By Ben Kerrigan-
A Labour Councillor from Croydon has been unceremoniously dismissed from the party for alleged anti-semetism without a hearing, and has been told that he has no right of appeal.
David White, political veteran of several decades, who has been in the Labour party for 51 years, was dumped without any right of appeal, The Eye Of Media.Com has heard.
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The secretary of Croydon Central Labour Party was been suspended for reportedly backing Ken Livingstone’s comments about Hitler and Zionism.
David White expressed support for Mr Livingstone’s comments in a tweet sent to a local newspaper reporter. He said the former London mayor had been “largely accurate” when he described the Nazi leader as a Zionist.
Writing to Croydon Advertiser reporter Gareth Davies, Mr White said: “The odd thing is Ken’s references to Hitler were largely accurate (google Haavara agreement) but the way it was put unfortunate.”
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White, a retired solicitor and a former elected member of the GLC was the secretary of Croydon Central’s Constituency Labour Party, and did much campaign work to get Sarah Jones elected as an MP in 2017.
He originally had his membership suspended in September, on the eve of the 2021 Labour Party Conference in Brighton. It was for a 3 months period. The move meant that White was not allowed to attend the policy-setting event as a democratically elected delegate of Croydon Central CLP.
He was prevented from attending crucial meetings of the Local Campaign Forum.His expulsion is said to be about a tweet he posted 7 years ago, the full details of which has not been presented to this publication, but which is said to have been a criticism of the Israeli government.
John Stolliday, head of the constitutional unit at the national Labour party, initially wrote to Mr White to inform him of his suspension on May 4.
The letter read: “Because of the nature of the allegations received and concerns that your presence at branch meetings may be detrimental to the party, while subject to this administrative suspension, you cannot attend any party meetings including your own branch meeting and annual conference and you cannot seek office within the party or be considered for selection as a candidate to represent the Labour party at an election at any level.”
. Labour membership in some Croydon wards has halved since Keir Starmer became party leader and appointed Evans as General Secretary.
He posted a message on social media this morning, saying, “I’m sad to say that my 51 years of membership of the Labour Party have come to an abrupt end.
“Two days ago I received an email from an anonymous person in the disputes department of the party telling me I have been expelled.
“The grounds for expulsion are said to be antisemitism.
“This accusation is hurtful as I have spent my whole adult life campaigning against antisemitism and all other forms of racism.
“The party cites some tweets I have written, dating back to 2014. Some of these support Palestinian rights and are critical of certain actions of the Israeli government. Others express my view that the extent of antisemitism in the Labour Party has been exaggerated by some in order to smear the left of the party in general and Jeremy Corbyn in particular (though I have always made it clear that even one case of genuine antisemitism is too many).
“I stand by these views and wrote a detailed response to the party when I was suspended on the eve of Labour Party Conference in September last year.
“There has been no hearing of my case and I have no automatic right of appeal. It grieves me that the party I joined so many years ago has moved so far away from basic notions of natural justice, fairness and freedom of speech.
“If this matter concerned me alone it would not be of much consequence.
“However there are hundreds of Labour Party members all over the country who are being similarly investigated, suspended or expelled. There must be an end to this so that Labour can campaign in a united way against the current Tory government.”
Bullish
The claim of widespread bullying and unaccountable conduct by labour officials is as bad as the antisemetism the party is fighting., one labour councillor anonymously told this publication.
‘Keir Starmer is trying to set standards that move his party away from the stain of anti-semetism that dogged the party under Jeremy Corbyn, but many in the Labour party feel he is betraying the legal profession in which he has a background, by not complying with the established standards of fairness and due process.
Some of White’s comments on twitter may have come across the wrong way, but at least he should have an opportunity to explain and defend himself
‘Suspensions and expulsions without giving those accused of a wrongdoing a right of a proper defense adds to the tarnish of the Labour party, which Starmer has been trying to sell to the British people as party of the people’.
Another councillor said : E’qual treatment, must apply to those against whom allegations are made, one Labour party member told this publication.
‘The Labour party is descending into the kind of chaotic conduct seen in totalitarian countries’, an anonymous the councillor said, admitting the new fear gripping many members worried about speaking up, for fear of being suspended or expelled without explanation.
‘If the Labour party is going to be taking seriously by the British public, the leader of the party and respective leaders of their constituencies will have to lead with common sense and fairness, and uphold the principles of natural justice. The party has recently been ahead of the Tories by default, due to the circus going on in the other party.
However if care is not taken, some other party will seize this moment better than the Labour party or the tories will bounce back and take our spot”.
The division in the labour party is growing , and comments that give any impression of spite or bias against the Jews will always go down as anti semetism.
The Labour party was contacted for comment.
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