Activists disappointed with proposals accepted by NEC – Letter now signed by 203 Cllrs, PPCs and activists

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

UPDATE: 21:00

The activists behind today’s letter to the NEC calling for firmer leadership from the PM and his senior ministerial colleagues over Labour MP’s expenses have reacted with disappointment to the government’s proposals accepted by the NEC.

In a joint statement the NEC protest letter organisers, Richard Bingley, Fred Grindrod and Tom Flynn, said:

“Since Mr Brown’s proposals even more Labour activists have added their name to the protest letter calling for firm and speedy leadership. Regrettably, by not taking action to challenge MPs and ministers who have made deeply damaging expense claims, which by a mere technicality fall within archane parliamentary rules, today’s opportunity to get back in touch with the public has been lost. We repeat our call for immediate and firm moral leadership on this issue, that puts the country before institutionalised convenience.”

Below is the full letter being sent today to Ray Collins, General Secretary of the Labour Party, as well as members of the National Executive Committe of the Labour Party, which is convening today. The letter has now been signed by 175 people. Members are still being encouraged to sign the letter, by contacting [email protected].

Dear NEC Chair,

We are writing to you to register our protest at the conduct of many Labour MPs, ministers and cabinet ministers in allowance and expense claims funded by hard working British taxpayers during the tenure of this Parliament. We are also gravely concerned that the Party Leadership has failed to take charge of a critical situation on an issue so fundamentally defining to the character and reputation of our Party, its supporters and activists.

We are particularly disappointed with a number of aspects of the leadership’s response including:

– The continued reference by Labour spokespeople to the ‘system’ being wrong and ‘needing reform’. Undoubtedly this is the case. But the ‘system’ does not force Labour Ministers and MPs to make specific claims that abuse public trust and in some cases are an abuse of public money. Making an expense claim is a matter of individual responsibility. Our Party has been left looking incredibly insensitive and out of touch with hard-working and fair minded citizens.

– The Prime Minister, and the collective leadership of the Labour Party, have been negligent in protecting the reputation of the party by failing to speedily apologise for our MPs, by failing to take immediate and clear disciplinary action, and by regularly appearing to side with Ministers and MPs who have made excessive and exaggerated claims in the face of justifiable public anger.

– Many of the claims are for things that, in all conscience, 99% of Labour Party members outside of Parliament would never be able to bring themselves to claim, even if a ‘system’ allowed them to.

Therefore, we ask that the NEC:

– Organise a thorough review of suspected excessive and abusive claims – regardless of whether they were eventually signed off by an over-worked Fees Office.

– Support the immediate removal of the whip from individual MPs who have brought the party into disrepute over this issue and allow CLPs to trigger reselection ballots against them.

We write this in a spirit of solidarity and heartfelt concern for the reputation of the Party that we will continue to work hard for. We are a group of leading loyal activists from across the breadth of the Labour Party, who will not hesitate to defend the future of our Labour movement, which should always stand for fairness, compassion and integrity, no matter how inconvenient living by these values may be.

In solidarity,

Cllr. Richard Bingley
(Former Labour Party Press Officer)

Fred Grindrod
(National Policy Forum and Former Parliamentary Candidate)

Beryl Milnes
(Former Chair of Hemel Hempstead CLP)

Tom Flynn
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate)

Cllr. Allan Davies
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate)

Ffinlo Costain
(Former Parliamentary Candidate)

Cllr. Sarah Bogle
(Councillor, Southampton City Council & Former Parliamentary Candidate)

Funda Pepperell
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate)

Malcolm Clark
(Branch Secretary, Streatham CLP)

Cllr. Brian Norgate
(Councillor, Eastleigh Borough Council)

Andy Wilson
(Former President, Southampton University Labour Students)

Gavin Shuker
(Executive Member, Luton South CLP)

Michele Savage
(National Policy Forum and Vice Chair of East of England Regional Board )

Cllr. Shiria Khatun
(Former Labour Press Adviser and Tower Hamlets Councillor)

Peter Cooper
(Southampton Labour Party Activist)

