-born Jewish convert to Christianity, a son of Holocaust survivors of being an ‘anti-semite’ is mind-bogglingly Kafkaesque (mother survived Auschwitz and Theresienstadt concentration camps and father managed to flee his hometown and join the Red Army 24 hours before the invading Germans reached his hometown. Their respective families were annihilated by the Nazis).
As you all know, this is part of the Party’s (allas, still relentless) right-wing to mount resistance to Labour’s return to its Socialist roots – and labelling any criticism of the State of Israel as ‘anti-semitism’ is an essential ingredient in this dish. The coalition of right wingers within Labour and certain stake-holders outside the Party have identified fake antisemitism a convenient method to tarnish the Labour Party. It is high time to put the kibosh on these machinations. Especially as today’s NEC election results reflect clearly and distinctly the Party’s will.
I intend to make all of this (and beyond) very clear to the honorable adjudicators. Even if it costs me my Labour membership.
And I know I shan’t be standing there alone.
In solidarity,
Cyril
On the very same day that LAW’s honorary president Moshé Machover was expelled from the Labour Party, so was Michael Paling. But, unlike Moshé, whose expulsion had to be overturned by a successful international campaign, comrade Paling remains expelled. Mike was a member of Redcar CLP prior to his expulsion. The MP there is the notoriously anti-Corbyn, Progress-supporting Anna Turley.
As his email to Moshé explains (see below), his ‘offence’ was sharing posts which included articles from Weekly Worker. His Facebook timeline is full of posts he has shared, most of them have nothing to do with the CPGB or LPM. He was obviously targeted as an active trade unionist. They were amongst many such posts that he shared on Facebook. We need to put an end to this McCarthyism.
Mike Paling has been expelled under Chapter 2.I.4.B of the Labour Party’s rules which states:
“A member of the party who joins and/or supports a political organisation other than an official Labour Group or unit of the Party or supports any candidate who stands against an official Labour candidate, or publicly declares their intent to stand against a Labour candidate, shall automatically be ineligible to be or remain a party member, subject to the provisions of part 6.I.2 of the disciplinary rules”.
Continue Reading “Mike Paling – expelled for sharing Facebook posts”
Dear Brother and Sister,
January 12 2018
Until very recently the political balance on Labour’s National Executive Committee meant that decisions concerning suspensions and referrals to the NCC appeared to be rubber stamped.
Following today’s elections of a further 3 constituency members it is widely hoped and expected that there will now be a socialist majority on the NEC. From now on there is no longer an excuse for the witch hunt of socialists.
Nothing can be more ludicrous than the suspension of poet Kevin Higgins for writing a satirical poem about Tony Blair. It is only the most oppressive countries that persecute poets. Nothing can be more unjust than members left suspended, often for months, without information as to charges against them, without regard or due care for the effect this has on members lives and reputations.
We know of a number of members in this situation who have been put at risk of severe depression and suicide.
As you know, at the present time the cases of Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker and Marc Wadsworth are going to the NCC. Nothing can be more absurd than a socialist party seeking to expel Jewish, Black and life-long anti-racists for the ‘crime’ of having upset the supporters of Zionism & Israel.
The fact that these suspensions are so avidly reported by Britain’s most racist tabloid press – the Daily Mail, Express and Sun – gives the lie to the suggestion that these suspensions have anything to do with ‘anti-Semitism’. Does anyone seriously believe that papers which employ Richard Littlejohn, Katie Hopkins et al are seriously concerned about anti-Jewish racism?
Shami Chakrabarti, in her Report recommended that ‘The Labour Party should seek to uphold the strongest principles of natural justice, however difficult the circumstances, and to resist subjecting members to a trial by media.’ Eighteen months later these Chakrabarti proposals have not been applied in any meaningful way to the disciplinary process. Members being processed by the Compliance Unit have been subject to repeated leaks to the media, in a clear breach of the Data Protection Act.
We call for a freeze in all disciplinary actions as and until the Chakrabarti Report’s recommendations on due process and natural justice in regard to the disciplinary process have been debated and implemented.
In Solidarity
Jackie Walker – Chair, Labour Against the Witch-hunt
Tony Greenstein – Vice Chair, Labour Against the Witchhunt
David Watson, Labour Party fundraising coordinator for the Walthamstow constituency in northeast London, was suspended for unspecified “breaches of party rules.” The Jewish Chronicle – a Zionist weekly newspaper which has been a main cheerleader for the campaign branding Labour a hotbed of Jew-hatred – gave an “Exclusive” tag to its May 6 report alleging that Watson had been suspended because of antisemitic Facebook posts.
