Jennie Formby quits as Labour General Secretary

 Matt Honeycombe-Foster of POLITICS HOME

JENNIE Formby is standing down as general secretary of the Labour Party, it has been announced.

The longstanding ally of Jeremy Corbyn, who took on the top Labour job in 2018, said it was the “right time to step down” following the election of Sir Keir Starmer as Mr Corbyn’s successor last month.

She said: “When I applied for the role of General Secretary in 2018 it was because I wanted to support Jeremy Corbyn, who inspired so many people to get involved in politics with his message of hope, equality and peace.

“It has been a huge privilege to be General Secretary of the largest political party in Europe for the last two years, but now we have a new leadership team it is the right time to step down.

"I would like to thank Jeremy, our members and my staff colleagues who have given me so much support during what has been a very challenging period, in particular when I was suffering from ill health.”
Ms Formby added: “I wish Keir and Angela the very best of luck in taking the party forward and leading Labour to victory at the next General Election”.


Ms Formby, previously a senior official at the Unite union and a long-serving member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, took on the role in 2018, in a move that was seen as significantly strengthening Mr Corbyn’s grip on the party.

She saw off a challenge from rival candidates including Momentum boss Jon Lansman and former NUT union boss Christine Blower to become only the second woman ever to hold the key party post.

Ms Formby announced last year that she had been undergoing treatment for breast cancer - but said in January that she was now “hopefully” cancer free after her treatment ended.

In a statement, Sir Keir said:   "I would like to thank Jennie for her service, and for the personal and professional efforts she has made in advancing the cause she has fought all her life for.

“Jennie has led our party's organisation with commitment and energy through a period of political upheaval, including a snap General Election last year. I wish her the very best for the future."

The party’s new deputy leader Angela Rayner meanwhile said: "As a trade unionist and party activist as well as General Secretary, Jennie has been a great servant of our movement for many years and blazed a trail as one of our highest achieving women. 

“She goes with our thanks and gratitude, and I've no doubt she will stand squarely behind us as we continue to fight for social justice and the Labour government our country so desperately needs.”

Labour sources said Ms Formby's resignation was with immediate effect, and her exit tees up the race to be Labour’s next general secretary, with the party saying a meeting of its NEC officers would be convened soon to discuss a timetable for the contest.

The vacancy comes amid a bitter row in Labour ranks over a leaked report into the party's handling of anti-Semitism allegations, with Labour last week naming barrister Martin Forde QC to head up and investigation into the dossier.
The document, prepared for party bosses amid an investigation into Labour by the Equalities and Human Right Commission, alleged that anti-Corbyn sentiment among staff at its headquarters had hindered efforts to tackle anti-Jewish abuse.
Responding to news of her exit, pro-Corbyn campaign group Momentum argued that Ms Formby had taken on the role of general secretary “at an incredibly difficult time”.

A spokesperson said: “She inherited a party bureaucracy that was often hostile to Jeremy’s leadership, with senior staff members allegedly misusing party funds and attempting to sabotage Labour’s General Election campaign in 2017. 
“Struggling against this while undergoing chemotherapy must have taken a herculean effort. 
“We thank her for everything and wish her well for the future.”

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*   INTERESTINGLY ON the 16 April 2020  GMB union members at Labour HQ backed a no-confidence motion in the general secretary, Jennie Formby.

