Thu 7 Feb 2019, 04:53 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Pam Bromley in Rossendale.
John McDonnell has been reported in the media as denying the existence of a smear campaign in the Labour Party. I am appalled at this blatant disregard of the truth and have sent him the following message.
“Dear John, I am a Rossendale Borough Labour Councillor who was elected to represent the Whitewell Ward in 2016.
I was inspired to stand as a councillor by the fight that Jeremy Corbyn and yourself were putting up against the Tories. I met you on the occasion when you came to Whitewell Bottom Community Centre, as did Jeremy on 2 occasions. In 2017 I found myself suspended on bogus accusations of anti-Semitism and bringing the Party into disrepute.
To add insult to injury the matter was made available to the Press before I knew about it myself. As a result I have been unfairly lambasted in the media and have been unable to participate in party activities or attend Labour group meetings, although I have continued to support both. I am expecting the investigation to conclude and my name to be cleared in the near future, by which time I will probably have lost 12 months of campaigning.
I am in contact with many members, some who have been activists for their entire adult lives, who are in precisely the same situation. I was gobsmacked when I heard you declare that there is no smear campaign going on. This is precisely what IS going on. I refer you to the Aljazeera documentary ‘The Lobby’. I am deeply troubled that you seem so unaware of the depth and extent of the efforts to undermine the chance of a Labour government led by Jeremy. I joined the Party initially in 1973 and apart from a gap of a few years I have been a member all that time.
Personally I have never encountered racism of any kind in that period. That doesn’t prove there is none and anyone who holds such views has no place in our party. There is indeed some inappropriate material on social media but the vast majority of people who are accused of anti-Semitism have posted perfectly legitimate material more often that not criticising the actions of Israel.
I am deeply distressed to see the effects of austerity on ordinary people and ardently hope to see Jeremy and yourself become next door neighbours in the not too distant future. However I am also deeply concerned that many, many activists are suspended and debarred from taking an active role in bringing that about. If our party does not crack the lies and smears being conducted by organisations such as CAA, LAAS and the rest, and the party administration stop having so much money and time tied up in investigating stupid allegations, then I have real concerns about the electoral outcome.
If you are genuinely not aware that there is a smear campaign then I beg you to look closely at the copious material available on the subject. Please take a stand against this appalling attack on our party”. I call on John McDonnell and other leading MPs to recognise that the attacks on Labour Party members come from the same source as those on Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour Party has swollen immensely since Corbyn became leader, and fake accusations of anti-Semitism have been used in an attempt to squash the budding of a mass working class movement which threatens the dominance of capital and big business.
The only way to counter this is to clearly oppose the smears and turn our attention and resources to the election of a Labour government which will, among other things, tackle the root causes of racism in whatever form it takes.