For more info on this case, click here.
To sign a petition calling for his reinstatement, click here.
Poet Kevin Higgins has been suspended from the Labour Party for over 18 months, apparently for writing this satirical poem about the Blairs. For background to this case see here.
What Did The Politician Get His Wife?
after Bertolt Brecht
And what did she get, the girlfriend,
from the student union meeting
at which he rose to his feet
and realised he could speak?
From that meeting she got
the Snickers bar he forgot to eat
so busy was he watching them listen;
and that speech, unabridged,
every other night for thirty five years.
And what did she get, his new wife,
from the time he first used a party
conference microphone to agree with both sides?
Those okay with the Moslems/Mexicans/Gypsies being here,
and those who want them kept over there.
From that microphone she took away their
invitation to dine with the Deputy Mayor
and his not new wife.
And what did she get, his no longer new wife,
when, at the second attempt,
he won that seat on the City Council?
From his election she got to drink Pinot Noir
and go swimming in their private club
with the no-so-new wives
of those who got the contracts
to make the paving stones and install
the pay-and-display ticket machines
during his years as Chairman
of the relevant committee.
And what did she get, his well-maintained wife,
the night he was elected to the big shiny
parliament? From that night she took away
an architect to re-design their new three storey pad
in the priciest possible part of the capital,
and an article about herself
in the Daily Express lifestyle pages.
And what did she get, the no longer new MP’s
no longer new wife, the morning
they made him Minister?
That morning she got to go horse riding
with the Leader of the House of Lords’
fourth (or fifth) wife..
And what did she get, the no longer new
Cabinet Minister’s wife, the night the landslide
made him Prime Minister? That night
she got to hold to her breast
invitations to break foie gras
with the Sultan of Brunei, the President of China;
and the chance to write husband’s speech
announcing the crackdown on beggars
who accost hard working
families who stop to ask for directions
en route to the nearest funeral parlour.
And what did she get, the ex-Prime Minister’s
no longer new wife, from all the depleted uranium shells
he had dropped during the Battle of Basra, all the soldiers
he sent to meet improvised explosive
devices in far Mesopotamia in the hope
of getting rid of something bigger
than the beggars and prostitutes
at Kings Cross. For these she got
white night terrors
of him on trial for all their crimes,
and the desire to never again
look out the front window of their fine
Connaught Square house
at the tree from which, it’s said,
they used to once string
traitors.
KEVIN HIGGINS
Continue Reading “The curious case of Kevin Higgins, suspended for writing this poem”
(please not that this article first appeared on the website of Labour Party Marxists – all links refer to that site)
The expulsion of long-standing Israeli socialist Moshé Machover from the Labour Party (expulsion letter here) caused shockwaves throughout the labour movement. We feature the motions and statements in support of Moshé and against the ongoing witch hunt by the right in the party.
On October 5, Moshe received a second explusion letter, which states that “These allegations [of anti-Semitism] are not subject to an investigation as you are not currently a member of the Labour Party.” They will probably be kept on file, should his expulsion based on his “clear support” for LPM be overturned. This is arbitrary, to say the least.
Clearly, the mass protests against the outrageous decision worked: On October 30, they were forced to – very reluctantly – reverse their own decision and Moshé has now been reinstated to full membership.
Click here to read the correspondence between comrade Machover and Sam Matthews, “head of disputes”.
Labour Party branches and CLPs
Other organisations and individuals
The Right and the Zionists are determined to expel me and others from the Labour Party on trumped-up charges of ‘anti-Semitism’. Natural Justice Goes Out the Door as Labour’s Expulsion Circus Rolls On. Examples of their contempt for the most basic rights of the accused include the following:
i. I am not allowed to know who my accusers are
ii. I am not allowed to know who the Panel judging me are
iii. After being suspended for 20 months I am given 4 weeks to respond to a 189 page bundle including over 50 charges. I was in hospital on November 2nd when I was informed of the decision to bring charges. Continue Reading “Please Contribute to the Legal Appeal to Help Iain McNicol understand the meaning of Natural Justice”
Statement by Jewish Voice for Labour, 26 November 2017
Jewish Voice for Labour is committed both to challenging any antisemitic incidents or statements we encounter in the Labour Party or elsewhere, and to contesting unwarranted allegations of antisemitism.
We agree with Brian Klug who wrote in The Jewish Chronicle last year: “While antisemitism is monstrous – and, like all forms of racism, should be vigorously dealt with – false accusations of antisemitism are monstrous too.” To be labelled an antisemite is both painful and severely damaging to a person’s reputation and it is not an allegation to be made without clear prima facia evidence. False allegations also risk making correct allegations less credible and place Jews at greater risk.
