More Brent Labour resignations over rightwards direction of party and undemocratic local council candidate selection

 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.