Black Labour activists demand internal action

A group of leading Labour Party activists including the Party’s most senior Black female, Diane Abbott MP, have written to the Labour Party leadership team demanding that African’s and Caribbean’s within the party are better treated.

Diane Abbott, writing a forward within the document laments that:

If you had told me that, twenty six years later,-since four BME MPs entered Parliament- the numbers of African and Afro- Caribbean Labour Members of Parliament would scarcely be any greater, I would have been shocked.

We thought that we were opening a door, through which many others would flood through. But in 2013 there are exactly three male African and Afro-Caribbean Labour Members of Parliament: Mark Hendrick MP for Preston; David Lammy MP for Tottenham and Chuka Ummana MP for Streatham. And there is just one other black female on the Labour benches; Chi Onwurah MP for Newcastle Central.”

The experience of many Caribbean and African candidates has been well documented by OBV and some of these occurrences of bullying and intimidation are still ongoing. But reading some of these accounts in the report is a shameful stain on a Party that over many decades has received great support from African and Caribbean voters. Here are extracts from one would-be Caribbean MP:

I felt proud to be selected to stand a Labour Parliamentary Candidate although I found the experience of the selection process, like many, very difficult.

My selection by the local Labour Party members sparked outrage amongst some Labour and trade union activists, who appeared in the local press and radio following my selection to express their anger. However, after I was selected I attempted, I believe successfully, to build my relationship with local trade unions. I started working with a number of Unions and others who were locally engaged and doing a lot of positive work in the community.

Sadly, I felt forced to stand down as a candidate after a dossier concerning personal and private matters was sent ‘anonymously’ to the press. What makes me very sad, is that personal information was deliberately leaked to the media from (I believe) people in the Labour Party who were displeased that I had been selected to stand for Parliament. I wanted to stand for Parliament for the same reasons that I am standing again as a Labour councillor, I believe that I can represent ordinary working class people who look like me.”

The authors of the document including Cllr Patrick Vernon and Professor Cecile Wright have proposed a comprehensive plan for the Party that help deal with some persistent structural inequalities, whilst proposing measures that will ensure African and Caribbean talent comes through.

High on their list of demands are:

• Open Primaries particularly those with high Black population
• All BME shortlist
• A diversity fund to help Black candidates effectively campaign for seats
• Greater Black representation within Labour Party staff, particularly with Local Party hierarchy and selection panels

This is a timely document to the Labour Party who will ignore the Black members and Black voters at their peril. With the help of OBV, Black churches are registering to vote their congregations in unprecedented numbers. ‘Vote for justice and equality’ pastors are telling their packed churches. The Labour party would do wise to positively respond to the authors call, one thing is for sure in the forth coming elections, many more Black people will be voting.

Simon Woolley