From Labour Hub
Last month, five Brent councillors
in northwest London resigned from the Labour Party and joined the
Greens, after local Labour members were denied the right to select
candidates for the May 2026 local elections and a special ‘Campaign
Improvement Board’ imposed candidates across all wards in the borough,
excluding eight sitting councillors,
without right of appeal. Now five members of Brent West CLP, all
leading activists including former constituency officers, have also quit
the Party. Here we publish their Resignation Statement.
We all joined the Labour Party as a vehicle for promoting social
justice, both at home and abroad, fairness, equality, protecting the NHS
and ensuring a reasonable minimum standard of living for all. These
are the values that the Party held when we first became members.
Sadly, we have all decided to leave, as it is clear that under the
current leadership these values have been abandoned in favour of
protecting the status quo where the rich get richer and the majority get
poorer, we allow developers to build luxury homes which remain largely
empty when we desperately need social housing, and the leadership have
joined the right wing chorus in demonising immigrants rather than
addressing the real causes of poverty, our unequal economy system.
On Gaza, Labour has demonstrated a lack of any decent lawful
responses to the genocide and the ongoing humanitarian crisis carried
out by Israel. Instead, it has assisted Israel with ethnic cleansing of
Gaza and remained silent on the daily attacks on Palestinians on the
West Bank. The government has supported the genocide by carrying out
regular reconnaissance flights over Gaza from a base in Cyprus and
sending the information to the Israelis.
Labour has taken the decision to proscribe Palestine Action and
remains silent about the hunger strikers. David Lammy initially denied
knowledge and continues to refuse to meet the families and lawyers of
the eight hunger strikers, five who have been hospitalised, one for the
second time. Their families say they are being given no information
about their condition.
They have been over a year in prison pre-trial which is double the
legal limit, denied bail and their plight ignored by mainstream media.
David Lammy’s proposals for no-jury trials for under 5-year sentences
(for which there is no clear evidence base) will affect
activists/protesters and according to over 100 senior legal experts, risks deepening disparities and eroding trust among minority communities.
On asylum seekers, we have seen Shabana Mahmood’s shameful proposals
as part of this Labour Government’s general move towards adopting the
rhetoric of Reform UK and the far right.
Under Labour, we have seen an increase of privatisation and
outsourcing of NHS care to the private sector. The NHS is not properly
funded or staffed and undervalues social care.
With over 100,000 vacancies and a real terms funding deficit of £423
billion, the NHS is in crisis. Plans to increase outsourcing of NHS care
to private providers contradict clear evidence that this is
associated with widening inequalities, increasing mortality and
excessive costs – funding up to 32% profit margins for these private
providers.
On the Employment Rights Bill we have seen Labour abandon its
manifesto commitment to give workers rights from day one by bowing to
the pro-business amendments tabled by the House of Lords.
We have seen Labour not only abandon its Green Pledge but also
propose an expansion of Heathrow Airport which will be a disaster for
the environment.
At the most recent budget, Labour bowed to pressure from business and
failed to apply a windfall tax on banks or any meaningful taxes that
would redistribute wealth fairly.
In addition, we have witnessed Labour imposing an undemocratic
selection process for local councillors in Brent. Despite vigorous
opposition from the CLP and warnings about the impact on membership and
active branches, London Region on behalf of the Labour Party nationally
went ahead and deselected eight sitting councillors.
We are fortunate to have a local MP who continues to use all
platforms available to put the case for traditional Labour values,
although there are now so few voices opposing Labour’s relentless shift
to the right. We will continue to campaign for socialist values but
sadly this will now be elsewhere.
Elaine MacDonald (Executive Committee delegate)
Alan Scott (EC delegate)
Keith Perrin (EC delegate)
Gaynor Lloyd (General Meeting delegate)
Tim Miles (GM delegate)
Reacting to the statement, Amandine Alexandre, Brent Green Party Local Contact Officer and Green candidate for Harlesden and Kensal Green said:
Hearing about the news that
5 members of Brent West CLP had resigned, I first rejoiced at the thought that
Brent Labour Party had suffered another major loss. However, after reading
their statement and being reminded again about the way Keir Starmer has betrayed
Labour Party members and voters, I felt incredibly sad. The ideological
direction taken by Starmer's government is having a severe impact on people's
lives and future, starting with the hunger strikers, three of whom are from
Brent. In the face of the intolerable cruelty and cowardice displayed by the
Prime Minister and his supporters, we can only show courage, determination and
open the way to a radical and far superior way of doing politics - with
people's best interests in mind.
