Laura Pidcock quits Labour’s ruling NEC after motion to restore whip to antisemite Jeremy Corbyn fails
Laura Pidcock, the former Labour MP, has resigned from the Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee after a motion calling for the restoration of the whip to the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn failed to pass.
Ms Pidcock, a staunch ally of Mr Corbyn’s who sat on his front bench, previously voted last year against the NEC’s proscription of the antisemitism-denial group, Labour Against the Witchhunt, and later challenged the practice of expelling Party members based on apparent involvement with the group.
The motion to restore the whip to Mr Corbyn – which, even if passed, would not have effected a restoration in itself – was defeated by 23 votes to fourteen, with one abstention. The margin reflects the divide on the NEC between pro-Corbyn elements and those less sympathetic to the former leader.
Mr Corbyn reacted to the vote by tweeting: “Today’s NEC vote and Keir Starmer’s ongoing decision to bar me from sitting as a Labour MP is disappointing. I am grateful for and humbled by the support I’ve received, especially from my Islington North constituents. The struggle for peace, justice and sustainability goes on.”
In her resignation statement, Ms Pidcock said that “I am resigning because of what I see as an irreconcilable difference between the actions of the Labour Party as it stands and the principles that underpin the way I have been taught to treat people and my idea of what a political organisation should be for.” She described Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as leader so far as leading to “a barrage of top-down changes which is making it hostile territory for socialists, from those of us on the NEC, to those in CLPs [Constituency Labour Parties] across the country.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We welcome the NEC’s decision not to call for a restoration of the whip to the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn. The next step for the Party is to investigate our complaints against him and expel him from the Labour Party, to which he was disgracefully readmitted after an embarrassingly short suspension. The NEC vote reflects a Party that remains divided over what kind of party it wishes to be. It is yet further evidence that the fight to make Labour a safe place for Jews still has a long way to go.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has lodged a complaint against Mr Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.
The Labour Party was found by the EHRC to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
