Mass resignations of Penrith and the Borders CLP officers

by Left Horizons reporters

For the second week running, the Cumberland News and Star features on its front page the witch-hunt in the Labour Party against a long-standing left Labour councillor. This time it is reporting that almost the entire executive committee of Penrith and the Border CLP have resigned in protest at Alan McGuckin’s expulsion.

They remain party members and will fight for him as rank and file members. The following is the press release put out by the CLP officers:

The vast majority of the executive committee of Penrith and the Border Constituency Labour Party have resigned from their posts, in protest at the expulsion from the party of long-standing member Alan McGuckin. 

10 of the 11 executive committee post holders have signed a letter to the Labour Party Northern Region office and the National Executive Committee, expressing their disappointment at learning of the expulsion of Alan McGuckin, and offering their resignation as a show of solidarity. 

They have raised concerns about the ‘toxic culture’ within the Labour Party, as outlined in the recently published Forde Report, the investigative report commissioned by the Party to look into a previous leaked report and the circumstances around the leaking. 

Their letter details the ways in which they believe Alan McGuckin’s expulsion must be viewed in the context of the findings of the Report, which showed that there was deeply entrenched factionalism within the Party where supporters of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership were treated with suspicion and disrespect by senior role holders, and that Party resources were used factionally. In addition, the Report also finds that the Party was, ‘operating a hierarchy of racism and discrimination’.

‘Sudden expulsion and no substantial dialogue’

Jamie Penquite-Green, former Chair of the CLP, said, “We have been shocked and saddened by the sudden expulsion of Alan, without any substantial dialogue with us as members or executive role holders. Had Alan not chosen to publicise his experience, any number of conclusions about his expulsion and reputation as a councillor could have been drawn. Members work extremely hard to campaign and elect solid councillors like Alan and it is disappointing to see that asset needlessly lost. It is only right to withhold our labour within these roles under these circumstances.”

Karen Lockney, former Political Education Officer, and a fellow County Councillor said, “It should not be a crime to express socialist views within a party that came out of the trade union movement and which is a voice for working people. We need people with Alan’s experience and insight in the Labour Party more than ever as we face the cost of living crisis.” 

Outgoing Policy Officer and former Unison official, Peter Doyle, said, “Alan was elected as Labour councillor by the people of Carlisle, and has an unblemished career as a union official for Unite and a party member for 48 years. There has been an anonymous complaint against him, and an anonymous bureaucratic process investigating him. No dialogue with Alan or with the local party members, or the county council Labour Group. This is a disgraceful witch hunt.”

The outgoing executive members are not resigning their membership of the Party as former branch secretary, Danny Smith, said, “We will continue our campaigning and grassroots work to support our local community, and to speak out against the direction of travel the Tories are taking us in. However, the concerns of toxic culture identified within the Forde Report is only being compounded by this expulsion. We are still here for our community, but under the current environment we feel our time and energy is best spent organising outside of any official roles, as doing so in them seems untenable.”

In a more detailed statement, the resigning officers wrote:

 It is with great disappointment that Penrith and the Border Constituency Party has learned of the expulsion of long-standing member, activist, and Cumbria County councillor, Alan McGuckin from the Labour Party. This expulsion, among the recommencement of factionalist exclusion of members, is demonstrative of an unnecessary recommitment to the “toxic culture” described within the findings of the Forde Report (referred to herewith as ‘FR’) (C1.35).

At a time when the working class is bearing the brunt of a deepening cost-of-living crisis, when Labour – a democratic socialist party by definition – must embody the most steadfast opposition to the violence of the Tory Party, we find that resources of the Party are being utilised frivolously to investigate and exclude experienced, hard-working councillors and members instead (Sec. E, p.101).

These expressed concerns are entirely warranted and are supported by the Labour Party Rule Book and by the findings of the Forde Report, commissioned by the Party, that remains unacknowledged, unaddressed, and unacceptably, unacted upon.

 The FR has revealed the intensification of a hostile “mono culture” within the Party, wherein deeply entrenched factionalism (p.101) created a toxic atmosphere that actively harmed the Party. Left members and supporters of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership were treated with suspicion, deep animosity and profound disrespect by senior role holders, through factional resource allocation and strategy, pages of documented vitriol, and by the disciplinary procedure, that was found to be “not fit for purpose”(C1.9, p.29; p.35; p.7, C4.23, p.92).

Party staff, who have an obligation within their roles to maintain “perfect neutrality” (C1.8) steadily and flagrantly departed from this requirement for the disseminated belief that the Party needed to be ‘saved’ from the left (C2.26, p.44). Left MPs were not afforded technical assistance for online abuse directed towards them, as centre and right MPs had been.

Forde report found factional decisions being made

Members and potential selection candidates were subjected to a search tool ‘validation process’ whereby the report found factional decisions made by GLU staff played a substantial role in implementing the objective which was of the direct intent to “remove ballots from individuals who would otherwise have voted for Jeremy Corbyn” (C2.25).

Further, the report stated it does not seem “credible to suggest that the exercise (in particular the social media component) was not targeted at applicants and members on the Left” (C2.25). The FR, agreeing with Kerslake Review, stated that a “culture of factionalism and bad behaviour has become embedded in the organization” (p.5 quoted in FR, E3.4, p.104).

The NEC Codes of Conduct explicitly state that all codes of conduct and NEC statements form part of the “agreed relationship between individual Labour Party members”, which would also include those in positions of power (LPRB, p.124). Labour, as a broad church, requires a genuine mutual endeavour relationship – and that requires a foundation of respect – this, as the FR states, was found “lacking” (C1.36).

