NEC lobby in solidarity with Chris Williamson

The renewed suspension of Chris Williamson MP is a travesty of justice!

#Istandwithchriswilliamson

Labour Heartlands stand in solidarity with LRC and Labour Against the Witchhunt

Please come along to show your solidarity with the only MP who has dared to stand up to the witch-hunters. The only one who has defended members wrongly accused and vilified. Now it’s our turn to stand with him! Please bring banners and placards.

This meeting of the NEC is crucially important, because it will in all likelihood decide to overturn the decision of the NEC panel and send Chris’ case to the National Constitutional Committee, which is still dominated by the right. A referral to this body usually leads to an expulsion.

We are particularly concerned that Keith Vaz’ U-turn seems to have been motivated purely by the pressure coming from the right inside and outside the party. Sadly but unsurprisingly, that now includes Jon Lansman.

We presume Vaz initially judged the case by its merit and found – correctly – that Chris had not said or done anything that could be described as anti-Semitic or bringing the party into disrepute. Vaz quite rightly judged that the evidence did not warrant Chris’s ongoing suspension or his referral to the National Constitutional Committee (which is still dominated by the right).

But Vaz’s U-turn and Chris’s renewed suspension, following the deeply undemocratic and hysterical letter organised by Tom Watson, symbolise how unfair and one-sided the whole disciplinary process really is. The right is calling all the shots – and Labour HQ seems to always do exactly what they demand.

But the right will never be appeased. They will never accept Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, let alone prime minister. They will continue their campaign of sabotage, because he remains an unreliable ally from the ruling class’s point of view, especially given his strong support for the rights of Palestinians.

There is very little chance that Chris will get a fair hearing from the NEC Disputes Panel, when several of those who will sit in judgment upon him have already torn his reputation to shreds on social media, without even having seen all the evidence.

We therefore call on the NEC:

•  to immediately reinstate Chris Williamson, as recommended by the NEC panel
•  to immediately open trigger ballots so that Labour Party members can choose a parliamentary candidate who actually reflects their wishes
• to stop the practice of automatic suspensions and expulsions: members should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.

You can sign our petition here: https://www.change.org/p/labour-party-nec-open-letter-to-labour-nec-chris-williamson-s-re-suspension-is-a-travesty-of-justice

#Istandwithchriswilliamson