| EXODUS FROM LABOUR TO LIBERAL DEMOCRATS |
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Issan Ghazni, General Secretary, Liberal Democrat Muslims Forum November 2004 "Many political and community activists within the Muslim communities up and down the country have been members of the Labour Party. This was partly due to the fact that early settlers from this communities came from poor peasant and urban backgrounds in Pakistan/Kashmir and were immediately integrated into the less well-paid jobs in Britain. These jobs were usually less secure, less regulated and protected, and so added to the sense of uncertainty. The trade unions were the only source of protection and support. These unions in turn ensured that all early settlers ‘knew’ to which political party they owed their allegiance. This created a voting monopoly and a form of hidden indebtedness felt by Muslims and indeed other Ethnic Minority workers from the Commonwealth; in turn votes at election times were delivered by ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘self-appointed’, ‘non-elected’ so-called leaders who were rewarded with various forms of patronage. These usually came in the form of access to MPs, Local Council Leaders, Police and Prison Chiefs and were supported to sit on the bench etc. This mirrored the approach used by the British Raj during the days of Empire, in which more prominent Indians became ‘Brown Sahibs’ and were given local power, prominence and limited authority/access to power structures. This enabled a delegated form of control over the local masses and ensured continuing subjugation of the population. The Muslim community as such, on the whole has, since the early 1960’s, traditionally voted predominantly for the Labour Party. It has been extremely difficult to break this stranglehold, despite the fact that the community has in many ways moved on. It no longer sees itself fitting within the label of ‘working class’ and many young professionals have started questioning and challenging this blind support. Current situation. There is currently an unprecedented shift in activism and voting patterns in Ethnic Minority communities, particularly so in the Muslim communities. Muslims are switching their allegiance from the Labour Party to the Liberal Democrats. Why have I personally decided to leave the Labour Party after 20 years of membership and join the Liberal Democrats? I am an ex-councillor, ardent trade unionist, ex-holder of several key positions within the local party and have attended on a number of occasions the Labour Party Annual Conference. There are many reasons and many challenges:   1. Erosion of Party Democracy - Individual members have over the years begun to feel more and more powerless. - National Conference has become weak – no real decision-making and no real power. Reduced in many respects to an American style rally. - Policy forums that can be manipulated by the leadership to bring about desired policy outcomes. - Overwhelming influence of the Trade Union Block vote and financial support to the Party versus weak local membership/constituency influence. - Unfair and almost impossible process to deselect sitting MP through use of ‘trigger ballot’. These require more than 50% support of total Electoral College requesting selection before an MP can be challenged. In theory, if sitting MP has control of influential parts of Electoral College, he/she nay never face a de-selection battle. - Party leader is selected through complicated Electoral College system that increases the role of MP’s and decreases the influence of local members. Clearly unfair and potentially open to the charges of patronage. - There remain individuals outside of the Party’s democratic processes who remain powerful and exert and unhealthy influence on local party business, i.e. full-time trade union regional organisers, Labour Party Regional Directors and officials and local Labour Party organisers/officials.   2. Internal Party Racism The mechanisms developed to stifle Party democracy have been used to suppress the aspirations of Ethnic Minority Members. Most notably during the period of ‘Labour Party Black Sections’ in 1987. The National Executive Committee (NEC) have been given draconian powers that have been used to conduct ‘witch hunts’ and set up ‘kangaroo courts’. Black members and activists have borne the brunt of these powers when there has been a real danger of undesirable individuals becoming selected at either local council or parliamentary level. Such victims of the Labour Party hierarchy have been Sarwar Khan MP from Glasgow, Mohammed Afzal from Birmingham, Hassan Ahmed from Nottingham and Ahmed Shahzaad from London. All have been blocked from time to time from becoming a PPC. All have had situations where their local constituencies have been closed down on the advice or complaints from a local (competing) MP or local activists, only to be re-opened and re-instated without charge when the selection period has passed safely.   3. Lack of representation within the Party’s structures. Islamaphobia exists both at local and national levels. - Many members expelled. - Councillors removed from office. - Block access to becoming PPC’s – not even able to get Party endorsement. - To get along in the Party, it’s not ‘what’ you know or how you can work within a democratic system, it’s about ‘whom’ you know. - Though the Party supports Muslim representation, it only wants ‘compliant and subservient’ Muslims. They tend to fear independent, intelligent, independent thinking and articulate individuals. - They view support for a Muslim candidate as a ‘high risk’ strategy.   4. Colonial Mentality - Labour Party has always supported the use of ‘gatekeepers’ – self-appointed, non-elected so-called community leaders. - Has always viewed these individuals as able to deliver the ‘block vote’. This leads to the disgraceful situation that occurred in Birmingham recently during the local and Euro elections whereby there was a police investigation of postal ballot election fraud. - Continue to use the system of patronage and divide and rule within local Muslim communities. - There remains continued funding for community groups by Labour-held local authorities. These groups either support the Labour Party or are those set up and led by so called Labour supporting community leaders. In many instances these individuals are also Labour Councillors. This has led to a rotten ‘closed shop’ mentality keeping other smaller and weaker emerging groups out of the funding loop. What the Labour Party has created is a situation similar to the patronage offered Regional and Local Governors during Colonial rule in India.   5. Anti-Terror Legislation – Attack on freedom and civil liberties - Belmarsh and Guantanamo Bay - Fear in all Muslim Communities - The resulting rise of Islamaphobia - Rise in Police stop and search of Muslims/Asians   6. Iraq - After 40 years of loyal support to the Labour Party, the leadership gave no importance whatsoever to the views and concerns of British Muslim Communities. - The British Governments unilateral decision to ignore the United Nations and the British public to launch an illegal war for oil based on lies and deceit has sent shock waves throughout the normally compliant and loyal Muslim community across Britain. - At the same time, duplicity and double standards exist in its approach to dealing with Israeli oppression of the Palestinians and denial of their right to self-determination. This has dealt a killer blow to the once loyal support base. Why the Liberal Democrats? 1. Courageous and highly principled stand taken by the Party leadership over Iraq. 2. The emphasis on Freedom, human rights and civil liberties of the individuals regardless of class, creed, gender or colour. Muslims have always felt uncomfortable with the class definition and compartmentalisation it has had to endure. 3. The challenge posed by the Party to the loss of civil liberties with the advent of the anti-terrorism bill. Belmarsh has been a defining moment for all British Muslims. 4. Anti-racist, anti-islamaphobic and anti-xenophobic stance taken by Party leadership when presenting its immigration and asylum policies. 5. Individualistic approach versus a Labour Party centralist/personality cult approach. 6. Open democratic approach versus hoops and hurdles approach, i.e. No complicated and unfair electoral colleges designed to exclude minorities. 7. Honest leadership. 8. Humility versus arrogance. 9. Pluralistic and inclusive approach to social justice versus a them and us confrontational style. What about our aspirations as Muslims? What is it that we want from the Liberal Democrat Party? - To be understood and treated with more respect than the Labour Party ever did. - To support their freedom of expression and to highlight issues of greatest concerns to those communities. - To mainstream and deal effectively through the policy process, those issues of greatest concern to the Muslim Communities. - Promote representation at all levels in the Party. My message to Simon Hughes and the Party leadership, is that we have joined the good fight and have become part of the battleship fighting for equality, freedom, fairness and social justice. Please make use of our experience, skills, and talents and treat us as equals. That’s all we ask for … and together we can deliver a Liberal Democrat Government for Britain."
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