Meanwhile, complaints ranging from homophobia and discrimination to sexism/misogyny, anti-disability as well as many forms of racism(s) (p.81) from staff were left unaddressed and allowed to “fester”. This contributed to the feeling that specific problems were only dealt with when it was “politically expedient and/or essential” (C6.9, p.82). We note in particular in the findings of the FR that,

An environment that should encourage debate

“Working for the Party, with the aims and values to which it lays claim, should be a collective endeavour; there will always be disagreements about policy or strategy, but we would have expected them to be dealt with in a comradely – or at least respectful – manner and in an environment which permitted healthy debate. Instead – in a period we are considering – we have been shocked to find the existence of a toxic atmosphere, which appears to have been fueled by an entrenched factionalism, but also by some worrying discriminatory attitudes including racism and sexism exhibited amongst some senior staff” (p.101).

Members’ complaints, filed within the Party procedure at a regional level, have gone unanswered e.g. most recently a point of order raised at North Regional Conference 2022, regarding the treatment of the BAME network. A quantitative examination should be utilised to determine the extent and consequence of staff hours which were drawn away from attending to complaints of protected equalities and redirected to target the Left.

Additionally, it cannot be ignored that Councillor Alan McGuckin raised a point of order at the same Regional Conference, specifically speaking against factionalist behaviour regarding ballots for the Regional Executive Committee elections. The timing of Ala McGuckin’s investigation, including the inconsistency of the reasons for him being investigated, is notable.

We have considered the timings of Councillor McGuckin’s investigations in the light of comments in the FR regarding implications for individual members of the rules approved at the 2021 National Conference, in relation to the Proscribed Acts and Prohibited Acts,

“…We do have continuing concerns – in particular, in relation to the use of lengthy administrative suspensions and sanctions on individual members deemed to have supported newly proscribed organisations” (p.92).

 With regards to the NEC, the FR conceded the committee’s ability to utilise its “absolute discretion” to designate an organisation at odds with the aims and values of the Party and maintains the power to terminate membership of those who support any such organisation. However, the FR points out how “support” is also freely able to be defined by the NEC, in its ‘absolute discretion’, pressing that the criteria “and process for so designating organisations (sic), along with the boundaries of the definition of ‘support’ must be fair and transparent”(D2.44, p.98).

Disciplinary systems found to be ‘unfit for purpose’

“Our investigations reveal that not only were successive systems unfit for purpose and susceptible to factional interference, and manipulation, but that the importance of a transparent, consistent and fair disciplinary process was not regarded as fundamental to the effective management of the Party and its membership, as it should have been” (D2.39, p.98-D2.46, p.99). These systems must operate transparently, within “published guidelines”, and “neutrally” (sic) (C2.28).

It is logical and absolutely within our rights as members to scrutinize and compare the findings of the FR to the current events taking place. It would be unethical, immoral, and additionally harmful to the Party and our fellow members to disregard the evidence for the ways in which this toxic culture has been allowed to continue in such a manner, as investigated within the FR.

The expulsion of Councillor McGuckin and these events are not isolated, nor unrelated and will only be dealt with by graceful recognition, reflection, and accountability. This sentiment is echoed many a time over within the report in its recommendations: “Cultural growth, including the skill of deep listening, acceptance of differing traditions with the Party as legitimate, and compassion, need to be led and demonstrated by the leadership of the Party.” (p. 102).

 “For a Party which seeks to be a standard bearer of progressive politics, equality, and workers’ rights, this is an untenable situation. The Party must live by its values and lead by example” (p. 81).

Factionalist expulsions are detrimental to comradeship of the membership, to the vitality of the campaign efforts, and to the entirety of trust of the Party. These will only serve to further disengage members, and undoubtedly, many more will leave the Party.  

We, within Penrith and the Border CLP, are socialists committed to the cause of Labour and have demonstrated that time again by the contribution of time, labour, energy, support efforts and finances – not only to our CLP but to the surrounding CLPs and across the North as a whole. Consequently, this has damaged the reputation of a long-standing socialist, Alan McGuckin – and therefore has damaged the trust of the members listed here below.

Reprehensible treatment of Councillor McGuckin

 It is with immediate effect that the following officers of the executive of Penrith and the Border CLP resign our posts and withdraw our labour in protest of the reprehensible treatment of Councillor McGuckin on such unsubstantiated and capricious grounds.

We send solidarity to Alan and to the others treated in the same manner by their own party. We cannot accept such spurious grounds for expulsion of a man who has dedicated his adult life to the party and trade unions. We are obliged to demonstrate loyalty to a member who we have campaigned alongside for many years. As members who feel we should act with integrity, compassion, honesty and solidarity, we have no choice but to protest at this truly absurd expulsion by resigning our officer roles.

We request that you examine the case of AM and support his appeal against this expulsion, for the reasons detailed above.

Regards,

Jamie Penquite-Green, Chair, and LGBTQ Coordinator

Danny Smith, Secretary and IT Coordinator

Nicola Hawkins, Vice Chair

Hilary Barker, Vice Chair (Membership) and Disabilities Coordinator

Karen Lockney, Political Education Officer, Cumbria County Councillor

Hilary Snell, Women’s Officer

Dave Knaggs, Communication and Social Media Officer

Jonny Alvarez-Buylla, Youth Coordinator

Peter Doyle, Policy Officer

Chris Coulthard, Auditor