Friday, August 07, 2020
More Labour chaos
Corbyn's legacy is continuing to haunt the Labour Party after an inquiry was told that staffers named in a leaked internal party report that claimed to show their private hostility to Jeremy Corbyn have alleged the document misused private messages to falsely make them seem racist and sexist.
The Guardian reports that officials accused in the report of insulting pro-Corbyn colleagues in WhatsApp groups are seeking damages from the party for misuse of data and libel, among other complaints:
The leaked 860-page report emerged in April, just after Keir Starmer became Labour leader, reigniting party splits by claiming that Corbyn’s chances of success were scuppered by disgruntled party elements.
Authored anonymously in the final months of Corbyn’s tenure, the report said opponents hampered his efforts to tackle antisemitism in the party, and cited WhatsApp messages insulting Corbyn’s allies. Some of the messages had apparent racist or sexist overtones, prompting disquiet among some of the party’s BAME members.
Starmer has set up an inquiry led by Martin Forde QC to investigate both the claims in the report and how it was produced and leaked.
In a formal submission to the inquiry, seen by the Guardian, lawyers for the accused officials say the WhatsApp messages were used selectively and edited to give a false impression. They also say the inquiry should be abandoned given the damage already caused by the leaked report. The 11-page submission claims that some WhatsApp messages sent months apart were joined together to create a false narrative, and others were removed, “so that by such editing a deliberately false impression that racist and misogynistic conversations had taken place”.
It says the unnamed authors of the leaked report should not have had access to the WhatsApp messages, adding that one member of the WhatsApp group accidentally backed them up via their Labour email, and that a data misuse complaint is with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The leaked report also selectively ignores many thousands of other messages that do not back up a narrative of factionalism or prejudice, the lawyers write.
They say the officials plan to take legal action against Labour over data protection issues and libel as well invasion of privacy and, for some staffers, breach of contract and employment, and will seek substantial damages.
In the circumstances I suspect Starmer is massively frustrated at the mess he has inherited. Nobody would be surprised if he is pacing up and down echoing the words of Henry II about Thomas Beckett - “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest!” - because until this is settled and the Cotbynite chaos resolved, he is unable to move forward with his own leadership.
The Guardian reports that officials accused in the report of insulting pro-Corbyn colleagues in WhatsApp groups are seeking damages from the party for misuse of data and libel, among other complaints:
The leaked 860-page report emerged in April, just after Keir Starmer became Labour leader, reigniting party splits by claiming that Corbyn’s chances of success were scuppered by disgruntled party elements.
Authored anonymously in the final months of Corbyn’s tenure, the report said opponents hampered his efforts to tackle antisemitism in the party, and cited WhatsApp messages insulting Corbyn’s allies. Some of the messages had apparent racist or sexist overtones, prompting disquiet among some of the party’s BAME members.
Starmer has set up an inquiry led by Martin Forde QC to investigate both the claims in the report and how it was produced and leaked.
In a formal submission to the inquiry, seen by the Guardian, lawyers for the accused officials say the WhatsApp messages were used selectively and edited to give a false impression. They also say the inquiry should be abandoned given the damage already caused by the leaked report. The 11-page submission claims that some WhatsApp messages sent months apart were joined together to create a false narrative, and others were removed, “so that by such editing a deliberately false impression that racist and misogynistic conversations had taken place”.
It says the unnamed authors of the leaked report should not have had access to the WhatsApp messages, adding that one member of the WhatsApp group accidentally backed them up via their Labour email, and that a data misuse complaint is with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The leaked report also selectively ignores many thousands of other messages that do not back up a narrative of factionalism or prejudice, the lawyers write.
They say the officials plan to take legal action against Labour over data protection issues and libel as well invasion of privacy and, for some staffers, breach of contract and employment, and will seek substantial damages.
In the circumstances I suspect Starmer is massively frustrated at the mess he has inherited. Nobody would be surprised if he is pacing up and down echoing the words of Henry II about Thomas Beckett - “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest!” - because until this is settled and the Cotbynite chaos resolved, he is unable to move forward with his own leadership.
Comments:
<< Home
The extra detail you provide about how the WhatApps messages got into Labour's official workplace communications system is helpful.
To my mind, the disaffected Labour staff's blunder in copying their nasty, cruel, sometimes racist and shockingly disloyal chats with each other and the information about what they were doing to sabotage Labour's chances at the election means they can't claim legal rights to privacy.
These staff placed their messages on a communications system which they (as employees) knew to be the property of their employer and subject to monitoring by authorised colleagues. It's a commonplace - which should be covered in the terms and conditions of their employment contracts - that anyone using workplace communication systems can be disciplined and have information passed on to the appropriate authorities if they misuse the communication systems. Employees have been sacked for accessing pornography on workplace computers for example.
The "appropriate authorities" in this instance includes the Labour leadership, the NEC, the CLPs, the associates and all 580,000 Labour members. Each of these entities shares in the ownership, management and funding of the Labour party. Each of these entities (and teh MPs and Councillors) was betrayed by what that tiny clique in Labour HQ allegedly did.
Post a Comment
To my mind, the disaffected Labour staff's blunder in copying their nasty, cruel, sometimes racist and shockingly disloyal chats with each other and the information about what they were doing to sabotage Labour's chances at the election means they can't claim legal rights to privacy.
These staff placed their messages on a communications system which they (as employees) knew to be the property of their employer and subject to monitoring by authorised colleagues. It's a commonplace - which should be covered in the terms and conditions of their employment contracts - that anyone using workplace communication systems can be disciplined and have information passed on to the appropriate authorities if they misuse the communication systems. Employees have been sacked for accessing pornography on workplace computers for example.
The "appropriate authorities" in this instance includes the Labour leadership, the NEC, the CLPs, the associates and all 580,000 Labour members. Each of these entities shares in the ownership, management and funding of the Labour party. Each of these entities (and teh MPs and Councillors) was betrayed by what that tiny clique in Labour HQ allegedly did.
<< Home
