Labour Against the Witchhunt calls on its members and supporters to vote for the following seven candidates in the current Labour Party NEC elections, which start on October 19.
- Roger Silverman
- Chaudhry Qamer Iqbal
- Carol Taylor Spedding
- Ekua Bayunu
- Alec Price
- Steve Maggs
- Cameron Mitchell
If only one of them was elected to the NEC, he/she could make a huge difference to the ongoing civil war by openly fighting against the witch-hunt!
Roger Silverman, who has been nominated by almost 70 CLPs, has the best chance of being elected. As an anti-Zionist Jew and member of Jewish Voice for Labour, his election would send a very strong signal that the membership is not prepared to accept the ongoing witch-hunt.
All seven support the Action Programme for the Left of the Labour Left Alliance, in which the candidates commit themselves to a socialist programme and, concretely, to:
- Campaign for the Labour Party’s complaints and disciplinary procedures to be overhauled so that disciplinary procedures are carried out in accordance with the principles of natural justice, and be time-limited: charges not resolved within three months should be automatically dropped. An accused member should be given all the evidence submitted against them and be regarded as innocent until proven guilty. All disciplinary cases processed during the last five years have to be overturned, pending unbiased re-examination
- Campaign to bring to justice those who have been exposed in the ‘leaked report’ as having worked against the aims of the Labour Party
- Campaign for Labour to oppose attempts to label the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign as antisemitic
- Campaign for Labour to overturn the party’s commitment to the so-called definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism in a number of its examples
- Campaign for Labour to oppose the party implementing the Board of Deputies’ 10 Pledges, as they undermine party democracy
Please find below a video produced by the Labour Left Alliance, which explains why this does not present a ‘split of the left vote’.
Sadly, the candidates picked by the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance have chosen to say nothing on the issue of the witch-hunt – despite being asked by the LLA and LAW. This is why we feel unable to endorse them in this election. (The LLA on the other hand calls on its supporters to rank the LLA 6 first, then “as many left-wingers as you can, including Cameron Mitchel and the CLGA 6”).
We also advise against a vote for Ann Black and Jermain Jackman who are both on the Open Labour slate. Ann is a right-winger and Jermain has failed to condemn the witch-hunt against another NEC member conducted by his group Socialists of Colour – more details here.
Unfortunately the officers of Jewish Voice for Labour, presumably out of a sense of loyalty to the CLGA, are not supporting comrade Silverman, despite him being a member of their organisation. If you are a supporter of the JVL, please sign this open letter to urge the comrades to change their electoral advice and support Roger.
Sign and share this Open Letter to Jewish Voice for Labour
To Jewish Voice for Labour officers
We are members, associate members, supporters and friends of the JVL and remain in full support of the initiative of Jewish socialist Labour party members to organise in order to oppose the witch-hunt and the allegation that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are antisemitic.
In that spirit we are writing to you to urge you to publicly support your member Roger Silverman and the other candidates who are opposing the witch-hunt in the current election to Labour’s new National Executive Committee (NEC) – in addition to the CLGA 6 that you are already supporting.
The LLA 6 have committed themselves to a socialist programme that includes unequivocal opposition to the Board of Deputies’ 10 Pledges, the IHRA misdefinition of antisemitism and the demand for a fair and just disciplinary process, based on the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
Because of the ‘Single Transferable Vote’ system (STV) there is no need for Labour Party members to restrict themselves to ranking only 6 or 9 candidates. in fact, it is tactically better to vote for more than 9, as this will avoid the risk of inadvertently increasing the vote of the right: there is a real danger of left-wing votes being wasted if left-wing members list only 6 or 9 preferences.
After Jo Bird was blocked by the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance from contesting these elections, Roger Silverman and the rest of the LLA 6 represent the best chance to get a member of the NEC elected who will fight against the ongoing attempts to smear dedicated socialists as antisemites and the ongoing efforts to delegitimise any criticism of the actions of the state of Israel.
We therefore ask you to urgently update your electoral advice.
In solidarity,