The Story So Far

I'm not a natural Labour supporter. I was a lifelong Liberal Democrat supporter until 2010. I voted Liberal Democrat in 2015 and Labour came fifth in the constituency in which I lived at the time.

I campaigned for Remain and actually found Jeremy Corbyn quite convincing. He was not the leader of the Labour remain campaign but far more visible than Alan Johnson. In fact Corbyn was the only leader that I saw making any kind of passionate case for staying in the EU. Cameron's campaign was hopeless.

I also campaigned for a yes in the AV referendum and Labour's historical opposition to this is something that I think they will come to regret very soon.

After the Brexit vote I was unbearably depressed.

Taking a dispassionate view of everything I found only Jeremy Corbyn was offering the kind of values that actually could change many of the problems in British society. Put simplest so many people said to me in 2015 if they could vote for SNP they would have done. Corbyn offers this kind of choice.

I always felt that the Tories lost the election in 1997 rather than Blair winning it, especially through their campaigning against keeping the UK out of the Social Chapter. People realised what our government was actually saying about them. That we were not individuals, but we were some kind of workforce.

I lived in many constituencies with Conservative MPs and saw them all go to the LibDems in the time I was living there. What happened to them (I supported Huhne) under Clegg was a disgrace. I never thought I could support another politician after that utter betrayal. I understand why it was done, but it was wrong.  In fact my disquiet was strong before that. I don't think there ever should have been such an election. If the Liberal Democrats had been true to the values that I had always believed in, they would have given Charles Kennedy sick leave and the deputy would have remained acting leader. The actions to remove him were what destroyed the party for me. It would have been such a strong message for the party to support their leader instead of destroy him. Kennedy was a brilliant leader with a recognised health problem. Anyway that's ancient history for me and them now.

I am a company director of a very small company. I am the flexible workforce. I undertake very flexible contract work. This lack of reliable work cost me my marriage, and now I live apart from my children. I suffer the insanities of the HMCTS. I suffer the insanities of legal representation. I suffer the insanities of the financial market problems. All in very personal ways.

Anyway that's me.

Corbyn gave me enthusiasm for the Labour Party and a great sense that I could support it. I could bring the energy to it that I had used to help the LibDems win seats and hold seats.

I have no doubt that Corbyn could be elected, but what the Labour party have done since I joined is just bizarre.

I paid twice to join the Labour party. I was then told that because of a tweet which has been willfully misinterpreted that I wasn't welcome and they would keep my money. Yes I'm outraged by it.

It is alledged that I tweeted that I was a member of the LibDems and that I recommended people to join the Greens. Neither of these things are true. I replied to a tweet questioning the statistics of the LibDems membership numbers. I have never been abusive.

I'm left again feeling that I want my money back, and again that no political party can represent me.

But what is the problem with Labour. They were in a winning position. The arrogance, hubris and ego I have seen from people like Sadiq Khan, Alan Johnson, Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair, Ian McNichol, Tom Watson and many others has left me in despair. It is transparent to me that they all put their political careers ahead of any sense of representing their electorate. I expect representation to be done with humility. They represent us! Every single one of these politicians were people I highly respected before these attacks on Corbyn. They probably do belong in the Liberal Democrats. Maybe if they all leave then I can support Labour again. I can't support their party. It's sad. It leaves me with nowhere to go.

I didn't get to Vote for Corbyn. I didn't get any answer as to why I was not allowed to be a member. I got a copy of a tweet that is not my tweet. It is a tweet of someone who was allowed to stay in the party. I did tweet #corbynstays but mainly ironically as a reaction to the terrible Angela Eagle launch. I didn't get my £25 back.

I did call every week for four weeks and was told someone would get back to me. They could reply to my friend Wes who wrote to them about my case to say they couldn't discuss it with him. There is no basis for their refusal of my membership.

I'd hoped to write a short summary of what's happened. It's not been short sorry.

Essentially I was rejected from being a registered supporter because of a tweet I didn't send. I wasn't abusive, but I've have been abused, taken for granted and neglected. I contacted the Labour party many times and was told someone would get back to me, but they didn't.

