At a meeting of the UK National Election Committee on the upcoming Labour Party leadership race, Labour grandees waited for Corbyn and his supporters to leave the room, then put forward a motion — not on the agenda — to exclude recent Labour Party members from participating in the upcoming leadership vote, disenfranchising 130,000 new Party members, mainly Corbyn supporters.
New party members can buy their votes back by giving Labour another £25 in the next 48 hours. Joining Labour cost £3 as of yesterday. That’s an overnight 800% rise in the price of party participation.
Because at the end of the meeting, after a couple of pro-Corbyn members had left, and Corbyn himself had gone, a vote was taken on a motion not on the agenda, to exclude from the leadership vote anyone who joined the party in the past six months. So the 130,000 who signed up since Brexit, most of whom are thought to be Corbyn supporters, will be unable to vote.
Now whatever you think of Corbyn, this looks and smells like gerrymandering by his opponents.
Corbyn will definitely attempt to get the vote over-turned. And he may resort to the law, since Labour’s website made clear that membership bought a vote.
Corbyn opponents try to fix vote
[Robert Peston/ITV]
(Image: Tony Blair interviewed by Fortune, Nicky Dugan Pogue, CC-BY-SA)