Seema Chandwani #LDNLeft

Justice is not about who can get more exposure to their side. It’s about truth and facts. All members, regardless if they’re an MP or not, should be treated equally. If not by the Labour party, then who? We should be the example we want to see in the world. For the many etc..

It’s tiresome to see some MPs act with impunity. They slag off our party and dash our chances almost every time they get on the media. One 5min clip of a MP slagging off our party/members/leader equates to wiping out 800 members knocking on doors. What happens? Nothing

I’ve had to represent members who’ve been suspended or expelled for liking a Green Party tweet but an MP can openly slag our movement off is left to continue. It’s perfectly natural in these circumstances for members to want to voice their feelings. A VoNC is an acceptable way

Personally I wouldn’t want to do a VoNC - it’s pathetically passive. Like I’m so annoyed that being able to speak for up to a min and put my hand up in a cold hall is somehow making it better? But it’s the ONLY mechanism members have to get their voice heard.

We should applaud members with such discipline to try find a democratic adult process to handle the absence of action taken from elsewhere. CLPs are run by volunteers. The demands on our ECs are immense. The behaviour of an MP should not fall on them to manage.

A few years ago I was ‘ordered’ to remove a tweet where I expressed my disgust at Labour’s vile immigration leaflet that the party ‘accidentally’ delivered in Tottenham A leaflet they couldn’t ask us to deliver cos they knew. (No I didn’t delete my Tweet!)

Is anyone having that conversation with MPs who slag us off regularly? If you want VoNC to cease, then there has to be the perception at least someone is doing something. Or you leave members no other mechanism. It’s a mechanism they’ve made up in absence of anything else

It’s tiring watching ‘blue tick lefties’ stand on a high horse calling for ‘unity’ everytime members decide to take a stand. It’s OK for you, you have your voice. Have your opinion but be clear you speak as the privileged. Your voice is not representative of the grassroots.

You’re doing nothing by hoping this will go away. It won’t stop unless members on the ground feel equality, parity of esteem, sense of justice. Applauding withdrawals of VoNC is a dangerous trend because you have nothing to replace it with. The problem still exists.

For record I don’t expect MPs to agree with Corbyn on everything, it’s OK not to. But I don’t think it’s acceptable to slag off our party, be unable to say with conviction we should govern this country and focus on achieving a Labour govt. If you cannot do that, then WTF!

Our members work bloody hard dedicating hundreds of thousands of hours a day volunteering to secure healthy CLPs and a Labour govt. The thousands each CLP requires is earned through constant fundraising and personal sacrifices. Without our members we’re nothing.

A decision needs to be made sooner or later whether our members are going to get supported when having to deal with unacceptable behaviour of their MPs. If not, we’ll lose those members and most of these MPs won’t lift a finger to do all the work left behind. /end of rant.