It follows the leaking of an internal report, which included emails and private WhatsApp messages.
The motion calls on Ms Formby to "personally apologise to the current staffers named in the report".
Among its findings, the report claims factions opposed to former leader Jeremy Corbyn hampered efforts to tackle anti-Semitism.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has ordered an inquiry into why the report was commissioned, its contents, and how it came into the public domain.
But in its motion, the GMB, which is the largest union at Labour Party headquarters, accuses Ms Formby of leaking the report, the BBC's Iain Watson reports, and criticises current, as well as former, party managers.
The motion says that by "trawling the emails and instant messenger logs, the general secretary has effectively unilaterally placed all members of staff under investigation" without due process.
And it adds: "Staff can no longer be confident that the general secretary has the safety and welfare of staff as her top priority, and [she] has allowed the mental and physical wellbeing of staff to be put at risk with the creation and leaking of this report."
The motion also refers to a "hostile environment created post-2015", when Jeremy Corbyn was first elected leader, "in which staff who did not appear to support the new leader were marginalised, ignored, harassed and hounded out of the party".
The Unite union, headed by key Jeremy Corbyn ally Len McCluskey, also has a branch at Labour HQ.
It has released a statement saying the report should not have been released unredacted, according to the LabourList website.
But the branch describes as "shocking" the allegations in the report that an anti-Corbyn faction at party HQ worked against a Labour victory at the 2017 general election and warns against the investigation being "kicked into the long grass".
The GMB and Unite branches have previously clashed over their respective responses to the leaked report's contents.

Len McCluskey slams Corbyn's 'London mindset'!

THE Unite union leader Len McCluskey, while he trained his fire on Remain-backing members of the Shadow Cabinet, as well as centrist MPs who 'hankered after the New Labour past', the Unite general secretary claimed Labour needed 'a new leader early in the near future" who could "understand the communities that gave birth to the Labour movement.'
 
The comments - in a piece for HuffPost UK - are highly significant as Unite is Labour's biggest financial backer and the general secretary has previously been a staunch ally of Mr Corbyn.
It comes after Labour lost 60 seats in its worst election performance since 1935.

Mr Corbyn has vowed to quit after a 'period of reflection', and earlier on Friday said:  'The responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing, and I will not do that.'

Mr McCluskey reserved the majority of his criticism for senior Labour figires who had advocated for a pro-Remain position and led the party into a 'slow-motion collapse into the arms of the People’s Vote movement'.

He said:  It is pretty obvious where the essential reason for Thursday’s hugely disappointing result can be found.
'When our losses are concentrated in former coalfield constituencies and other post-industrial communities that voted heavily "Leave" in the 2016 referendum, and yet we happily retain our position in London more-or-less unscathed, it is staring us in the face.

'Others will try to make a different case, either because they have volubly hankered after the New Labour past throughout the years of Corbyn’s leadership of the party, or because they lack the honesty to accept the consequences of their advocacy of keeping Britain in the EU at any political price.'

But he also acknowledged 'mistakes' made by the party's leadership throughout its campaign, including what he called an 'incontinent rush of policies which appeared to offer everything to everyone immediately'.
 
Taking direct aim at the Labour leader, Mr McCluskey - who has previously backed the party's handling of anti-Jewish abuse - said Mr Corbyn's 'failure to apologise for anti-Semitism in the party when pressed to do so' had capped 'years of mishandling of this question'.

While he said Labour's Brexit position, backed at its party conference earlier this year, was 'the right and honourable one' he said it had been 'fatally undermined from the outset by leading members of the shadow cabinet rushing to the TV cameras' to promise to back Remain in a future referendum.

The Unite chief said:  'Both Labour’s target seats, and the ones most at risk in the north and the Midlands, were preponderantly in Leave-voting areas with very small Liberal Democrat and Green votes.  Put bluntly, there were far more coalfield seats to lose than there were Canterburys to win.

'As it is, a year of worrying about and placating exclusively Remain voters has produced the backlash which some of us predicted.  Better by far that we had stuck with some updated variation of the 2017 Brexit position, rather than its negation.'

Urging the party to 'rebuild, reflect on what went wrong and inevitably elect a new leader early in the near future', Mr McCluskey said:  'Corbyn has borne the brunt of one of the most sustained and unpleasant character assassinations in political history and done so with dignity.
'But alas some of the mud stuck and his leadership became an issue on the doorstep.'

