Five Labour councillors in Middlesbrough quit amid accusations of RACISM within party

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...labour-7080454

Five Middlesbrough councillors resign from Labour Party and will stand as independents

6th May 2014

Five Middlesbrough councillors have resigned from the Labour Party and will stand as independents.

Councillors Len Junier (who represents North Ormesby and Brambles Farm ward), Pervaz Khan (Middlehaven), Sajaad Khan (Gresham), Derek Loughborough (North Ormesby and Brambles Farm) and John McPartland (Middlehaven) have said their positions are no longer “tenable” following an interview and selection process for the Labour Party.

Cllrs Junier, P. Khan, S. Khan and McPartland all lost their appeals but Cllr Loughborough won his.

Losing their appeals meant that the four men would not be able to stand as Labour councillors in next May’s election although they would have worked as councillors until then.

Now the five have formed the Association of Independent Middlesbrough Councillors (AIMC) and are hoping to recruit more members in the lead up to next year’s election in May.

:: Cllr Junier said in his resignation letter: “I can no longer sit back and watch our fractured group implode through lack of direction, lack of leadership and more importantly lack of Labour values”;

:: Cllr Pervaz Khan said he felt “ashamed” for belonging to Middlesbrough Labour Group which “is treating some of my Asian family and friends in a manner which they perceive to be racist and, incidentally, so do I”;

:: Cllr Sajaad Khan also criticised the current Labour leadership saying it was “different under Sir Stuart Bell, who would not have stood for all this”;

:: Cllr McPartland said he was “not prepared to tolerate any longer” a Middlesbrough Labour Group leadership which he considers to be “morally bankrupt”;

:: Cllr Loughborough said though he won his appeal he was unhappy with questions raised at his appeal panel about his involvement with union issues.

Cllr Charlie Rooney, leader of Middlesbrough Labour Party, said: “We are disappointed but not at all surprised at the decision of this group of councillors to leave the Labour Group.

“The Labour Group is a team and we work together to secure the best for Middlesbrough.

“However, this small group has been perceived to put the interests of a private business ahead of Middlesbrough and of the team.

“Labour conducted a rigorous and fair selection procedure and appeals process.

“We now have a strong panel of candidates with a great mix of genders, ethnic minorities and ages from across the town and we look forward to fighting for a better future for Middlesbrough.”

Serious problems of institutionalised racism within the Labour Party.

Diane Abbott, Labour MP, once said for example "White people love playing divide and rule."

Awful, nasty, bigoted party. No place in modern Britain for it.

[Inseriousity.]

As someone from the area I'd say this was more a case of someone shouting RACIST when something doesn't go their way. There's been an ongoing battle between Boro Taxis and Middlesbrough Council over something or other and I believe Khan is related in some way to the owner. Would they still have the same battle if the owner was white? I think in this case the answer is yes.

Despite that, Labour having a monopoly of safe seats in the area means there's no accountability. It also means that anyone with half a brain would know that if they want any chance of getting elected they'd need to please Labour so that's likely to result in having a wide variety of views on the political spectrum and a lot more infighting as a result.

In short: don't believe this to be true but that's not to say the local Labour group are fluffy bunnies either

[GommeInc]

I forgot Diane Abbott said that:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...-and-rule.html

Again, it's the person not the actual party. All parties are guilty of racism, but of course only some get the attention.