On the suspension of Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
We deplore the decision of the Labour Party to “administratively suspend” Jewish Voice for Labour’s Media Officer, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, on the eve of the Party’s Annual Conference. Naomi was due to attend the conference as NEC member elect but she is now prevented from doing so.
This suspension along with a flurry of other eve of conference expulsions and suspensions bears out the evidence presented in the Forde Report and the Al Jazeera programme, The Labour Files: The Purge, about the Party’s factional abuse of the disciplinary system.
Furthermore, the notion that the Action Plan, introduced in response to the EHRC investigation, has solved all problems has been shown to be travesty.
On Thursday afternoon Naomi received a Notice of Allegation and Administrative Suspension which charged her with having “spoken at an event run by proscribed organisations. That event took place almost a year ago at the 2021 party conference. Why has this moment been chosen to suspend her from membership?
Naomi’s NEC candidature was backed by 13 different groups and many individuals who came together to campaign for the #Grassroots5 slate. Other members who have been charged with the same offence have not been suspended pending investigation. Why has Naomi been singled out for suspension? This action and its timing seem calculated to prevent her taking up her role as an NEC member representing constituency party members at the NEC AGM scheduled for Tuesday Sept 27.
We note that extraordinary numbers of other members, included elected CLP delegates, have been suspended or expelled just in time to prevent their participation in conference.
Naomi and JVL have campaigned powerfully and consistently against the misuse of allegations of antisemitism against the pro-Palestinian left. Naomi is the only directly elected Jewish member on the NEC. Approaching 60 Jewish party members have been investigated for “antisemitism”. Many Jewish members have resigned feeling that Labour is an unsafe place for non-Zionists.
How does this disproportionate targeting of Jews fit in with Keir Starmer’s talk of ‘”tearing out antisemitism”?
Could there be another factor in this carefully planned timing? Naomi’s suspension came hours before the airing of the first in a series of #LabourFiles documentary programmes revealing the extent to which staff and politicians on the right of the party worked behind the scenes to undermine and defeat those on the left. Programme Two on Saturday 24 September will include evidence of the abuse experienced by “the wrong sort of Jews”.
We deplore the misuse of disciplinary procedures to purge the party of left-wing activists who have always represented a strong strand in Labour.
We call for
- the immediate lifting of Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi’s suspension
- an end to the arbitrary and factional interventions by the party apparatus
- implementation of the recommendations in the Forde Report including effective action against the racism and Islamophobia exposed so graphically
- the restoration of the whip to Jeremy Corbyn.
- Conference to review all decisions to ban proscribed groups.
Untill the party gets rid of
Sir Utter Useless and those in the PLP that support him This is going to be the case each time they want to silence someones voice from being heard
The Labour Party is supposed to be a party were freedom of speech is welcomed and members can have their say about things in the party that they dont agree with and can say what it is without any condemnation of that person and open the subject for a debate But it seems since
Sir Utter Useless became leader this is not the case anymore and now if you say something or go to say something that they dont like its not even being allowed to go to a debate about it Instead you are suspended or even expelled by the powers that be without any explanation as to why
To many good labour party members have been suspended without any good reason or explanation as to why and they all seem to take place near to conferance without time to appeal them especially when those suspended or expelled are not being given an explanation as to why
It is terrible that you have been suspended, Naomi. You are a truly honourable person and the best type of member the Labour Party could hope to have in its ranks. Solidarity and respect.
In total support of Naomi
Shocking decision. I voted for Naomi and the Grassroots 5, as did many of my friends. How many members of JLM have been suspended ? I suspect zero. This is the worst kind of managerial factionalism
Solidarity Naoml. One of the two elected delegates from Witney to conference was suspended at the last minute, and I myself, also from Oxford was just emailed that I’m under investigation for prejudice against race and religion, which I find contemptible
Very sad and unjust. I voted for the Grassroots 5 and most especially for Naomi… Labour these days doesn’t seem to be a safe place for anyone who believes in democracy.