If it is 9 more years of Tory rule it's clear in my mind that it is not Corbyn's doing but it is the doing of the Labour party. What can we do about this problem?

Wes Got A Reply

Wes got a reply to his letter.

"Dear Mr White,

I am afraid I cannot discuss individual cases with a third party.

I have sent your letter to our Appeals inbox.

If John wishes to contact us to appeal any decision he should write to us at appeals@labour.org.uk"

So far I received absolutely nothing.

I have sent email below today as suggested.

However I have to accept now it is highly unlikely I will get the opportunity to vote as promised.

Wes' Letter In Support of Reconsideration of the Rejection of my Application

My friend Wes (who made a tweet that I replied to which apparently caused me not to be admitted to the Labour party) in response to these letter's I've received, has also sent a letter to Ian McNicol. He's shared it on his Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/notes/wes-white/letter-to-iain-mcnicol/10153310047232614 but in case you can't access this he's also agreed that it can be shared here (below).

I'd also like to add that I hope you can see that neither Wes or I are people who use offensive language or other abuse as characterised by Ian McNicol in this article reported by the Independent Labour’s general secretary releases list of reasons supporters have been suspended from the party I find this story in the press really personally insulting as it suggests to anyone who is casually informed that I may have had application rejected for abusive or threatening behaviour, whereas the truth is it is for querying a statistic. Very politely. I'm sure these messages released by him in this story are genuine, it's not hard to find people behaving badly on the Internet, but to suggest this is representative of all cases is totally misleading, I actually feel slandered by this, I actually feel like I should abuse or insult to get attention, sadly though I won't do this, as short and snappy as it could be.

Next Letter

I was contacted over the weekend by a member of my local labour party who was concerned to know why my membership was cancelled. The support and warmth of this contact has done a great deal to calm me down and help me focus.

She also referred me as a number of people have done to WhyCantIVote.com who supplied me with a standard letter to send. I'm not hugely interested in a Data Protection Subject Access Request as it would lead me to sending more good money after bad, and also I already have the "evidence" provided to me.

I telephoned the labour party again this morning to ask their advice. They advised me to send a letter setting out the case of what I feel is wrong and also to email this letter to them.

Here's a copy for your interest:

EDIT TO ADD: If you have difficulty reading the scans of the letter above, click on them and the whole image will open in a new window,

The "Evidence"

Well a little while after 4 days today I received the promised "evidence".

Madness.

It's not a tweet. It's a reply to a tweet by @WesWhite

The accusation against me as I suspected is completely false.

In your case, the reason for your application being rejected is as follows: You posted on Twitter in January 2015 an encouragement to others to join the green Party and a reference to you being a member of the Liberal Democrats. You have also since applied to be a registered supporter, but individuals, from whom an application for membership would not be accepted, cannot be accepted either as an affiliated or registered supporter.

As you can see from the "evidence" sent to me in no way does my reply state that I recommend people to join the Green Party, just that I think the membership figures for the LibDems are almost certainly wrong, and I make it clear that I left the LibDems over four years previously.

This "evidence" is really very flimsy. I can not read this in any way that says that I support either the Liberal Democrats or The Green Party. Utterly ridiculous.

I am quite certain (though they don't say so) that this is all probably much more to do with me sending one tweet more recently with the hash tag #corbynstays It seems unbelievable that apparently supporting the leader of the Labour party would be seen as a threat to the Labour party.

UPDATE TO ADD:

The irony is that my friend Wes who also joined Labout and sent this tweet was not purged.

This is the Tweet I sent a little while ago:

#CorbynStays
loved this :) pic.twitter.com/oTZbYqYdds

— John C Scott (@johncscott) 12 July 2016

As you'll see if you read my Twitter feed very little of it is about politics. Mainly I use Twitter for my work with Digital & Design Agencies as an IT Consultant working with Content Management Systems. That was the audience. It was more than a little bit jokey. The Angela Eagle launch was so bad that really Corbyn should stay. That was my point. I stand by it.