We have reviewed the bulky dossier of material presented as evidence against Tony Greenstein by the Governance and Legal Unit of the Labour Party. To those of us who have known him for many years as a Jewish socialist and an implacable opponent of racism and antisemitism in any form, it is no surprise to find that the dossier does not offer any remotely persuasive substantiation of claims of antisemitism.
There is undoubtedly evidence of language which we would not want to be associated with. But as Shami Chakrabarti stated in her report, even offensive language on its own is only antisemitic if it is coupled with antisemitic intent. Such intent cannot be demonstrated in Tony Greenstein’s case because it is absent.
There are many critical comments we could make about this disciplinary process. We will limit ourselves to one, the issue of representation. Party members with sufficient financial resources are entitled to instruct a lawyer to represent them. Those who cannot afford one are only allowed to have a ‘silent friend’. This clearly discriminates against less affluent party members and in particular against less affluent and less articulate party members who are denied the support of a knowledgeable friend or colleague to speak on their behalf.
The party should either provide legal representation to all summoned to a disciplinary hearing or allow representation and advocacy from a non-legally qualified acquaintance.
Sign this petition by clicking here.
To Members of Labour’s National Executive Committee: Stop the Expulsion Proceedings Against Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker and Marc Wadsworth
On October 3 2017, Professor Moshe Machover, an Israeli anti-Zionist was ‘auto-excluded’ from the Labour Party. Moshe’s offence was to write an ‘apparently anti-Semitic’ article quoting Reinhardt Heydrich praising the Zionist movement. The article itself was factually true.
Moshe’s main crime had been to write for the Weekly Worker, paper of the Communist Party of Great Britain and speak at their conference. According to Sam Matthews of Labour’s Disputes Committee, this indicated support for another organisation. If Moshe had, like many Labour MPs, written for the Daily Mail or the Sun there would not have been a problem.
Because of the fierce reaction to Moshe’s expulsion, with dozens of Labour Party branches and CLPs passing motions condemning this exercise in McCarthyism, the expulsion of Machover was rescinded. According to Matthew’s ‘logic’, Jeremy Corbyn, a columnist for the Morning Star for 10 years, should also have been expelled! After Labour’s successful annual conference and its successes in the General Election, members were not prepared to tolerate a renewed witch hunt by Labour’s General Secretary Iain McNicol or the Compliance Unit.
Members have made it very clear that they are sick and tired of supporters of the Palestinians and opponents of Israeli Apartheid being labelled as anti-Semitic.
McNicol’s witch hunters haven’t given up though. On October 31 the Jewish Chronicle, as a result of a leak from Labour HQ, wrote that Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker and Marc Wadsworth were going to be facing expulsion imminently.
On November 2, Tony Greenstein, a Jewish anti-Zionist and an active anti-fascist, author of the Fight Against Fascism in Brighton (reviewed here) was informed that he would be facing expulsion before the National Constitutional Committee within 5 weeks.
It is over 20 months since Tony was suspended and 17 months since his Investigation Meeting, yet the NCC have refused to allow him more time to response to a 190 page dossier despite having been in hospital when he was notified of the hearing.
Tony has been targeted by the Jewish Labour Movement, ‘sister party’ of the Israeli Labour Party. One charge is posting on his blog ‘offensive and derisory’ comments accusing Louise Ellman MP of being a “supporter of Israeli child abuse”.
On January 16 2016 there was a debate in the House of Commons on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children. The debate revolved around a UNICEF Report which recorded that Palestinian children experienced treatment akin to torture as well as sexual abuse. During the debate Ms Ellman intervened three times to justify the Israeli Military’s behaviour.
Tony Greenstein is accused of ‘anti-Semitism’ but his charges relate to his criticism of Israel not Jews. According to Professor Brian Klug of Oxford University ‘‘antisemitism is a form of hostility to Jews as Jews, where Jews are perceived as something other than what they are.’ Anti-Semitism has nothing to do with criticism of Zionism or Israel.
We demand that the principles of natural justice and due process, as recommended by the Chakrabarti Report, are adhered to and that the proposed expulsions of Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker and Marc Wadsworth are withdrawn. As Alexei Sayle noted during a Sky News interview:
‘most of the people who have been suspended from the Labour Party seem to be Jewish’
Sign the petition by clicking here.
Celebrity international backing for academic expelled, then readmitted to Labour Party