I fully support all these demands. The Labour Party needs to deal with the findings of the Forde Report and the Al Jazeera Labour files in order to deal with the real issues of concern at the core of the Labour Party
Support 💯. The LP has lost the support of thousands of its original membership, or has thrown them out or left them in permanent suspension ie: Jeremy Corbyn for one. This is undemocratic and clearly outrageous
Please
Fight back
The Lawless Organisation led by the ex DPP has nowhere to run and nowhere to hide
I know there are great people out there who can do something about it
Is the man fit and proper, by what standards is he judged
At the very least ask what he proposes to do about the corruption, then take him to the court of his peers to judge him if he fails us again
Naomi thanks for all you do. Being a LP member becomes ever more embarrassing. I derive inspiration through Ken Loach’s recent dreamscape on the Sunday zoom, and hope so do you. Take care and cheers to you.
I too received notice of suspension on Wednesday. This was for threatening behaviour and harrassment. I was expressing solidarity with another local anti Zionist JVL member and speculated that it was the work of the Israeli military spy who Starmer employed as the Party’s Social media manager. This was on a local branch whatsapp and would not be seen by him so harrassment is not applicable. It is me who is being harrassed.
Solidarity Naomi. Nothing the party does surprises me any more. Shocking.
Sadly this was all too predictable but the most shocking thing is the behaviour of mainstream journalists. They turned a blind eye to similar shenanigans before the last AGM and are again failing in their duty to expose what is actually going on in the Labour Party.
I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Naomi few years ago. She is an example of integrity and unimpeachable moral rectitude.
Someone said being in the Labour Party felt like “paying to be in an abusive relationship” – that utterly chimed with me and not long after that, I left. I do my politics through the women’s movement and by supporting trade union actions now. I feel much, much better and I also find I’m discovering and correcting blind-spots the Labour Party had created in me, despite what I thought was my strategy of effective critical support. I sympathize utterly with anyone still wrestling with The Party but suspect we need to find another way of bringing socialism into play, and also wish to reassure anyone who needs to know firstly that you can do politics effectively outside the party and secondly, that being out of it is actually *good* for you – especially for women, especially for socialist women, especially for women who are Black, or members of other groups the establishment is careless of or downright oppressive towards – such as Jewish socialiists.
Total respect for Naomi. She is brilliant!
Solidarity Naomi. there is nothing that the current totalitarian leadership of the Labour Party fears more than democracy! You were elected by the members. The Party has nothing but contempt for the members and is pleased that they have reduced by 200,000 from teir height in the Corbyn leadership era.
I find it deeply shocking and saddening that the party of Labour has become so corrupted. Naomi please keep on fighting for truth and justice.
Solidarity Naomi, the truth will come out.
I was dismayed to hear that moderate voice, Naomi has been smeared and disrespected by whom ? Who is it in the Labour Party that is driving hate against the very people it publically pretends to support ?
Has the party sunk so low that there are no areas where civilised discussion can be aired ? Has the party been bought and sold ? How much money does it take to buy a party ?
It points to one thing and one thing only,
Spite, I’ve been voting Labour since 1959 but find I can’t anymore, Starmer & Co are guilty themselves of Antisemitism,
There must be a way to stop this victimisation of left wing members. Starmer has lied his way into this job and should not be allowed to stay as leader. People who have been party members for decades expelled, this should not be allowed to happen. Its a disgrace.
Stay strong Naiomi you have many supporters and good genuine friends who will stand by you. You have had 2 years of lies and false allegations and threats against you. Hold your head high we are proud of you.
Oh dear – what a surprise! I couldn’t see this coming.
Solidarity, Naomi! As a fellow suspendee (I have been in a suspended state for nearly 2 years!) I stand by you. The move to prevent you from taking part in the LP conference is so transparent and flagrant; it shows that the Party leaders and bureaucrats have absolutely no shame.
It took over two years for the then LP disputes committee to finally expel a member of my CLP who was a prolific and published holocaust denier. He came to our notice through comments on social media and this was what alerted us. We provided reams of evidence – numerous published articles denying the holocaust . Still nothing happened. A petition calling for his expulsion was signed by over 200 members – still nothing. When Jenny Formby became the general secretary, only then was he expelled. Yet it took only days of being elected to the NEC for Naomi to be targeted. Absolutely shocking. If that isn’t evidence of weaponisation agaoinst left members I dont know what is. Solidarity Naomi.