I'm not an entryist, or a trotskyist, or any other kind of ist. I have always been actively involved in politics but in the areas I've lived Labour have not been a serious force. I've lived in 4 constituencies with sitting Conservative MPs where I've campaigned and seen them replaced with Liberal Democrats, but after 2010 I could no longer support them. Not because of the coalition so much as because of the arrogant and high handed approach they showed to the membership when joining the coalition. It was clear it was going to wipe the party out, and they did it anyway. I didn't choose to stop supporting the LibDems they chose to stop supporting me. I cancelled my Direct Debit in 2010 but they kept sending me my membership card. I wrote to them 4 times asking them to stop. They kept sending it every year. They finally stopped later in 2015 after this tweet was sent. My point was (admittedly not made terribly well in 140 characters) that you can't believe their membership figures, based entirely on my anecdotal evidence.

Anyway in no way did I publicly support the Green's with this tweet or declare anything other than a long past membership of the LibDems. The evidence simply does not support the decision to deny me the vote they made me pay twice for,

Livid. Utterly livid.

These are the tweets i'd like to send @IainMcNicol regarding #labourpurge2 right now:

look @IainMcNicol your actions have caused me four sleepless nights

i was a reasonable man before you shouted me down @IainMcNicol

you've left me no choice but to become the unreasonable person you apparently fear @IainMcNicol

i was promised the non existent evidence to support your egregious letter after four days @IainMcNicol but I have not received this

you can choose to bring the heavy hand of governence upon me @IainMcNicol but it leaves me no other choice than to become unreasonable

please @IainMcNicol do the reasonable thing and return my £25 and I promise you will hear no more from me

I would welcome any reason to tell my whole story to anyone who will listen and demonstrate that I am, as I know myself to be, a very reasonable man who has been treated in an extraordinarily unreasonable way. I've had my money stolen duplicitously by the organisation that claims to be the one to offer a man like me hope but has delivered me only despair.

I'll sleep on it, Hopefully. Any thoughts? I'm sick of thinking about this. It is just so blatantly unreasonable and unjust. I've lost a huge amount of sleep and really I need to forget about it. I don't want any part of their ridiculous political party. I do want my money back.

Citizens Advice

I was disappointed to discover that there is no Trading Standards offered to members of the public by either the Westminster or Newcastle local council. The websites of both refer you to the Citizen's Advice Bureau. So I have submitted a complaint as follows:

I wish to complain about the Labour party taking my money to become a "registered supporter" in order to vote in their leadership election. The offer made was succinctly expressed in this email I received:
"Thank you for registering as a Labour Supporter, and paying your fee to participate in our selection process to choose Labour’s Leader."
It came as a great surprise to me that I was denied the opportunity to vote due to apparently previously supporting a different political party, though I accept their right to make this decision based upon their own rules but that they were not prepared to return the fee requested for this right to vote. They claim the right to keep this fee as it was for "administrative purposes". This is not how the offer was presented. All the promotional material made it very clear that the fee was for a right to vote. There was no reference in any material provided to the fee being for administrative costs only. I accept the right of the organisation to withdraw the offer, however I feel they should be prepared to return the money taken for the service. They have made it very clear that they will not return this fee or provide me with the vote I applied for. As they say I have paid my "fee to participate" if they remove my opportunity to participate they also should return the fee that was charged for this opportunity.

I really want my £25 back

This is the email I received after I sent the labour party £25.

Nowhere does it say that if they decide I can't vote that they can keep my money.

It's in fact very clear that my money is in order for me to be allowed to vote.

> and paying your fee to participate in our selection process to choose Labour’s Leader.

In fact it could not be clearer.

This clearly states that my fee is to participate in the selection process.

If they are not going to allow me to participate then they should refund the money charged.

UPDATE TO ADD: I later received a copy of the "evidence" and I'd suggest you take a look as it really is laughable.

I spoke to the Labour Party

I gave them a phone call, they answered after not too long a wait of about 25 minutes.

My membership subscription can be refunded (approx £11.50).

My special supporter fee (the £25) cannot be refunded as this was apparently to pay for administration costs associated with my application and not refundable.

I want to use a very nasty expletive to describe how I feel about this. I'll stick to saying that it is simply unjust. It's against all the natural laws of justice. Even the dodgiest night club wouldn't charge you the entrance fee if they decided not to let you in.