Renu Marley
(Executive Committee – Birmingham Ladywood CLP)

Cllr Warwick Payne
(Councillor, Southampton City Council)

Omar Ismail
(East of England Regional Board)

John Noon
(Vice Chair, Southampton Itchen CLP)

Cllr Richard Rackham
(Councillor, Basildon District Council and former CLP chair)

Jane Edbrooke
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate)

Helal Uddin Abbas
(Former leader of Tower Hamlets Council)

Heather Corless
(Former councillor and campaign co-ordinator, Southampton Labour Party)

Cllr Richard Williams
(Leader of Labour Group, Southampton City Council)

Stuart Webb
(Former Secretary and Treasurer, Southampton Labour Party)

Cllr Simon Letts
(Councillor, Southampton City Council)

Cllr Mike Le-Surf
(Parliamentary Candidate and Councillor, Brentwood Borough Council)

Conor McGinn
(Vice Chair, Labour Party Irish Society & Labour Action Team Leader, Mildmay ward, Islington)

Jonathan Slater
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Aldershot)

Jonathan Cox
(Battersea Labour Party Activist)

Zeev Portner
(Parliamentary Staff)

Cllr Cathie McEwing
(Labour Councillor, Southampton City Council)

Yue Ting Cheng
(Hertsmere Labour Party Activist)

David Semple
(Campaign Co-ordinator, Canterbury Labour Party)

Andrew Skudder
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Horsham)

Cllr Jagtar Singh Dhindsa
(Leader of Labour Group, Watford Borough Council)

Cllr Graeme Hoskin
(Councillor, Reading Borough Council)

John Ogden
(Treasurer, Havant CLP)

Paul Burgin
(Press Officer, North East Herts CLP and Mars Hill blogger)

Cllr Dave Harris
(Councillor, Colchester Borough Council)

Jenny Rathbone
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cardiff Central)

Chuka Umunna
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham)

Alex Hilton
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Chelsea and Fulham and Editor of Labourhome.org)

Graham Fox
(Former Rochford District and Essex County Councillor and Rochford District Council Group Leader)

Andy Hull
(Islington North Labour Party Activist and Campaign Coordinator for Highbury West)

Lucy Openshaw
(Branch membership officer, Islington North CLP)

Richard Scorer
(Labour Parliamentary candidate for Hazel Grove)

Cllr. Di Hoeksma
(Chair, Hertsmere CLP)

Andy Holdup
(Campaign Co-ordinator, Southampton Labour Party)

Cllr. Duncan Ross
(Councillor, Bedfordshire County Council)

Cllr. Mark Bennett
(Councillor, LB of Lambeth and Former Labour Party Press Officer)

Mike Ion
(Wrekin Labour Party Activist and Former Parliamentary Candidate)

Nick Cattermole
(Treasurer, Streatham CLP)

Cllr. Paul Convery
(Councillor, LB of Islington)

Stephanie David
(former Secretary, Bexleyheath & Crayford CLP)

Jamie Hodge
(Leyton and Wanstead Labour Party Activist)

Cllr. Kim Naish
(Councillor, Colchester Borough Council)

Geoff Howes
(Treasurer, Northampton South CLP)

Cllr John Cowan
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for South East Cambridgeshire and member East of England Regional Board)

Cllr Sean Parker-Perry
(Councillor, Tameside MBC)

Rachel Eden
(Former Chair, Oxford West and Abingdon CLP)

Mary McGarry
(Treasurer, Plasnewydd Ward Labour Party, Cardiff)

Amanda Shilton Godwin
(Manchester Withington Labour Party Activist)

Alasdair Russell
(Labour Candidate for Warwickshire County Council)

Will Martindale
(Battersea Labour Party Activist and Former Chair of London Young Labour)

Kathryn White
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Aylesbury)

Ian Woodland
(Southampton Itchen Labour Party Activist)

Simon Woolfenden
(Former Chair, Winchester CLP and current Chair, Unison Winchester City Branch)

Cllr. Paul Cotterill
(Leader of the Labour Group, West Lancashire District Council)

