Join the protest over NEC meeting to discuss Labour leadership

Last Updated: July 11, 2016By
Labour’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, has been asked to quash rumours that Corbyn could be banned from attending the meeting on Tuesday [Image: Gareth Fuller/PA].

Labour’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, has been asked to quash rumours that Corbyn could be banned from attending the meeting on Tuesday [Image: Gareth Fuller/PA].

As a member of the NEC, Jeremy Corbyn cannot reasonably be denied access to any of its meetings.

Clearly he would not be allowed to vote in this instance because he has an interest in the matter under discussion, but he should at least be allowed to speak.

If you want to support Mr Corbyn’s right to be on the leadership ballot, then you may wish to sign this petition on the Change.org website now. It already has nearly 35,000 signatures at the time of writing, and was only launched at midday yesterday (July 11).

Also, The Graun is sadly misrepresenting the facts again.

You see, there are two sets of rules for Labour leadership nominations. Firstly, if there is a leader in place, then challengers need to gather nominations from 20 per cent of MPs and MEPs – currently 51 signatures.

If there is a vacancy, the required proportion of nominations drops from 20 per cent to 12 per cent – just 32 signatures.

Even if the NEC rules that Mr Corbyn needs to get signatures – which would be a nonsense as the Labour Party Rule Book is very clear – and even if he failed a legal challenge against the ruling (which he wouldn’t), then Mr Corbyn could always vacate the position and stand as a candidate.

With 40 followers in the Parliamentary Labour Party, and more in the European Parliament, he would easily get the 32 signatures he needs.

Nobody seems to be admitting that.

I wonder why.

Labour’s general secretary is facing protests over plans to hold a crucial meeting of the party’s ruling body at short notice that could exclude Jeremy Corbyn from standing as leader.

Union representatives to the National Executive Committee have complained that some delegates may not be able to make the meeting on Tuesday, which will decide if the Labour leader is automatically included in the ballot.

A leaked email obtained by the Guardian shows one Unite delegate has demanded that the party’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, should quash rumours that Corbyn could be banned from attending the meeting. She also alleges that a secret ballot could be held when delegates are asked to vote on the leadership contest.

The vote is crucial because it is believed that Corbyn could struggle to get the 51 MPs and MEPs required to ensure that he can stand again if he is not automatically included on the leadership ballot.

Source: Corbyn supporters protest over Labour NEC meeting | Politics | The Guardian

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One Comment

  1. Phil Lee July 12, 2016 at 1:35 am - Reply

    Anyone speaking against enforcing the rules (which as you say, are perfectly clear) should be ejected from the party for failing in their obligation to support the constitution and rules.
    That would clear out the chicken coop faster than a fox in a hen-house.
    Just leave the corpses of a few political careers and aspirations to clear up, and no bad thing.

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