They are also going to send me the evidence of my non existent tweet within 4 days. My guess is that they have a tweet which is not from Jan 2015 as stated, or maybe they've got into fabricating evidence now.

Facebook Rant Edited Hightlights

Of everything I ranted on to Facebook, this part is probably the part that is most worth saying.

John Scott Each time read the second paragraph of that letter I am getting more upset. I've patiently and politely debated all my life never knowingly ever shouting anyone down. I've made the highest virtue in listening to others opinion, trying to understand other peoples perspectives. I've never felt so shouted down at by anyone but this contemptible wa*ker from his high throne has ejected me from a debate on the basis of arbitrary and wrong information. Nothing has ever proved to me more what a lie and a sham the whole thing is. I know what is true here. The whole political system has lost my support. It's as if they want May to be unopposed.

Like · Reply · 3 hrs

John Scott I watched the whole three hours of the debate in Glasgow between Smith and Corbyn the night before getting this letter. Still hadn't made up my mind about which way to vote. Was taking the question quite seriously. Frankly now I don't care if Smith can beat May, or if he does, there will be no change of he does. Corporations will have free movement and people won't. Hundreds of organizations will have access to our metadata to make similar arbitrary decisions as this one. Lives, loves, relationships and marriages will still be ruined by the need to throw "initiatives" to a baying mob. I would like a system where fair decisions are made by an enlightened government in the interest of everyone and not the majority. It's not hard. There is no chance of fair open debate anymore. It seems there are two factions now in politics. Those who act only for their own self interest and those who understand that our best interest is everyone being in a good position. To me the latter is obvious but I feel that I am definitely in a minority group with this now.

Next?

So what do I do next?

Please let me know!

Facebook Ranting So Far

I started two threads on Facebook and had this to say:

John Scott Just checked on Twitter and there is absolutely nothing I posted in January 2015 about the greens / lib dems

Like · Reply · 1 · 19 hrs

Andy Allsopp You quoted Winston Churchill... You're clearly a raving tory. Always thought it about you, tbh.

Unlike · Reply · 2 · 19 hrs

John Scott HA! You watch your words young man or I'll chase you off my land on horseback...

Like · Reply · 1 · 19 hrs · Edited

Write a reply...

Mark Thomas Crikey

Like · Reply · 17 hrs

Karin Lodge This is incredible! I think with the attitude of this party you would not have been happy to be a member anyway. Seems these guys are stuck on lifelong loyalty to Labour. Wonder, how they will gain new members or voters with being so tunnel viewed. Besides: A lot of "not" scentences in the letter, a big no-no in communication.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 17 hrs

Steve Hillier Don't worry about it John, you said it yourself: they're not going to change anything. 

Corbyn will be re-elected, Labour will start to split, lose the predicted 90 seats, then completely split around 2021 if Corbyn is still in situ....See more

Like · Reply · 17 hrs · Edited

Mark Thomas Hang tight for the People's Front Of Corbyn to get established.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 15 hrs

Matt Ferguson Unbelievable. So unless you're a rabid lefty and always have been, you're not welcome? Do we have the same view of swing voters? I am concerned.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 15 hrs

Steve Hillier "Do we have the same view of swing voters?" Yes, obviously. I thought that was the whole point of St Jeremy, sod the soft Tories, lets bolster Labour heartland. Except where we've lost them to SNP and UKIP obviously, fuck them.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 15 hrs

Write a reply...

Mary T. Nooney They can seriously do this?

Like · Reply · 8 hrs · Edited

Matt Bartlett This is happening a lot. People are getting worried at the top I reckon.

Like · Reply · 8 hrs

John Scott Thing is if Ian Nicol came to my house and begged me to join I'd slam the door in his face. Yes I support corbyn but not the hopeless self serving party he leads. He never had a chance trying to get this lot to behave with integrity. I've slept on it and I'm still angry. Every ounce of power I have will be used now to remove all these parasites from my life no matter what they say their favorite colour is.