Peter Walker
(Vice Chair, Wimbledon CLP and former NPF member for London)

Gus Baker
(Chair of Bristol University Labour Club)

Cllr. John Kazantzis
(Councillor, LB of Lambeth)

Sally Bowdery
(Executive Committee Member, Streatham CLP)

Cllr. Mike Moore
(Councillor, Dacorum Borough Council and Treasurer, Hemel Hempstead CLP)

Peter Lamb
(Candidate for East Grinstead South and Ashurst Wood Ward, Horsham CLP)

Cllr. Winston Strachan
(Councillor, Northamptonshire County Council)

Cllr. Carl Morris
(Chair of Labour Group, Thurrock Council)

Cllr. Susan Press
(Councillor, Hebden Royd Town Council and Vice-Chair, Labour Representation Committee)

Peter Waller
(Former Secretary, Suffolk Coastal CLP)

Cllr. Theo Blackwell
(Councillor, LB of Camden)

David Furnell
(Fundraising Officer, Southampton Labour Party)

Neil Goulbourne
(Secretary, Coventry South CLP)

Criss Connor
(Vice Chair, Basingstoke CLP)

Angela Connor
(Basingstoke Labour Party Activist)

Mike Katz
(Chair, Hampstead and Kilburn CLP)

Will Parbury
(Former parliamentary candidate)

Lucy Howson
(Former Labour Party Press Officer)

David Carter
(Chair, Linthorpe branch of Middlesbrough CLP)

Jackie Reilly
(Secretary, Castle Point CLP)

Roger Bowdery
(Former Chair, Streatham CLP)

James Hulme
(Lewisham West and Penge Labour Activist)

Rachel Reeves
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Leeds West)

Tony Probert
(Secretary, Weston-super-Mare CLP)

Ted Plenty
(Executive Committee member Slough CLP)

Christine Quigley
(Campaigns Officer, London Young Labour)

Steve Harris
(Secretary, Leeds West CLP)

Cllr. Stephen Morgan
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Orpington and Councillor, LB of Lambeth)

Anand Shukla
(Former Parliamentary Candidate)

Tom Copley
(Chair, London Young Labour)

Cllr. Val Stevens
(Deputy Leader, Manchester City Council)

Maggie Curtis
(Women’s Officer, Castle Point CLP)

Cllr. Ian Corbett
(Councillor, LB of Newham)

Cllr Unmesh Desai
(Councillor, LB of Newham)

Paul Smith
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol West)

Cllr. Zenia Squires Jamison
(Councillor, LB of Merton)

Cllr. Mark Nottingham
(Councillor, Thanet District Council)

Gareth Siddorn
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Sevenoaks and member of SERA National Executive)

Cllr Leonie Cooper,
(Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, LB of Wandsworth)

Chrissie Mabbley
(Vice Chair Bristol University Labour Club)

Sarah Mulley
(Lambeth Labour Party Activist)

Stephen Burke
(Former Leader, Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Campaigns officer, Hammersmith CLP)

Cllr Alan Laing
(Councillor, LB of Hackney)

Kevin McKeever
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Harborough)

David L Gardner
(Chair, Charlton Branch Labour Party and Formerly, Labour Party Assistant General Secretary)

Gavin Hayes
(General Secretary, Compass)

Dr Hark Singh-Raud
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cheadle)

Cllr. Julie-Ann Bukey
(Councillor, Thurrock Council)

Margaret Vanner
(Maldon Labour Party Activist and Labour Candidate for Essex County Council)

Cliff Vanner
(Maldon Labour Party Activist)

Jo Grindrod
(Women’s Officer, Watford CLP)

Cllr. Ian Gilbert
(Councillor, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council)

Tony Wright
(Former Chair, Castle Point Labour Party)

Andrew Pakes
(Labour & Co-operative Parliamentary Candidate for Milton Keynes North)

Cllr. Dave Wilcox
(Derbyshire County Councillor and Chair Local Government Information Unit (LGIU))

Cllr. John Edwards
(Councillor, Sandwell MBC)