Love & Solidarity to Naomi x
Just appalling. She was democratically elected by many in the party and I was one of them. To suspend someone with a trumped up reason just before conference. She is probably the only NEC member who would seriously support Palestine. She would wipe the floor with LA. I am furious
a new party….”Wrong Sort of Labour ” Party ? WSLP?
The Labour Party has totally lost it’s way….
When are we going to discuss resigning fromthe Lp and all joining a new organisation with clause 4 as its aim. There seems to be no point in waiting for Starmer to improve. Sacking PPs for not supporting legalising torture and even murder by undercover cops has to be red line
Solidarity to Naomi and all the others suspended in the pre-conference purge. The Party should be proud to have Naomi as a member. I also believe she is the only Jewish member of the NEC and that fact alone sets alarm bells ringing for me.
Well I did say to Naomi recently that I would offer good odds for anyone willing to bet that she’d last the full two years of her office but even I didn’t expect that she would be suspended even before she attended her first NEC meeting.
The decision by Starmer and Evans shows their utter contempt for democracy in the Labour Party. While Luke Akehurst can stay in post despite having supported Israeli snipers who murdered unarmed Palestinians in the Great Return march Naomi is suspended for not having had the foresight to see that groups she had contact with would become proscribed in the future.
My sympathies are of course with Naomi who has been a courageous fighter against this false antisemitism narrative
Solidarity with all those wrongly accused and suspended. Starmer’s “Labour” is a travesty of the party that was created to represent the working class.
Solidarity Naomi.. you are an unswerving inspiration, shame on the Labour Party…
Solidarity Naomi, the Labour Party can’t tolerate anyone with high principles and seem determined to hound them out. I watched the excellent programme about the Labour Party on Al jazeera such scrutiny is glaringly missing from British news outlets.
This is totally unacceptable. This girl has done nothing wrong. I watched the first part of the Aljazeera documentary last night. . To me it proves all the visceral accusations are nonsense. It was a well planned brutally executed assassination of Corbyn and anyone else who is a socialist in the Labour Party. How can a self respecting organisation continue defend thugs who issue malign threats to party members and their families whilst accusing others of violence that never took place. Angela Eagle should be facing expulsion and being stripped of her damehood. This documentary has proved once and for all the accusations against Jeremy are completely false as I have consistently said they would be. I was a Party membe for over six decades. Now, I don’t want my name associated with criminals .
Solidarity and best wishes to Naomi. At last the truth is coming out with the ‘Labour Files’ on Al Jazeera.
Love these two on the photo & respect them.
This suspension is shockingly timed. All animals are equal but some are more equal than others! Some broad church Labour is. Makes quaint, the idea of the Labour left making their case, winning the arguments. You need to be in the room for that and the way in seems to be narrowing. So I sincerely hope Conference does ‘review all decisions to ban proscribed groups.’
After the profound levels of social/health/political inequality exposed by the pandemic, by the climate crisis, and now by this cost of ‘greed’ crisis, it cannot be a coincidence that strong democratizing voices like Naomi’s are being squeezed out of political legitimacy.
If black, brown and/or Jewish socialist/feminist members are leaving the party of ‘opposition’ in droves (those not already suspended or expelled) – what’s left? A sea of middle-class white faces and nominal ‘others,’ all obliged to accept the politics of empire, colonialism, occupation, even apartheid, just to be there? Among the many other subjects he has little or nothing to say on, I fear Keir Starmer doesn’t aim to win any of these arguments with the left. He just seeks to win power – but to what end?
How on earth can LP members stand by and see suspensions such as that of Naomi go ahead without kicking up an almighty uproar against Starmer, who is using Naomi and others to cement his credentials as a Zionist with the racist, apartheid State of Israel and against Socialism.
This is absolutely appalling. I feel like ripping up my LP membership card even before it comes coveted in the Union Jack.
