A BOMBSHELL report describes bitter infighting in the Labour Party with claims of insults and behind-closed-doors plotting.
The leaked papers claim unelected party officials worked to overturn a Brighton and District Labour Party election after supporters of former leader Jeremy Corbyn won leadership positions.
One senior official allegedly urged colleagues to “act now and worry about [rules and legal issues] later”.
Brighton and Hove City Council leader Nancy Platts is mentioned multiple times in the report in reference to her former role in Mr Corbyn’s office, with one person allegedly referring to her as a “f****** idiot”.
The report claims intense opposition to Mr Corbyn meant anti-Semitism complaints could not be handled properly by party officials.
The papers were compiled by Labour to help inform the party’s responses to an anti-Semitism investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle called for Labour to publish the report in full and investigate how officials “undermined” the party’s 2017 General Election campaign.
“We understand the disappointment and frustration that many Labour members will feel with the details revealed in this report,” Mr Russell-Moyle said in a joint statement with left-wing Labour MPs.
“It suggests there are cases to answer on bullying, harassment, sexism and racism.”
The report describes a number of incidents involving senior party officials allegedly acting against left-wing members in Brighton and Hove.
At a July 2016 Brighton and District Labour Party annual general meeting, members voted candidates backed by left-wing faction Momentum into leadership positions.
Soon after, Labour’s legal director John Stolliday and head of disputes Katherine Buckingham allegedly discussed overturning the results and “worrying about [rules and legal issues] later”.
The report claims Mr Stolliday referred to Momentum members as “SWP” and “Trots”, derogatory terms historically used against left-wing Labour members referencing the far-left Socialist Workers’ Party and followers of communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky.
“Overturn AGM, deal with individuals,” the report states Mr Stolliday wrote.
“Shows what we’re up against – a bunch of SWP and Trots marching straight from a rally to invade a CLP [Constituency Labour Party]meeting and stuff handfuls of ballot papers in the boxes even when they;re (sic) not members of the party.”
Ms Buckingham allegedly replied: “I say act now and worry about [rules and legal issues] later, so long as we don’t do something that’ll end up f****** everything else up.”
The leaked report notes it is impossible for people who are not Labour members to vote in local AGMs, “let alone any members of the SWP or Trotskyist organisations”.
Labour officials then overturned the July 2016 result and reinstated Brighton and District Labour Party’s original leadership, claiming they needed to investigate allegations of bullying during the ballot.
Labour HQ then split the organisation into three smaller parties, all of which subsequently elected pro-Corbyn leaders in 2017.
A furious senior official in Brighton told The Argus many members suspected the move was untoward at the time. “Many of the people involved have now left the Labour Party, but those that are still members should be acted on immediately by the Labour Party,” the senior official, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
“They need to go.”
The leaked report also details “extremely strained” relations between Mr Corbyn’s office and Labour HQ causing communication breakdowns which hindered efforts to fight anti-Semitism.
Nancy Platts, who was Mr Corbyn’s liaison to the National Executive Committee and trade unions, is mentioned many times in the report. It claims party officials secretly criticised Ms Platts behind her back multiple times.
In one disagreement regarding candidate selection for the planned 2017 Manchester Gorton by-election, Labour’s then-governance director Emilie Oldknow allegedly branded Ms Platts a “f****** idiot” as she discussed plans on WhatsApp to remove Corbyn supporter and Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey from the selection panel.
Senior official Julie Lawrence said Ms Platts was “spitting feathers” at the proposal, the report claims.
Meanwhile in December 2016, when Ms Platts asked for an update on the case of a party official who had been suspended after allegations of abuse, legal director Mr Stolliday privately claimed it was an “outrageous ask”, the report claimed. Audit director Mike Creighton allegedly said: “It would be nice if just once she took the side of the staff.”
Ms Platts was also involved in the case of Primal Scream singer and Labour Party member Bobby Gillespie after right-wing blog Guido Fawkes reported the former Brighton resident had joked about stabbing Conservative MPs.
She asked if an official could “warn him privately and ask if he is prepared to apologise for his inappropriate joke and if he seems sensible and amenable to the warning, that might be enough”, the report claimed.
Ms Platts declined to comment on the leaked report when contacted by The Argus. “I understand this matter may be subject to legal proceedings,” she said.
In August 2016 Labour bureaucrats introduced a “vetting” process targeting Brighton and Hove members who had shown support for Brighton and Hove Green Party on social media, the report claims.
The move allegedly came as part of a wider campaign to weaken the party’s left wing during the 2016 leadership election between Mr Corbyn and moderate challenger Owen Smith.
“There was also a specific focus on finding people who had previously expressed any support or sympathy for the Greens or their policies, with the inclusion of the Twitter handles of Natalie Ben (sic) and the Green Party, as well as Brighton and Hove Greens specifically, with the equivalent not being done for other parties,” the report read.
“This was, again, something that affected the Labour left, as a significant proportion of members and supporters who supported Corbyn had some sympathies for Green Party positions.”
Meanwhile during the 2017 General Election, Labour’s South East press officer Catherine Bramwell allegedly described a Brighton Parliamentary candidate as “the Trot candidate”. It is not known whether Ms Bramwell was referring to Kemp Town candidate Mr Russell-Moyle or then-Brighton Pavilion hopeful Solomon Curtis.
Officials’ opposition to Mr Corbyn began in the run-up to the 2015 Labour Conference in Brighton, before he was elected as leader.
In July senior staff warned “rampaging Trots” at the event meant stewards would need pepper spray and body armour, the report claims.
A month later Labour’s policy director Simon Jackson allegedly demanded left-wing journalist Owen Jones be kicked off a conference panel as he was “an a******e”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has ordered an urgent investigation into the report’s findings.Independent investigators will also look into how it was leaked to the press.
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