Barbara shares this latest news from the recent Labour Party members rally . Ed
Labour Party members and supporters pledged to do all they can to help Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign to retain his position as Labour Party leader at a Re-elect Jeremy Corbyn rally, in Newport, last week.
Many of those crowding into the Riverside Centre, on Wednesday (27 July), also signed an open letter to Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), criticising recent decisions to ban new members from voting in the current leadership election and to ban all but essential official constituency meetings for the duration of the contest.
Mobilising support for Jeremy Corbyn
The meeting, called by local members of Labour’s grassroots network, Momentum, and chaired by Labour councillor Geoff Lumley (Newport East), was called at short notice by Labour Party members seeking to mobilise support for Mr Corbyn, who is being challenged for the party leadership by Owen Smith MP.
Members and supporters heard ways in which they could support Mr Corbyn’s official election campaign, for example by visiting the official campaign Website and signing up to volunteer or donate money to the cause.
Next constituency meeting
Other ideas included attending a constituency meeting at the Riverside Centre, Newport, 7.30pm Wednesday 10 August, to vote for Mr Corbyn as IW Labour’s preferred candidate.
The rally follows a recent constituency meeting where members voted 45 to 16 in favour of reaffirming our support for Jeremy.
More than 1,000 members
Cllr Lumley, whose idea the rally was, said:
“Jeremy is very popular with Isle of Wight members. We supported him in last year’s leadership election and there has been a huge growth in local membership since he became leader. With more than 1,000 members, we are now the Island’s biggest political party.”
Legal challenge
A legal challenge has been launched nationally against the decision by the NEC, the Party’s governing body and administrative authority, to prevent members who joined the party after 12 January this year from voting in the leadership election.
Cllr Lumley said he hoped the NEC would see sense and overturn their decision. He also hoped they would refund new members who then paid £25 to become Registered Supporters in order to vote:
“It’s highly regrettable that we have come to this. While I welcome the increased activity and interest in local Labour Party politics, the sooner our MPs get back to their real job, which is protecting and increasing the interests of working people and their families, the better.”
Anyone wishing to find out more about the Island’s Re-elect Jeremy Corbyn! campaign, should email: [email protected]
Open letter to: Paddy Lillis (NEC Chair), Ellie Reeves (Vice Chair), Ann Black (Disputes Panel Chair), all NEC members
This letter calls on the NEC to overturn the following decisions: 1) the exclusion of new members and new affiliated members from the Labour Leadership contest;
2) the banning of all except essential CLP meetings for the duration of the Leadership contest. It also calls on them to refund the £25 paid by new members and affiliates who also had to become Registered Supporters in order to vote.
We, the undersigned, call on Labour’s National Executive Committee to reconsider its decision to disenfranchise people who joined the Labour Party or became union affiliates on or after 12 January 2016. Many of these new members are people who joined with the specific intention of voting in any leadership contest, at a time when the Labour Party website in terms said “you will be eligible to vote in leadership elections.”
We call on the NEC to overturn this decision and to refund the £25 paid by these new members and affiliates to become Registered Supporters.
We further call upon the NEC’s decision to immediately lift its ban on every Constituency Labour Party from holding all but essential and specifically approved meetings for the duration of the leadership contest. Labour members have been told by the General Secretary this is because of “a marked increase in reports of intimidation and threatening behaviour taking place at party meetings.” We would never support intimidation or threatening behaviour but believe that if and where it occurs, it should be dealt with locally. We do not believe all CLPs should be prevented from carrying out normal functions, such as considering ordinary motions. Ordinary motions are an important means by which members publicly and internally express their views.
We believe that the NEC decisions discussed above exacerbate tensions within the Party and send an unwelcome message to the public that the Labour Party is both undemocratic and opposed to open and free debate.
Signed by Labour Party members and supporters attending a Re-elect Jeremy Corbyn event at the Riverside Centre, Newport, on 27 July 2016
