Right-wing Labour group Labour First has started a petition attacking the decision of the NEC, Labour’s ruling committee, to write to Haringey council asking it to pause the progress of the ‘HDV’ – the controversial housing development project that involves removing thousands of council house residents from their homes and handing the buildings to a private-public partnership.
The petition, which has attracted only a few hundred signatures so far, uses the official Labour Party logo:
Labour members contacted the SKWAWKBOX concerned about a non-official group using the official party logo to attack the party’s NEC and querying whether Labour First had Labour’s permission to do so.
So we asked Labour First secretary Luke Akehurst whether his group had obtained permission. The response was interesting:
The petition attacks the NEC’s message to Haringey council’s ruling Labour group – which it has a right under the party’s rules to send. Labour First started the petition in spite of the fact that none of the local government representatives on the NEC – including the person who created the letter the petition supports – voted against sending the ‘pause’ message.
In spite of those circumstances, Labour First feels entitled to use the party logo without such niceties as asking the permission of the party that owns the logo.
However, Labour’s own guideline document for the use of its logo may disagree:
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What is it with pro-Blair groups like Labour First. Surely they know they are dead and buried along with the credibility of their puppet master?
The blairites are deliberately against any position Corbyn takes. Constantly on the attack in the right wing MSM.
For the party to move fully in the right direction. Whether they like it or not deselections must happen, and these groups should be told to sling their hook.
Compliance forced me to close an unofficial Labour branch page and said they ‘owned’ the Logo and brand and as I did not have permission to use it,they told me to shut down the group
They also owned the contact details of anyone who used the group and I was not allowed to transfer those people to a new group as they joined under the official labour brand . The complaint about the FB group was made to compliance by the old guard centrist [chair] who is against social media because he does not use it .As far as I know the Branch still does not have a fb group for the branch. So why Labour first has the audacity to to use it is anyone’s guess
That Akehurst! What is it with Blairites? “Kool Aid” and “Body Snatchers” spring to mind. There’s a few in my family. It creeps me out sometimes to be in the same room with them…
Also the fact that the rose+Labour is a registered trademark, number UK00002530964, registered to Labour Party Nominees Limited (the limited company rather than the party for legal reasons I think):
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00002530964
My dated knowledge of trademark law suggests the Labour lawyers need to send an admonishment letter to Labour First Limited to maintain the trademark’s defensibility in court. Or legally enter into a license agreement for third party use.
Am I right in thinking that Labour First are not affiliated to the Labour Party. In which case can not use the Labour Party logo.
Even if individual members petition they are not representing the Labour Party therefore can’t use the logo.
There is far to much of this sort of nonsense by right wing fringe groups who seek to convey the impression that they have some sort of endorsement from Labour HQ. In the commercial domain this would be regarded as “passing off” or trade mark infringement, and the NEC needs to get a grip on it. Akehurst has also started up a silly attempted alternative to Labour International (a vibrant Momentum led CLP) – fatuously called Clause 1 Labour International which attempts to pass itself of as an organisation with NEC blessing. Similarly until recntly Labour Against Anti-semitism a nasty little set up which seeks to target JC supporters with false allegations of anti-semitism, used the Labour logo – it now uses the red colour with an ineffectual non-descript logo. Disturbingly Euan Phillips (Chair of Tonbridge & Malling) and Emma Picken (an activist in Heidi Allens East Lewisham constituency appear to be involved in this silly little organisation as well as using troll twitter accounts to harass JC supporting members. Greg Hadfields article in Medium refers https://medium.com/@GregHadfield/revealed-the-labour-party-activists-behind-the-anti-semitism-smears-683f3d8c890f
Arrogant Akehurst, thinks he’s to smart to be caught with his pants down!
Well Akehurst, your days are numbered, along with your “tiny” following!
See you in the “COURT”!