With you all the way, Naomi!
I just did a search and, as I was sure would be the case, there’s not a dickybird in the MSM about Naomi being suspended as far as I can see. And my point is this, that unless members subscribe to a left-wing news site such as VoxPolitical or Skwawkbox etc (or read one of the Jewish newspapers), they probably don’t even know that Naomi was suspended, or the reason why. And for the same reason, they are not aware that left-wing members are being suspended and expelled retrospectively in relation to the proscribed groups – ie because they spoke at an event organised by one of the proscribed groups or whatever.
And I have little doubt that the reason the MSM don’t cover such suspensions and expulsions is because they could hardly do so without mentioning the reason WHY they were suspended and expelled, and they don’t want their readers and viewers and listeners to know that Starmer and Co are suspending and expelling members – left-wing members – retrospectively, because they know that most people would think it outrageous and grossly unfair and, as such, realise they are in effect being purged.
So lets all write letters to our local and regional newspapers informing them of the fact, along with a few examples, like Naomi (and mention the Al Jazeera documentaries The Labour Files at the same time!), and enlighten as many people as possible.
Solidarity Naomi, I think the LP is now a dead end and just will debilítate everyone’s best efforts and vital energy…..I know it has been tried before but we need to find a way to create a substantial, democratic, socialist, environmental, internationalist, anti-oppressive, (as encapsulated by Marek Edelman) party ….that is actually a pleasure to be part of in the struggles ahead….brings solidarity, and is life-affirming (rather than it’s opposite)…..
Unfortunately I’m not surprised. They are incapable of accepting any principled opposition, especially when they reflect the will of the membership in democratic elections. Solidarity with Naomi and all those suspended and expelled for such farcical excuses.
The suspension of Naomi is typical of the Starmer gang and is once again evidence that that cabal has no interest whatsoever in democracy. It’s their way or the highway!
Absolute disgrace to suspend a fantastic comrade like naomi
Absolute disgrace to suspend a fantastic comrade like naomi.
You have to admire those in the firing line of Labour Party bureaucracy for standing up to their rights, as Naomi Wimborne -Adissi and others have done. However, it is clear the NEC is not interested in due process or even respecting the results of elections. They want the troublesome leftists out of the way, and now that the Tories are shooting themselves in the foot Starmer et al are confident of victory in any upcoming election. Consequently, they feel they live without the energy and commitment activists like Naomi bring to the Party.
I was surprised that Naomi was allowed to be elected but not at all surprised that a spurious reason to suspend her was found. One by one they pick off the socialists who remain. Mendacious Starmer bought into the strategy of Mattinson and Mandelson. New Labour laid waste to democracy within. Starmer has finished that job. No one will be allowed in the Party who causes ripples or is fingered by JLM or the CAA. Naomi, devoted to justice and truth has been brilliant and courageous. All the JVL leaders have been superb. I hope there will be a meaningful reckoning for this cruel Labour leadership with its vile General Secretary. More likely is that once in power Labour will point to the ruthless weeding out of good members as wholly justified to get to power a strategy in my view built of matchsticks in a Party made of paper. There have been some long overdue small policy ideas trickling out of the Conference Naomi was not allowed to attend, some taken from Corbyn’s great 2017 manifesto and watered down. What a lost opportunity that was. I don’t think they know what they want to do other than what the MSM and funders with influence expect them to do. As it is, PM Starmer and Chancellor Reeves will be unable to manoeuvre financially nor to borrow any more in a country already tanked by Tories. Meanwhile let’s all keep JVL going.
Anyone watching the AlJazeera documentary will have seen Naomi and also the wonderful Jenny Manson and two other JVL women, whose names I have forgotten unfortunately. All four women were so obviously good good people! Sorry to sound so airy fairy but sometimes, it is less useful to dissect the legal niceties and more useful to just state the obvious. These are all good, good people. Gentle, intelligent, modest, humorous. You can’t get away from this truth. That’s why the Al Jazeera documentary is so unassailable. You SEE the truth in front of your very eyes.