Like · Reply · 3 hrs

John Scott Each time read the second paragraph of that letter I am getting more upset. I've patiently and politely debated all my life never knowingly ever shouting anyone down. I've made the highest virtue in listening to others opinion, trying to understand oth...See more

Like · Reply · 3 hrs

John Scott I watched the whole three hours of the debate in Glasgow between Smith and Corbyn the night before getting this letter. Still hadn't made up my mind about which way to vote. Was taking the question quite seriously. Frankly now I don't care if Smith can...See more

Like · Reply · 2 hrs

David Brinn What worries me most ( and I can't see you being an abusive person ) is that this implies that you or anyone is not allowed to have views which ever differ from theirs. It's tribal politics at its worse. It implies you must only ever have support their...See more

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 2 hrs

John Scott replied · 1 Reply

Julian Bond Stay angry. Make noise. This is just another fault line opening up in the slow motion earthquake of UK politics. There's something happening here, but where it ends up ain't exactly clear. But you can be sure the encumbents will fight dirty to keep what they think they have. The run up to the 2020 elections is going to be interesting to watch. Just try not to be collateral damage.

Like · Reply · 15 mins

and also added some thoughts to my original threads

I was with the Liberal Democrats from the age of 15 in the 80s until some time after 2010. I see Jeremy Corbyn bringing genuine choice back to politics, and believe passionately that only remaining in EEC with Freedom of Movement and Workers Rights protections in place is the only sane way to navigate Brexit and believe the Labour party can make this happen and want to give my support. So impressed by Jeremy Corbyn and hope joining now I can support him and his team especially Tom Watson whom I have admired for years.

I just joined the Labour Party – will you too?

join.labour.org.uk

JOIN.LABOUR.ORG.UK

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Karin Lodge I deeply hope it helps, all the best!

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 28 June at 14:16

John Scott Dick too ! it's not fair to give Mark all the credit Actually David John your former next door neighbouur ( presumably The Labour Party ? ) was the best advert of all

Like · Reply · 28 June at 14:17

John Scott p.s. Thankyou Kieran too ! it was your share on FB that made me do it!

Like · Reply · 28 June at 14:18

John Scott Sorry to say Kieran, Dick, Mark, Mike, Wes, Tee Jay, Steve that I am furious that my application has been rejected, apparently because I said I used to be a member of the lib dems and I once suggested people should consider joining the greens. I am raging with anger. I think this is it for me and representational politics. The system is causing me so much pain right now for no reason other than pandering to people's prejudice. I've attached the reply I sent them and the one they sent me. I'm incensed that they suggest this should happen in any atmosphere of respect whilst being utterly disrespectful. I very much hope they return my money as a matter of urgency. It was very hard to find that money.

Like · Reply · 2 · 19 hrs · Edited

Write a reply...

John Scott this is the letter I received...

Like · Reply · 20 hrs

Wes White Ludicrous. I've been a Green member and a Lib Dem member too - clearly they missed that. I don't blame you being outraged, John - parts of the Labour party seem to be determined to shoot their own feet off. Two years before you can reapply?! It's a nonsense. I'm sorry to see it.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 19 hrs

John Scott I most definitely will not be reapplying

Like · Reply · 19 hrs

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John Scott Just checked on Twitter and there is absolutely nothing I posted in January 2015 about the greens / lib dems

Like · Reply · 1 · 19 hrs

Wes White

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 18 hrs

Write a reply...

Mike Flynn Crazy stuff John - as it happens I'm not exactly feeling much love for Labour right now, not sure I want to be a member for much longer either

Like · Reply · 19 hrs

John Scott no they're idiots, so dissapointed by Sadiq Khan comments, they're so blatently in this for their own interests and what they say are so many blatant lies, they have clearly shown they don't care in the slightest for the views of the membership if they're inconvenient to their ability to get a few nice little earners

Like · Reply · 1 · 19 hrs

Write a reply...

Steve Hillier Maybe it's a blessing in disguise John? The Labour Party was in trouble when Miliband became leader on a technicality, but has been utterly fucked since Corbyn took over. 

Time for a new party maybe? This one is over.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 16 hrs · Edited

John Scott most effective new party I've seen in recent times is the IFFIndependents for Frome

Like · Reply · 1 · 14 hrs

Steve Hillier I don't know them. Does St Jeremy approve? I know he just ruled out any kind of coalition between progressive parties. The arrogant loser.

Like · Reply · 14 hrs · Edited

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