Back in 2018, This Writer was targeted with a series of vicious – and false – accusations of anti-Semitism by the fake charity ‘Campaign Against Antisemitism’. The claims were sent to the Labour Party and as a result I was subjected to the party’s kangaroo court disciplinary system and eventually expelled under false pretences.

While that was going on, I was also subjected to shocking abuse by people who were not directly involved in the allegations or investigation but who may be described as “fellow travellers”.

For example, the article to which Kieron Monks’s tweet (below) links repeated one of the false allegations against me.

I stepped in to point out the inaccuracy. At the time, I considered it best to counter the accusations wherever I found them. The response was a false interpretation of my words, in which what I said was edited in order to misrepresent me:

I pointed out the omission:

This was not good enough for the author of the article, but he only gave me another opportunity to clarify the fact:

(Strangely, none of my accusers ever wanted to acknowledge that the incident under discussion happened in 2003 or thereabouts. If Tony Blair had been influenced by a cabal of any kind, it would have become public knowledge long before, and my response to the question about it was made in that context – we all knew that the claim was false.)

Enter one Gary Spedding. His false accusation is undermined by the fact that he published a screenshot of my words, clearly showing that I had been telling the truth and that Mr Monks had not:

I tried to reason with him but he wouldn’t have it – repeatedly accusing me of anti-Semitism:

It seems clear to me that his claim was false, vicious, and intended to harm my reputation and, by extension, my income as a political writer in my own right.

We know his claim was false – libellous, in fact. A Labour Party officer (I still don’t know who it was) leaked the accusations against me to The Sunday Times and they were published in early 2018… and then in early 2019, the same paper had to publish a lengthy correction after IPSO found the allegation to be inaccurate.

I couldn’t sue him, though, because I don’t have the cash to carry out libel litigation. And it is unlikely that he’s worth enough to make it worthwhile.

Labour was later found by a court to have ignored its own regulations for investigating party members in order to justify expelling me.

So that was the end of it.

Now Mr Spedding himself is facing expulsion by the Labour Party – under a trumped-up accusation, but not one of anti-Semitism – and look how his tune has changed!

His statement says: “I am not feeling too well still after the death of my father in late May 2021 and I have chosen to take a break from politics generally to focus on spending time with my family.”

Fine words from a man who had absolutely no interest in the emotional well-being of his victim, back in 2018. I had been battling false accusations for nearly two years by the time he made his attack, and his only reaction to that was to intensify the pressure.

“I didn’t want to face the backlash, bullying and ridicule…”

But he had been quite happy to dish it out.

“… that is now rampant in the Labour Party thanks to the atmosphere of intimidation and fear under Keir Starmer’s leadership.”

The only reason Keir Starmer is leader of the Labour Party now is that people like Mr Spedding spent five years undermining former leader Jeremy Corbyn and his followers with accusations like those he made against me; I was known to be a supporter of Mr Corbyn so the attack on me made him look bad too.

He supported the atmosphere of intimidation and fear imposed on victims of the Governance and Legal Unit whose work, it seems clear, was also intended to undermine the then-Labour leader.

“However, I have no decided to speak out after much deliberation so as to highlight just how ludicrous my own case is and to join in solidarity with others who are facing similar disgusting attacks from within the Labour Party machine.”

The case against This Writer was also ludicrous – but he supported it to the hilt.

And now that he has been accused, he wants to “join in solidarity” with other people in the same situation.

It’s a bit late for that.

Also, given his previous behaviour, I doubt his motivation.

I envy the generosity of people like the owner of the @leftworks1 Twitter account, who is able to protest against Labour’s treatment of Mr Spedding as much as against the party’s treatment of me.

But actions can go a long way towards changing minds.

I notice that Mr Spedding is seeking a formal apology from Labour. But he has never made a formal apology to me, even after his claims against me were shown to be false.

If he really means what he is saying, then I think it would be reasonable for him to make a full and formal apology to me for the wrong that he did to me in 2018.

It seems a reasonable request. We can all gauge his sincerity from his response.

UPDATE: It didn’t take long for the response to turn up:

Right, we’ve got our answer. This guy is toxic. We shouldn’t give him a moment of our time. Whatever happens to him, he doesn’t deserve any help at all.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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