Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt

On Thursday 30 May 2019, Broadstairs branch of South Thanet CLP passed the following motion:

The NCC has declared the charges which were brought at Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt’s endorsement hearing to be unproven. We must now stand up to those who have engineered the clearing away of our freely elected choice for one the NEC would prefer. Sienna Rodgers’ announcement in Labour List last April (10/04/19) makes it quite clear that they had not expected Rebecca and were thrown by our selection. That there is no appeal against an NEC decision, particularly when it overturns the decision of an electing body, is itself tyrannical and has no place in a democratic system. The summary dismissal of Rebecca and the mobilisation of Regional Office to have us reselect shows that when they are taken by surprise by our electing a well informed, inspiring, socialist, they will use the full patriarchal force of Labour’s old machines to stop change coming up from the grass roots. We must resist them and demand that the NEC now endorse Rebecca and let us get back to getting her into parliament.

Motion

We move to demand the restitution of our Parliamentary Party Candidate Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt.

We move to resist the attempt of Region to begin a new selection process.

We move that the General Council of the CLP adopts both parts of this motion and relays them immediately to the NEC.

On Thursday 30 May, Sheffield Hallam CLP passed the following motion:

This CLP notes:
• That in December 2018, Labour Party’s NEC refused to endorse Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt as the parliamentary candidate for South Thanet, eight months after she was democratically selected by the local CLP.
• That it is highly unusual for the NEC not to endorse a candidate selected locally.
• That since her selection in April 2018, Rebecca has tirelessly campaigned for the local Labour Party, with the full support of the local members.
We further note:
• That in April 2018, three tweets written by Rebecca for the Centre for Cultural Change twitter account were published out of context by Guido Fawkes’ blog.
• The three tweets read in full:
1. “Accusations levelled at Jackie Walker are politically motivated.
2. “Antisemitism has been weaponised by those who seek to silence anti-Zionist voices. See The Lynching, endorsed by Ken Loach, for elucidation.”
3. “Accusations of AS levelled in an attempt to discredit the left.”
• This led to an investigation by the Labour Party, which culminated in an interview with the NEC panel in December. Rebecca was told that: “In light of these posts your conduct does not meet the high standards that are expected of parliamentary candidates and has the potential to bring the Party into disrepute.”
• This decision has been rejected by the Executive Committee of South Thanet Constituency Labour Party, its branches and its women’s forum.
• Rebecca has no right to appeal this decision and is therefore considering taking legal action.
We believe:
• That this decision is a serious blow to the democratic will of local Labour Party members
• Rebecca’s tweets were not anti-Semitic – but they do point to the very real and ongoing campaign by the right in the Labour Party to smear Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters as anti-Semitic.
We therefore call on the NEC:
• To revisit this decision asap and to reinstate Rebecca as the Labour candidate for Thanet South.
• To apologise to Rebecca and South Thanet CLP.
We further resolve to
• Publicise this motion and submit it to the CLP for discussion and voting at the next CLP meeting.
• Send this motion to the Labour Party NEC and general secretary Jennie Formby.
Proposed: Crookes & Crosspool Branch

On Friday 10 May, I attended a day-long hearing with the National Constitutional Committee, the Labour Party’s disciplinary body. I was pleased that the panel found the evidence against me to be unproven.

In this article in Thanet Extra, I am quoted as saying

“I feel very relieved that the NCC considered the evidence carefully and reached a fair decision.
For nearly a year, I’ve been living with the suggestion that I might have done something that could prove detrimental to the Labour Party.
My supporters and I know I would never do such a thing, quite the opposite.
I’ve been working hard to improve our electoral prospects in Thanet. It’s a great weight off my shoulders to be acquitted of all charges.”

You can read the full article here.

This complaint was sent to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) on 11 March 2019.

To Whom it May Concern

I am contacting you as one the subjects of an article headed ‘Seamus Milne and Corbyn aide blocked anti-semitism suspensions’ (Sunday Times, 10 March 2019).

The article reads:
The Sunday Times has also been passed a tape of John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, admitting he is supporting a woman suspended as a Labour candidate over comments about “Zionist sympathies” of a Jewish MP. Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt was dropped as candidate for South Thanet last year — and now plans to sue the party. But McDonnell said: “I’ve expressed my support for Rebecca.”

This breaks clause 1i of the editors’ code ‘The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information’ in the following ways.

My endorsement as the Labour Party’s parliamentary candidate was refused by the ruling National Executive Committee at the end of last year on the basis of three tweets. None of these made reference to the ‘Zionist sympathies’ of a Jewish MP. This erroneous claim was first made by the Guido Fawkes blog and recirculated by the Jewish Chronicle and Private Eye, none of which seem to be regulated by IPSO. The correct information is freely available in the public domain, on the parliamentary website, on an open Facebook page, on a GoFundMe page and in various properly researched articles such as this one.

The Sunday Times article further misleads the public by using the word ‘suspended’ in relation to my case, by suggesting that John McDonnell’s public declaration of support could affect the outcome of my case in any way and by conflating my case with that of Glyn Secker.

This is a clear example of inaccurate, misleading and distorted journalism that I would like to have investigated.

Yours faithfully
Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt

In this article for the Electronic Intifada from 8 February 2019, Asa Winstanley captures the anger within South Thanet Labour Party in the face of the NEC panel’s unjust decision.

The article hints at the lunacy of the NEC allowing itself to be dictated to by the right-wing Guido Fawkes. It also captures our consternation about the NEC “ignoring the will of the members and denying one of its democratically elected parliamentary candidates the right to a fair hearing.”

I am quoted as saying “I was all set to walk away before Christmas, but I’ve been amazed and inspired by the response of Labour Party members.”

“After eight months of great teamwork, the verdict of the local party seems to be that they still want me as their candidate.”

“The last thing I want to do is go to court, but we have to make the Labour Party more accountable to its members and this seems to be the only way of doing it.”

Read the full article here.