‘Bureaucrats in the UK’s Labour Party are trying to rig an important internal election against the left and Palestine solidarity activists.
Left-wing Liverpool area councilor Jo Bird – who is also a Jewish Palestine solidarity activist – has been suspended as a party member.
Before news of her suspension broke on Friday, Bird was a leading candidate for elections to Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee in April.
But under party rules her suspension, unless quickly reversed, means she will be ineligible for the position.
The move is part of a wider purge of the left and the Palestine solidarity movement from the party after leader Jeremy Corbyn’s electoral defeat in December.
Critics have called it an attempt to rig the election against the left and the Palestine solidarity movement.
Bird’s run for the national executive is being supported by left-wing groups, including the Labour Left Alliance, Jewish Voice for Labour and the Labour Representation Committee.
Jewish Voice for Labour said that “the timing of this suspension is deeply suspicious and has the hallmarks of a deliberate attempt to undermine members’ wishes.”
The group is asking local constituency parties to continue nominating Bird.’
Read more: Labour attempts to rig internal election
