

The decision to suspend Wallasey CLP – by Labour Party general secretary Iain McNicol – remind This Writer of the line that my local council used to put out whenever it wanted to forbid a public event: “We’ve had a complaint.”

The complaint (usually about noise) was never investigated, nor was there any evidence provided that more than one person had raised concerns – therefore there was never any proof.

We know that Wallasey CLP had voted to tell Angela Eagle not to support any action against Jeremy Corbyn, prior to the mass resignations from the shadow cabinet that launched the so-called ‘Chicken Coup’ against the leader.

This meant everything she has done with regard to this issue since – resigning from the shadow cabinet, supporting the ‘no confidence’ vote against Mr Corbyn, standing against him for the Labour leadership and supporting fabricated stories intended to undermine him – has been in contempt of the people who helped make her an MP.

Wallesey’s intention to hold a meeting, in which Ms Eagle’s deselection as a Labour candidate was likely to be approved, is widely believed to be the reason Labour’s National Executive Committee halted all CLP meetings between July 12 and the announcement of the leadership election result in September.

Now Mr McNicol has gone one further and announced the party’s suspension – apparently in order to stop it submitting motions to the party conference.

Is he justified in doing this, or has he overstepped his authority?

The answer is: We don’t know. It seems that, like my local council, he’s “had a complaint”.

Was it more than just one complaint? We don’t know.

Was the source reliable, as opposed to being from someone who could reasonably be believed to be acting to stop others from having their democratic say? We don’t know.

Was the complaint corroborated by anybody who could be seen to be neutral in this matter? We don’t know.

Did Mr McNicol take any steps to investigate the accuracy of the complaint? We don’t know.

If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, then Mr McNicol’s judgement is not only questionable; there may be grounds for him to face disciplinary proceedings of his own.

Furthermore:

Did Mr McNicol issue any written warnings to Wallasey CLP with regard to this complaint, in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Labour Party Rule Book? It seems not.

And has he started an investigation into the complaint, in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Rule Book? Again, it seems not.

Under these conditions, the suspension cannot be supported and a complaint about the NEC and Mr McNicol would seem to be in order.

One wonders if an allegation of misconduct by them will be taken “very seriously” too.

Wallasey Labour party has been suspended amid allegations of bullying and intimidation. It is understood that the move follows recent unrest among grassroots members and moves to deselect the MP Angela Eagle after she announced she planned to challenge leader Jeremy Corbyn. A North West Labour spokesperson confirmed the suspension and said: “Any complaints of bullying or intimidation and allegations of misconduct are always taken very seriously.” The suspension means the Labour Party regional office will take over administration of the local Constituency Labour Party. The decision was approved by the Labour Party general secretary Iain McNicol, and will stop the local party submitting motions to the party conference due to be held in Liverpool in September. It has previously been reported that members of Ms Eagle’s constituency party had claimed there had been “threats of violence” in a row over the party’s leadership.

Source: Wallasey Labour party suspended amid allegations of bullying – Liverpool Echo

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