As the BBC and Harry’s Place blog report, the Labour party rules are quite clear:
Chapter 2, Rule A(4)(b) of the Labour Party Rules state:
“A member of the party who joins and/or supports a political organisation other than an official Labour group or other unit of the party, or supports any candidate who stands against an official Labour candidate, or publicly declares their intent to stand against a Labour candidate, shall automatically be ineligible to be or remain a party member….”
Under those rules, eight councillors in Tower Hamlets were expelled from Labour after they were seen campaigning for Lutfur Rahman. When I revealed last week that Lord Nazir Ahmed had also appeared on a pro-Lutfur platform, Labour HQ declined to take such swift action and instead said it would investigate it after the election.
No doubt, it will be the same double-standards with the far bigger fish Ken Livingstone. However, Oona King’s campaign team are once again readying for action stations. Oona, who many believe would have a wider appeal than Ken in taking on Boris Johnson, is understood to be playing down that excitement.
It all depends on the party’s NEC which has yet to have its first full meeting since Ed Miliband became leader. It has 31 members:
| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Deputy Leader | Harriet Harman |
| Treasurer | Diana Holland |
| Government | Pat McFadden |
| Government | Angela Eagle |
| Government | Tom Watson |
| EPLP Leader | Glenis Willmott MEP |
| Young Labour | Stephanie Peacock |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Keith Birch |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Jim Kennedy |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Harriet Yeo |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Paddy Lillis |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Norma Stephenson (Chair) |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Andy Kerr |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Cath Speight |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Mary Turner |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Chris Weldon |
| Div. I – Trade Unions | Andy Worth |
| Div. II – Socialist Societies | Simon Wright |
| Div. II – Socialist Societies | Keith Vaz MP |
| Div. III – CLPs | Ken Livingstone |
| Div. III – CLPs | Oona King |
| Div. III – CLPs | Ann Black |
| Div. III – CLPs | Ellie Reeves |
| Div. III – CLPs | Christine Shawcroft |
| Div. III – CLPs | Luke Akehurst |
| Div. IV – Labour Councillors | Jeremy Beecham |
| Div. IV – Labour Councillors | Ann Lucas |
| Div. V – PLP/EPLP | Angela Smith MP |
| Div. V – PLP/EPLP | Dennis Skinner |
| Div. V – PLP/EPLP | Michael Cashman MEP (Vice Chair) |
How many of those do you think would be pro-Ken? Help needed, please….
Trial by Jeory 