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Labour excludes 400 for “support” for banned groups

In July-November 2022, Labour excluded about 400 people, without due process, for alleged association with groups it has banned.

Labour Party HQ is now, at least, publishing statistics on its exclusions and suspensions. The latest, for November 2022, is at https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/202211-Disciplinary-Report.pdf.

Since “exclusion panels” began on 22 October 2021, it reports, 408 cases have been adjudged. 94% of them were people charged with “supporting another political organisation”. This is code for exclusion on grounds of association (which may be as slight as sharing a social-media post) from one of the groups now banned, such as Workers’ Liberty and Socialist Appeal. Such “association” may have been entirely Labour-Party-legal at the time, but now becomes cause for exclusion, so it’s a “retrospective” crime.

92% of the allegations were upheld: in other words, if someone accuses you of association with a banned group, you are almost sure to be excluded, and that is done without a hearing.

We already knew of a spate of such exclusions, directed against delegates to the Labour Party conference in September. Overall, however, September was not a high-exclusion month. The high point was April 2022 (after the banning of Workers’ Liberty and other groups at the March meeting of the National Executive), with 73 exclusions. There were 49 in July 2022, and an average of 14 per month in August-November.

Of 42 charges of misconduct between July and November 2022, 45% involved allegations of antisemitism, and smaller percentages (largest category 7%) allegations of other categories of prejudiced or out-of-order behaviour. Only 7 of those 42 cases resulted in exclusion; the others going to other bodies than the NEC or (mostly) leading to Reminders of Conduct, Reminders of Values, or Warnings.

The current Byzantine system needs to be replaced by one complying with criteria of natural justice and transparency, where members facing allegations get precise charges and a proper hearing and are able to raise an alarm in the membership about perceived injustices.

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