Party warned they have no God-given right to simply expect youth support
CHAIR of Young Labour, only elected last month, awaits her fate after she failed to obey an official order to “immediately” take down a statement in support of Jeremy Corbyn.
But she may still follow their instruction as she has presented officials with 10 questions she says she wants answered. So her defiance may change according to any answers she receives, if any.
Bristol Constituency Labour Party branch officials who defied Head Office over the Corbyn debacle were immediately suspended. The whole CLP, the largest in the country, has now been suspended from all activity for four months.
Jess Barnard, who is also a Norfolk County councillor, said the YL national committee (YLNC) on Saturday voted to issue a public statement opposing Starmer’s decision to remove the Parliamentary Labour Party whip from the former leader, making him an Independent MP.
Starmer withdrew the whip from Mr Corbyn’s just hours after his suspension from the party was unanimously lifted by an internal disciplinary team.
He was suspended by Starmer and his puppet, General Secretary Dave Evans, on unspecified charges allegedly arising from comments he made about the Equality & Human Rights Commission report on the handling of anti-semitism complaints under his leadership.
Mr Corbyn had said that the scale of the of anti-semitism in the party had been overstated for political reasons. Something deputy leader Angela Raynor told a TV interviewer she agreed with was true.
On Monday, Ms Barnard received an email from Labour’s HQ ordering her to take down the statement “immediately” as the YLNC had “misused” the party name to provide “commentary on factional disputes.”
Ms Barnard said: “As chair of YLNC, it is my role to facilitate the democratic voting process when members of the committee propose statements.
“During the recent elections, I was elected as chair with 71 per cent of the vote on an unambiguously socialist platform in a result that was repeated across the Young Labour elections.
“This mandate means that I am obliged to uphold democracy, including the right of the committee to release a statement in solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn to address the demands of young members.
“Rather than trying to silence young people, unelected officials in the leader’s office should consider the massive sense of betrayal that many young voters and Labour members feel about this decision.
“The actions we have seen in recent weeks undermine members’ democratic rights and free expression and are a threat to the fabric of our party.”
Ms Barnard warned Labour HQ that it would be a mistake to take the “unprecedented” support of young people for granted.
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