Statement on Labour Party decision on Jeremy Corbyn

We the undersigned members of UNISON’s National Labour Link Committee are dismayed and appalled that the Labour Party NEC has today passed a resolution to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.

Yesterday, we urged UNISON’s two members of the Labour Party NEC to vote against the resolution. It is with huge disappointment we understand that they both abstained on this key vote.

Jeremy Corbyn is a long-time UNISON member and UNISON-supported MP. UNISON members supported Jeremy twice in separate elections to determine UNISON’s preferred candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party, resulting in UNISON formally backing Jeremy for the leadership in 2015 and 2016.

Whilst Leader, Jeremy was wholly supportive without equivocation of UNISON’s agenda for public services and restoration of trade union rights. UNISON needs as many MPs as possible within the Parliamentary Labour Party who support our union’s policy on these two key areas.

Preventing an ex-Leader from standing as a candidate in a future election because of a view that they would do unspecified damage to the party’s prospects of winning seats in a future election sets a dangerous precedent. Other MPs, including other UNISON-supported MPs, could also be subject to such resolutions in future on the whim of the leader at the time.

UNISON’s East Midlands Region has publicly called out its concerns over how the Labour Party is conducting its parliamentary selections. Their concerns are well-founded, we believe, and this latest manoeuvre at the Labour Party NEC further heightens alarm at how the current Labour Party leadership is prepared to undermine both the principles and practice of party democracy.

We call on the Labour Party to reverse this awful decision as its next NEC meeting.

Mark Fisher
Tracy Grant
Aileen McLoughlin
Libby Nolan
Dan Sartin
Jane Wilcox
Tony Wilson
Tony Wright

Members of the UNISON National Labour Link Committee (all personal capacity).