And, in a thinly-veiled dig at Mr Corbyn, he said:  'The next leader needs to understand the communities that gave birth to the Labour movement, and realise that the whole country is not very like Labour London.
'As important as it is, too often, Labour addresses the metropolitan wing of its electoral coalition in terms of values – openness, tolerance, human rights – and the "traditional" working-class wing simply in terms of a material offer, as if their constituencies did not have their own values of solidarity and community.  That must change.'

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Unite Election for General Secretary gets dirty

AN e-mail (see below) has been issued by the Acting General Secretary of Unite, Gail Cartmail, seeking to make Unite memebers aware of a publication 'Unite Herald' apparantly issued by one of the other candidates.  It the light of the forthcoming election for General Secretary she claims the 'material contained (in the publication) is also potentially defamatory of Len McCluskey' one of the candidates in the election for General Secretary and widely regarded as the favourite.  

The e-mail is in the form of a warning to members 'of the potential implications of distributing “Unite Herald” ', reminding them of the contents of Rule 5.2.

This e-mail comes a day after an allegation by the deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, hadclaimed the grassroots Momentum group is trying to increase its influence by obtaining funding from the Unite union.  Unite, which is Labour's largest financial backer, has denied this.

Meanwhile, one of the candidates for Unite General Secretary, Gerard Coyne campaigning in Scotland has told activists:
'I don't think it is the job of a union leader to be advising Scottish politicians on which parties should be forming coalitions with one another. That is their responsibility.
'And what I won't do is expend Unite's resources dabbling in Scotland's internal political affairs, except where the direct interests of Unite members are at stake.'

Unite General Secretary Election

Dear Colleague,
You may have received copies of a “newspaper” called “Unite Herald” in your branch or workplace within the last 48 hours.
It needs to be made clear that this is not an official publication of Unite the union.  It is in fact campaign promotional material for one of the candidates in the present election for General Secretary.
The publication in question consists almost entirely of attacks on the incumbent General Secretary of the union.  It disregards the recent statement by your Executive Council calling upon everyone campaigning in the union elections campaign to conduct themselves in a respectful manner, specifically not in a way that could bring damage to the reputation of the union or discredit on a fellow member.  The Union is seeking legal advice regarding potential defamation claims and regarding breach of the union’s trademark arising from this publication. 
The material contained is also potentially defamatory of Len McCluskey.  
All workplace representatives should therefore be aware that distribution of “Unite Herald” could potentially lead to the distributer being exposed to legal proceedings for defamation. 
All workplace representatives are also reminded of Rule 5.2:-
“A member must not knowingly, recklessly or in bad faith provide the Union with false or misleading information relating to a member or any aspect of the Union’s activities.”    
The union will of course be dealing with this publication through other avenues, but lay officials and representatives should be aware of the potential implications of distributing “Unite Herald”. 

In solidarity
Gail Cartmail
Acting General Secretary

Cut the Crap of a Unite Coronation!

No to elitism & top-down trade unionism!
from an Ian Allinson e-mail - headline & sub-title northern voices

THE shortened nomination period, along with the unexpected election, is a key part of how this was intended to be a coronation rather than a contest.  We've now had one week of the five weeks for nominations.
Our arguments are being very well received in workplaces and at hustings. I've posted some tips if your branch or workplace wants to organise a hustings.
Thanks to London GEMS, South Croydon Arriva bus, Tyneside Engineering, Coventry & Warwickshire Tom Mann, Bury commercial and SCA Prudhoe branches that have told me they have nominated me so far.
Six is a good start, but we'll need to up the pace if we're to be sure of being on the ballot paper.  We have to assume that the union will find ways to rule out a fair proportion of our nominations, so have to aim well above the 50.  The other candidates have lavishly funded campaign machines - we're relying on ourselves to fight for every nomination and to ensure members can decide the future of our union based on the issues, not on who has rich and powerful backers.
If you win a nomination at your meeting, please let me know right away and make sure all the paperwork is sent off accurately and promptly.  Branches can do this online, which goes directly to ERS and avoids the possibility of Unite mislaying your nomination.
Bury Commercial branch contacted local press following their nomination and got some coverage, which all helps make members aware of the campaign.  The Tom Mann branch decided to donate to the costs campaign.
Don't forget that as well as branch nominations, every workplace can also make a nomination, unless it is in a branch covering just that one workplace.  Full details of how to nominate me are here. Nominations at workplaces are just as important as branches.  They may not be able to contribute financially, but workplace meetings often involve more / different members than branch meetings.
Please let me know:

• Where and when your nominating meeting is
• If you'd like me or a representative to come and speak at your meeting or to visit your workplace - please give me as much detail as possible
• If you'd like some leaflets, how many you'd like and where to send them to

If you support the campaign, please make sure you've left your details here. Let me know what you're doing and how it's going.
This week I've posted new material on www.ian4unite.org on sexism, bullying and harassment in Unite, and on the arguments around Trident, partnership and diversification - I'm the only candidate clearly opposed to Trident. The web site also carries my campaign pledges, many of which link to articles with a more detailed explanation. These are copied below.
There's no let up in the pressure from employers and government, so we can afford no let up in our campaign. More of the same isn't good enough!

Solidarity

Ian.

www.iansunitesite.org.uk

www.leftfutures.org/2016/12/unite-general-secretary-election-who-is-ian-allinson

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38340128

https://www.facebook.com 

  https://twitter.com/IanAllinson

https://www.theguardian.com  

www.ian4unite.org

https://socialistworker.co.uk/.../Why+I+am+standing+for+Unite+leader+++Fujitsu+stri..

Ian's pledges

Communication, participation and a bottom-up union

• Champion lay member democracy and participation, don't undermine it.
• Fortnightly email bulletins direct to all activists, not filtered through officers and committees.
• Support members being able to elect the officers who represent us. Not only would this increase accountability, it would reduce the power of patronage and the climate of fear in the union.
• Tackle the non-functioning branches that deny members a voice and access to resources.
• Oppose the exclusion of community and retired members from participation in Unite structures.
• I'd keep my current wage, not the inflated General Secretary salary, to avoid giving the hostile media ammunition against us.

A stronger union, fit for the future

• Involve members, officers and staff in a major review of Unite's structures to make them fit for purpose in the 21st century. Shift resources and power away from regions to better support the vast majority of Unite workplaces that are in employers spanning multiple regions. Improve support for company and sub-sector combine committees.
• Encourage a spirit of experimentation in organising. Documents and publicise case studies of lessons from members’ organising and campaigning efforts and successes. We spend too much effort trying to reinvent the wheel.
• A flexible facility for levies for strike funds etc, not restricted to where all members are in workplace branches.
• Access to a Dispute Unit for all disputes from an early stage. All members in dispute should feel like they have a million members behind them, not be left to fend for themselves.
• Expand the lay companion scheme to involve more members (including those not in paid work) and free up officer time from casework.
• Overhaul education, which is essential for organising and changing the union's culture, in the light of funding cuts, and ensure fair treatment for our tutors.
• Build on our organising success by increasing lay member involvement.

 Equality and young members' issues in our industrial agenda, not an optional extra

• Champion workers' rights to move freely and be treated equally wherever we go. No concessions to racism or nationalism.
• Integrate our equality and young members work better into our industrial agenda.
• Tackle bullying and sexual harassment, including within our own union (also see report).

 Campaign now: backing Corbyn shouldn't mean waiting for him

• Extend Unite's support for Jeremy Corbyn, not only through Unite's role inside the Labour Party, but by grass roots campaigning and action which can win people over. Stop undermining him on key policies and calling his leadership into question.

 Fight for workers' rights, don't tail our employers' agendas

• Organise regional conferences bringing together campaigns for civil liberties and against state repression, so that our opposition to anti-union legislation stops being isolated and ineffective.
• Challenge the culture of partnership - we are not "all in it together". Post-Brexit Unite should be prioritising defence of workers' rights, not tailing employers' demands for free trade or protectionism.
• Support a million climate jobs, not costly and destructive vanity projects like Trident, HS2, Heathrow expansion and Hinkley Point. Proactively fight for diversification to protect members whose jobs will be affected by changes such as climate change, changes in defence policy and automation. Call a conference of defence workers, the defence teams from Labour and the SNP, and experts on diversification.
• Investigate the role of union officials in blacklisting members. Officially extend every assistance to the Blacklist Support Group in rooting out collusion and backdoor deals with the employers.