Cllr. Jonathan Simpson
(Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, LB of Camden)

Cathy Harvey
(Vice-chair, Streatham CLP)

Cllr. Paul McGlone
(Councillor, LB of Lambeth)

Trevor Allen
(Executive Committee Member, Slough CLP)

Cllr. Richard Greening
(Councillor, LB of Islington)

Carl Rowlands,
(Central Europe Branch, Labour International)

Cllr. Jonathan Bishop
(Councillor, Pontypridd Town Council)

Sachin Shah
(Harrow West CLP Treasurer and Fundraising Officer, London Young Labour)

Emma Collins
(Basildon Labour Party Activist)

Pete Murphy
(Trade Union Link Officer, Eltham CLP)

Owen Richards
(Former Chair, Crawley CLP)

Sarah Hayward
(Holborn & St Pancras Labour Party Activist, former Labour Party Press Officer)

Cllr. Matt Cooke
(Councillor, LB of Haringey)

Cllr. Chris Best
(Councillor, LB of Lewisham)

Pete Shilton Godwin
(Chair of Chorlton Park Labour Party, South Manchester)

Shalu Kanal
(Battersea Labour Party Activist)

David Brede
(Secretary, Northampton South CLP)

Chris Lowe
(Former Chair, Streatham CLP)

Richard Penston
(Maidenhead Labour Party Activist)

Bob Vant
(Holme Valley Labour Party Activist)

Gary Watts
(Former Labour Group Leader on Basingstoke Council)

Rick Muir
(Former Labour Councillor, Oxford)

John MacKay
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross)

Cllr. Bob Fisher
(Chair of the Labour Group, Colchester Borough Council)

James E Siddelley
(Treasurer, Hazel Grove CLP and member of the North West Labour Party Regional Board)

Andrew McCracken
(Northern Ireland Labour Party Activist)

Cllr Tony Belton
(Leader of the Labour Group, LB of Wandsworth)

Andrew Lomas
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Wycombe)

Fiona Twycross
(Former Labour Party Regional Director)

Dr Ges Rosenberg
(Filton and Bradley Stoke Labour Party Activist)

Cllr. Luke Ellis
(Councillor, Pyle Council and Youth Officer, Bridgend CLP)

Cllr. Roisin Hewitt
(Councillor, Thurrock Council)

Stuart King
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Putney)

Bob Clarke
(Uxbridge and South Ruislip Labour Party Activist)

Christopher Mahon
(Lewisham East Labour Party Activist)

Cllr. Florence Nosegbe,
(Councillor, LB of Lambeth and former Labour Party Staff)

Mary Ann Hooper
(Hertsmere Labour Party Activist)

Cllr. John Ennis
(Councillor, Reading Borough Council)

Shelley Phelps
(Basingstoke Labour Party Activist)

Emma Burnell
(Vice Chair of SERA)

Cllr David Boothroyd
(Councillor, Westminster City Council)

Sarah Davies
(Basildon Labour Party Activist)

Neil Nerva
(Political Education Officer, Hampstead and Kilburn CLP)

Joseph Cox
(Secretary, Dartford CLP)

Kevin Bonavia
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Rochford & Southend East)

Katharine Bligh
(Former Vice-Chair Hampstead & Kilburn CLP)

Kaveh Azarhoosh
(Chair, Hull University Labour Club)

Joe Riches
(Chair, York Young Labour and Yorkshire and the Humber representative, Young Labour National Committee)

Cllr. Phil Rackley
(Councillor, Basildon District Council)

Councillor Pat Rackley
(Councillor, Basildon District Council)

Eddie Morgan
(Streatham Labour Party Activist)

Anne Morgan
(Streatham Labour Party Activist)

Nancy Platts
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Pavilion)

Cllr. Mike Roberts
(Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, Rushmoor Council)

Bridget Wilkinson
(Waltham Forest Labour Party Activist)

Iris Johnston
(Margate Labour Activist)

Cllr. Paul Gittings
(Councillor, Reading Borough Council)

