Labour Against The Witchhunt

Labour Against The Witchhunt (Lobby group)
Abbreviation	LAW
Formation	October 2017
Interests	Jeremy Corbyn, Labour party
Lobby group for pro Jeremy Corbyn supporters in UK Labour Party.

Labour Against the Witchhunt (LAW) was founded in October 2017 to oppose the purge of pro-Corbyn supporters in the Labour Party.

On 4 March 2019, LAW unreservedly condemned the suspension from the Labour Party of Jewish councillor for Bromborough Jo Bird. At a Justice4Marc meeting last year in Manchester (in solidarity with Marc Wadsworth) she made a light-hearted comment, stating:

“Jewish Voice for Labour is calling for disciplinary hearings to be paused until a due process has been established, based on principles of natural justice. What I call Jew process”.

At which LATW argued "Clearly, the context of that quote shows that her joke was not anti-Semitic at all – but the exact opposite." The group was dissolved in 2021, merged with the Labour In Exile Network under heavy protest from key members that refused to update their communication networks.

Founding Principles

1. We demand the Labour Party ends the practice of automatic, instant, expulsion or suspension of Labour Party members;

that all those summarily expelled or suspended from membership without due process be immediately reinstated; that a member accused of a breach of rule be informed of who their accuser is; that a member accused of a breach of rule be given all the evidence submitted against them by their accuser; that a member accused of a breach of rule be regarded as innocent until proven guilty; that membership rights must not be removed until disciplinary investigations and procedures have been completed; that disciplinary procedures must include consultation with the accused member’s CLP and Branch; that disciplinary procedures must be time limited. Charges not resolved within three months must be automatically dropped.

2. We demand that the Labour Party rejects the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which in its list of examples conflates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism and support for the rights of the Palestinian people. Instead, the Labour Party should adopt a simple, straightforward, definition of anti-Semitism, such as by Professor Brian Klug: “Anti-Semitism is a form of hostility to Jews as Jews, where Jews are perceived as something other than what they are”.

3. We demand the immediate abolition of the Labour Party’s “Compliance Unit”. Disciplinary decisions should be taken only by elected bodies, not by paid officials.

Founding Principles

1. We demand the Labour Party ends the practice of automatic, instant, expulsion or suspension of Labour Party members;

that all those summarily expelled or suspended from membership without due process be immediately reinstated; that a member accused of a breach of rule be informed of who their accuser is; that a member accused of a breach of rule be given all the evidence submitted against them by their accuser; that a member accused of a breach of rule be regarded as innocent until proven guilty; that membership rights must not be removed until disciplinary investigations and procedures have been completed; that disciplinary procedures must include consultation with the accused member’s CLP and Branch; that disciplinary procedures must be time limited. Charges not resolved within three months must be automatically dropped.

2. We demand that the Labour Party rejects the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which in its list of examples conflates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism and support for the rights of the Palestinian people. Instead, the Labour Party should adopt a simple, straightforward, definition of anti-Semitism, such as by Professor Brian Klug: “Anti-Semitism is a form of hostility to Jews as Jews, where Jews are perceived as something other than what they are”.

3. We demand the immediate abolition of the Labour Party’s “Compliance Unit”. Disciplinary decisions should be taken only by elected bodies, not by paid officials.

Solidarity with Chris Williamson MP

A statement by LATW read "The suspension of Chris Williamson MP on 27 February 2019 is an absolute disgrace. We stand in full solidarity with Chris, who must be cleared as soon as possible by Labour’s “investigation” – though judging by how Jackie Walker, Marc Wadsworth, Tony Greenstein, Ken Livingstone and many, many more Corbyn supporters have been thrown under the bus, we have very little confidence that he will receive a fair one. He is the latest victim of the witch-hunt by the right in the party whose main target is, of course, Jeremy Corbyn himself."

Jeremy Corbyn recently said:

“Chris Williamson is a very good, very effective Labour MP. He’s a very strong anti-racist campaigner. He is not anti-Semitic.”

"Corbyn was right. He should finally stand up and tell people like Jon Lansman and John McDonnell to stop joining in the witch-hunt – but support the thousands of left-wingers who have been investigated, suspended and expelled, many of them on false accusations of anti-Semitism.

This campaign to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism will only get worse, the closer we get to a general election. Trying to appease the right clearly does not work. If you fight, you might loose – but if you don’t fight, you have already lost."

Support was called for by LATW by calling for action;

"Five things you can do:

1. Use our draft motion in your Labour Party branch/CLP. Send it to Jennie Formby and to LAW.

2. Sign our petition demanding Chris’ reinstatement – and share it far and wide. Tony Greenstein has also produced a petition.

3. Put on a showing of the WitchHunt documentary with Jackie Walker in your locality to better understand the background to this decision.

4. Email Jennie Formby to protest against this decision.

5. Join our 26 March 2019 protest party at the expulsion hearing of Jackie Walker (details to be confirmed, Facebook event here). Should Chris still be suspended, we will of course use the opportunity to demand his reinstatement.

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:All UK Labour leadership candidates sign up to stepped up pro-Zionist witch-hunt	blog post	15 January 2020	Robert Stevens	A day after posting the 10 points, the BoD tweeted that pro-Corbyn deputy leadership candidates Richard Burgon and Dawn Butler were “absent from the list of those who have signed the #TenPledges to tackle antisemitism in Labour.”

 

A document sourced from Labour Against The Witchhunt

Title	Type	Subject(s)	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:We condemn the suspension of Jo Bird and the appointment of Lord Falconer	Article	Louise Ellman Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn Joan Ryan Lord Levy Margaret Hodge Tom Watson Tony Greenstein Jewish Voice for Labour Chris Williamson Jennie Formby WitchHunt Jackie Walker Marc Wadsworth Jo Bird Charlie Falconer	4 March 2019	Admin	As Ken Loach said: “If it looks like a witch hunt and behaves like a witch hunt – it may well be just that. This is intolerable and must end now.”

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