--

For more information on the campaign, see http://www.ian4unite.org, https://twitter.com/ian4unite and https://www.facebook.com/ian4unite/. To donate to the campaign, see https://donorbox.org/ian4unite
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'Fifty Shades of Grey' at Bury Unite Branch

ALLEGATIONS that 'pressure' was put on the Bury Unite Commercial Branch to nominate Len McCluskey, the current General Secretary of Unite the Union, for re-election in the forthcoming elections for Unite's top job have been rebutted by the local branch secretary Brian Bamford.   The claim was made on Twitter by one of the candidates that the presence of two Unite full-time organisers at last Monday's branch meeting was a failed attempt to influence the Bury branch to vote for Mr. McCluskey, a strong backer of Jeremy Corbyn the Labour Party leader.

The Unite union at present funds the Labour Party to the tune of many millions of pounds every year.

The row about the Bury branch being 'pressurised' to back McCluskey arose because of a Tweet on Ian Allinson's Twitter account after the branch meeting, implying that the organisers were there to influence the result.  Mr. Allinson is one of the three candidates standing for the top position of Unite General secretary. 

Since then, Mr. Bamford has insisted that 'the Bury Unite Branch blooms with binmen not shrinking violets and there is no way we could be leaned on by the union bosses'. 

The two organisers were allowed to participate in the discussion over the nomination, but not to dominate the discourse or to vote.

The organisers were permitted to speak but naturally not to vote, because the Bury Unite Branch  passionately believes in 'free speech' and 'lively debate'.

It was suggested during the discussions that the nomination of Ian Allinson to appear on the ballot paper would have the effect of 'splitting the left vote' between McCluskey and Allinson.  Gerard Coyne, who is a Unite full-time organiser in the Midlands, is the third candidate and is reputed to be a 'right-wing Blairite'.

This was contested by the branch secretary Mr. Bamford, who said that the membership should have 'the widest possible choice' between the different candidates, and he claimed that the critics of Allinson by using the 'split-vote' argument were seeking to shrink the choice before the membership.  In contrast 'we' the Unite Bury branch, wanted to 'open things up and not to narrow things down'.  Bamford claimed that even though he may possibly vote for Len McCluskey it was still vital to have someone like Ian Allinson on the ballot sheet.

To argue that there should be only two choices between 'left and right' is to create a thread-bare bipolar dichotomy of 'cowboys and Indians' or 'black and white'.  This is a thoroughly 20^th century mentality, and in essence the Bury branch was preferring to embrace the spirit of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' in their approach; what they wanted, if I am interpreting the spirit of the meeting correctly, was the broadest possible discussion, debate and openness within the realm of liberty.

Those at the meeting who took the 'split vote' view then went on to say that we should look to the established experienced of experts like Mr. McCluskey from Liverpool, a professional official with many years of in the saddle of officialdom, rather than a new boy such as a shop-floor activist like Mr. Allinson from Blackley, Manchester. 

This faith in the expertise of the office-holder is as feeble-minded as the bipolar dichotomy, and is just another mediocre left-over of the old 20^th century modernity.  It is so full of holes that the average bin-man can see through it without so much as looking up from his football results. 

The bin-men of Bradley Fold, and the others on the branch committee, eventually came to a carefully calibrated conclusion, and were in no way confused or overwhelmed by any hypothetical 'hierarchical pressures' from above.

This was demonstrated by the branch's clear unanimous vote to nominate the local Manchester lad, Ian Allinson, for the position as General Secretary of Unite the Union.  We must now await to see how many Unite members vote for him.