Mike Dale
(Colchester Labour Party Activist)

Nicholas Cobb
(Youth Officer, Hammersmith CLP Youth Officer)

Jamie Brown
(Camberwell and Peckham Labour Activist)

Brian Paul
(Chair, Wimbledon CLP)

Anne Sassoon
(Vauxhall Labour Party Activist)

Dave Waters
(Northampton South Labour Party Activist)

Peter Coombes
(Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party Activist)

Lawrie Nerva
(Political Education Officer, Brent North CLP)

Dan Judelson
(Hampstead & Kilburn Labour Party Activist and Former Parliamentary Researcher)

Cllr Bill Esterson
Councillor, Medway Council

Ruairi McAleese
(Vice-Chair, Camden Labour Party Local Government Committee)

Colin Ellar
(Former leader of Hounslow Council and Vice Chair, Feltham and Heston CLP)

Cllr. Alec Kellaway
(Chair, East Ham CLP)

Mike Rowley
(Oxford East Labour Party Activist)

Jessica Asato
(Secretary, St George’s Ward, Islington North CLP)

Gareth Maurice Webb
(Former Chair, Lancaster & Fleetwood CLP)

Cllr Philip Glanville
(Councillor, LB of Hackney)

Anne Reyersbach
(Chair, Wandsworth Labour Party Local Government Committee)

Graham Wassell
(Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Labour Party Activist)

Mark Dempsey
(Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the Cotswolds)

Tim Mantripp
(Executive Committee Member, Mid Norfolk CLP)

Please note that all signatories are supportive in a personal capacity only

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On Monday, Ellie Reeves, a member of the NEC, sent an email asking for Labour members’ views on reselecting MPs implicated in the expenses scandal. You can email Ellie directly at [email protected].

Dear All,

A large number of members have contacted me about MPs expenses and I wanted to email you asking for your views on the way forward.

I know that up and down the country, members who give their time and energy to campaign for our Party feel let down by those elected to represent us. We expect and deserve the highest of standards from our MPs and stories not only of MPs breaking the rules, but also of those who have put in claims that most people would deem unreasonable, lets us and the party down.

On Tuesday the NEC will be meeting to discuss the situation in relation to expenses and consider what action now needs to be taken in relation to MPs who may have abused the system.

I would be really grateful for your views ahead of that meeting. In particular, do you think that sanctions should be taken against not only MPs who have broken the rules, but those who have not acted within in the spirit. Further, how do we judge which claims are in the spirit of the rules and which are not. Finally, what do you think can be done to rebuild trust both within the party and with the wider public?

Please do get in touch, as I want to be able to put forward your views at the meeting on Tuesday.

Best wishes

Ellie Reeves
Labour Party NEC

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On Sunday, Ann Black, Vice Chair of the NEC sent the following response to the letter:

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who has already mailed about this. Like other NEC members I recognise and appreciate the hundreds of hours of unpaid time put in by volunteers on the ground, most of whom do not even claim expenses for travel, postage and telephone calls, but give them freely to help in electing Labour representatives. I know that campaigners now also have to deal with outright hostility to politics and politicians.

The NEC meets on Tuesday 19 May and, according to yesterday’s Guardian, will discuss automatically deselecting any Labour MP found to have made improper expense claims. I am not clear whether this means only MPs who have actually broken the rules, or extends to those whose claims were authorised but appear to have stretched the rules beyond reasonable limits. I would welcome your views on this, and on the criteria for deciding what is reasonable.

Some members have suggested that all Labour MPs should be subject to a formal or informal reselection process by their constituency party. Others believe this would create doubts about MPs whose integrity is not in question. Again I’d appreciate your thoughts on whether and how constituencies should approach this, particularly if you live in a Labour seat.

I’d also be grateful for any other ideas on how to rebuild trust within the party and with the country, and on what the NEC should be doing in addition to the actions and statements from the prime minister.

I anticipate a lot of replies, and will read and take them all into account, though may not have time to respond to them individually before Tuesday.

Thanks for sticking with the party.

Ann Black
NEC constituency representative

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