The SKWAWKBOX has covered the anti-democratic efforts of the Labour right to control the Labour Party Irish Society (LPIS) – an affiliated society that can influence local and national politics – and broke the news last night that Labour’s NEC (National Executive Committee) is to investigate the ‘rigging’ of the society’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) with a view to having it re-run democratically.
Some have challenged the NEC’s right to interfere in the processes of an affiliated society, but NEC sources have made plain that the committee has every right, based on Labour’s rules, to require LPIS to behave in a proper and democratic fashion.
The pertinent parts of the rule-book are:
Affiliated societies are discrete organisations – but the conditions of their affiliation dictate that they must behave in accordance with Labour’s rules.
According to NEC sources, there was outrage last night on the part of some right-wing NEC members and right-wing LPIS members when the decision was taken that the NEC’s ‘Org Sub’ (Organisation Committee) would investigate the ‘rigging’ of the AGM. Specific reference was made by those in favour of the decision to the ‘smoking gun’ emails that the SKWAWKBOX exclusively published, which put beyond question the fact that advance plans had been made by right-wingers to control the meeting.
Those same sources acknowledged that it is possible for LPIS to ignore NEC instructions to re-run the meeting – but confirmed that if it did so, the NEC could annul the society’s affiliation, removing it from all influence within the party – and its very reason for existing.
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