

GREEN PARTY EXCLUDED FROM GM MAYOR HUSTINGS IN SALFORD AS MEMBER GETS FORCIBLY EJECTED

Star date: 2nd May 2017 GREATER MANCHESTER CITIZENS FORCIBLY EJECT GREEN PARTY MEMBER FROM THE LOWRY "I screamed, which led to me being pushed out more quickly..." Greater Manchester Citizens, which prides itself on being the "home of community organising", firstly excluded Will Patterson, the Green Party candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor, from its hustings at The Lowry yesterday. The organisation then forcibly ejected a peaceful Green Party member from the meeting, despite her having a ticket to attend. Full details and video here...





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Greater Manchester Citizens, which calls itself "the home of community organising" held its founding Mayoral Assembly at The Lowry yesterday. The organisation, chaired by former Greater Manchester Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy, aims "to strengthen civil society, develop a new generation of civic leaders and ensure that the crucial voice and interests of this sector are heard and represented at all levels of public life..." Invited to the event were only three of the candidates for Greater Manchester Mayor  Sean Anstee from the Conservatives, Andy Burnham from the Labour Party and Jane Brophy of the LibDems. No invitation was afforded to Will Patterson, the Green Party candidate, and so the Greens held a peaceful 'Where's Will?' protest outside the venue to draw attention to his omission. Tickets for the Salford event were openly available, and Linda Freeman, Secretary of Tameside Green Party, got a ticket and, after the protest outside, went in to take her seat  only to be asked to leave, before being physically ejected when she refused... "When I went in for the event, the tickets were not checked, people were ushered to the general seating areas" Linda explains "I was singled out and asked what institution I belonged to, which didn't make a lot of sense to me; the person asking me wouldn't tell me who he was. "He went away, so I went to take a seat but was prevented and another person who said she was one of the organisers said it wasn't a public event so I had to leave - she wasn't interested that I had a ticket legitimately obtained on Eventbrite" she says "I refused to leave, I hadn't had a reasonable reason as to why I should, so she called security. "The security officer said I was to leave quietly or they would forcibly remove me, although they didn't want to" she adds "I explained that I had a valid ticket and no proper reason had been given for me to leave and I refused again so I was taken by the arm and ushered out. I screamed, which led to me being pushed out more quickly. "I wasn't hurt but I was very shaken" she says "The event organisers had clearly seen me outside with the Green Party leaflet givers and decided on that basis to remove me. It wasn't a members-only event, they made that up." Before the huge event, the Salford Star emailed Greater Manchester Citizens to ask why the Green Party was excluded... "Following consultation with both the Charity Commission and the Electoral Commission and guided by the advice of the local Leadership Group for each Citizens Alliance, Trustees have agreed to only invite the two or three party candidates who already have a strong and comprehensive presence across the ten Local Authorities that make up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority" Greater Manchester Citizens' spokesperson, Furqan Naeem, replied.



"This is not a public hustings, it is a private event for the member organisations and we have extended an invitation to other groups who may be interested to find out the work of Citizen UK..." he added. Obviously, those 'groups' don't include members of the Green Party... Speaking at the protest outside The Lowry, Green Party Mayoral candidate Will Patterson said: "It's an event that's supposed to be about opening up devolution to the people...and yet, frustratingly, we've actually not been invited to this to put our case across to how we can deliver the transformational change that will deliver that..." The Green Party has now issued a video which includes an interview with Linda Freeman, Will Patterson and other members who took part in the protest  click here to view it.

CBP wrote

at 09:09:50 on 03 May 2017 @David griundley - Rubbish, but let's see if the hustings cost are included into spending claims: "There is no legal requirement for the person or body (including non-party campaigners) organising a husting to invite all candidates or parties standing in a constituency. However, spending on hustings may be regulated depending on how it is organised. This may happen where the organiser selectively invites or excludes candidates or parties. If the organiser only invites some candidates or some parties, then a share of the costs of the event may count towards the election spending of those who are invited. Where the hustings is organised by a non-party campaigner, then spending on the event may count towards their spending limit if they do not have an impartial reason for not inviting all candidates or parties." Electoral Commission handbook ?

Wes Haydock wrote

at 05:26:33 on 03 May 2017 If Furquan Naeem has a passion for "social justice" then he's let himself down on this one. ?

Lulu wrote

at 18:16:26 on 02 May 2017 Perhaps this might go some way towards explaining Furqan Naeem's stance relating to the exclusion of the Green Party candidate? "Furqan Naeem is an award winning community and political activist with a passion for social justice. Through the Patchwork Foundation he works to engage young people and BAME communities in Politics. He has served on the executive committees of Labour Students, Young Labour and BAME Labour. He currently works as campaigner for Friends of The Earth." http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/furqan-naeem ?

Stephen Morris wrote

at 18:15:58 on 02 May 2017 Well done Will, I may not agree with some of your policies but I will defend your right as a candidate to make sure they are debated and every voter is given a choice. This was a clear attempt by an alleged community organisation to duly influence the Mayoral election result by anti democratic means, they cannot hide behind the electoral commission. ?

David grundey wrote

at 16:03:51 on 02 May 2017 As this event was advertised as a Hustiings prior to a poll. Excluding and Candidate is illegal if the word hustings is used in the advert. ?

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