Letter from John Wake (Harlow CLP)
Dear Editor,
Harlow Labour Party has issued a call for the immediate re-instatement of Jeremy Corbyn as a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party. The Motion calling for the re-instatement of the former Leader of the party was passed at an All-Member Meeting of Harlow Constituency Labour Party on Monday 15 November 2021.
Mr Corbyn was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party following his comments on the report of the investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. Mr Corbyn stated that the scale of the problem was “dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents”.
A comparison of the EHRC report with the coverage of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party by the mass media shows that the extent of the problem was indeed of far smaller magnitude than had been alleged by those hostile to Mr Corbyn’s politics.
Speech that is insulting, or intimidating, or bigoted has no place in the Labour Party, but Mr Corbyn’s comments were not of that ilk. They were not in any way anti-Semitic or Judeophobic. They were fair comment.
Violation of natural justice
Mr Corbyn was suspended without a hearing and with no right of appeal, in a clear violation of the principle of natural justice. His suspension from the PLP is an attack on the right of members of the Labour Party to engage in legitimate free speech. It is also an attack on democracy. For there cannot truly be democracy within the Labour Party if members are not allowed to engage in legitimate free speech without fear of sanction. The Labour Party cannot truly claim to uphold free speech and democracy while Jeremy Corbyn remains suspended.
Members of Harlow CLP had submitted similar Motions following Mr Corbyn’s exclusion from the Parliamentary Labour Party on 29 October last year, but these Motions had been ruled out of order, following instructions issued by Labour Party General Secretary David Evans. The officers of a number of constituency parties were suspended when they defied these instructions and allowed such Motions to be discussed.
Now that this Motion has been passed by Harlow Labour Party it is to be hoped that other local Labour Parties will follow suit, and that Jeremy Corbyn will be once more be allowed to take his rightful place in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Yours sincerely
John Wake
Member, Harlow Constituency Labour Party
