Letter was inaccurate, because Emily Thornberry did reply to Labour Party NI and supported our demand

(The letter is here: Lobbying of Labour grandees has failed)

First he says Emily Thornberry did not have the good manners to reply to a letter from me, on behalf of LPNI EC, asking for her position on us having the right to stand Labour Party candidates here.

The fact is that Emily was the only one of the four leadership candidates to reply to my letter. She made a detailed argument in support of our demand. Nobody at our meeting was in anyway ‘misled’, as Andy has alleged. Andy should apologise.

Second, the result was not close. Rebecca Long-Bailey received less than a third of first preference votes and lost overall by a large margin.

Third, Andy argues that lobbying the Labour Party is a waste of time. The very fact that Emily Thornberry publicly supported us for the first time in response to our canvass shows this is nonsense.

Our lobbying over the years has won widespread support for our case among MPs, CLPs and trade unions, who increasingly recognise we are being disgracefully discriminated against.

If we decide to back up our lobbying with legal action we would seem to have adequate grounds.

The Labour Party is in breach of contract with its members (and trade union supporters) here in that it takes our subscription money and our political levies, but denies us electoral representation.

Also, under the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, it would appear that by suppressing Labour candidates here, the party is ‘institutionally discriminating’ (see the Macpherson Report into the Stephen Lawrence case) against not just its members here but against the entire Northern Ireland electorate.

Boyd Black, Secretary, Labour Party in Northern Ireland