After over 10 years of membership, I am resigning from Labour and joining the Green party, which I will now represent on Lewisham Council. Labour is a party I have served, campaigned for and represented for several years. But the party I joined is unrecogniseable from what it has become. I joined after the 2015 Tory General Election victory because I wanted to see a change in our society. I was inspired by the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn who articulated an anti-austerity, democratic socialist politics that millions of people voted for in 2017 and 2019. A decade on, the Labour government has abandoned working people in service of wealthy donors, corporate lobbyists and private equity firms.
Labour under Keir Starmer has cut winter fuel payments for pensioners, rowed back on net zero, slashed welfare benefits for sick and disabled people, proudly ramped up deportations and refused to scrap the 2-child benefit cap, taking the whip from the seven MPs who took a moral stand against its shameful decision. Not content with continuing the Tory government’s impunity against migrants and asylum seekers, Starmer’s Powellite ‘island of strangers’ rhetoric legitimises the far-right politics that exploded during the racist riots last year. As a councillor in London’s first Borough of Sanctuary, I cannot in good conscience remain a credible representative of this Labour Party.
This cynical, desperate strategy has allowed Reform to surge in the polls. As a committed anti-racist and anti-fascist, I believe the way to fight this threat is not to pander to it, but to confront it with a positive, eco-socialist vision. This is why I have decided to join the Greens – a party that stands up for ordinary people, that believes a better, more just society is possible and that is serious about confronting the environmental destruction of our world.
Labour’s gravest crime is its continued material, diplomatic and military support for the genocidal Israeli regime which has killed over 55,000 people, including at least 18,000 children. Labour has continued to deploy RAF surveillance flights over Gaza as well as selling weaponry and equipment used by Israel to commit war crimes against Palestinians. Even now, it continues to support the far right Netanyahu government as it escalates conflict with Iran, creating an even more dangerous regional war.
Whilst I have consistently urged the party to take action against the ongoing genocide, it has become increasingly untenable to retain my membership. I have tried to effect some small change, having seconded a motion that committed the council to ensure its pensions investments moved away from arms, human rights abuses and activities in occupied territories including Palestine. After passing the motion, I was disciplined by the Chief Whip, receiving an official warning suggesting I had brought the party into disrepute.
The members that bring Labour into disrepute are the ministers who continue to facilitate Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. The Home Secretary’s intention to proscribe the non-violent direct action group Palestine Action is an egregious attack on the right to protest and demonstrates how far the party has fallen.
Registering any amount of dissent or constructive criticism within Lewisham Labour Group is either ignored, punished or kept on file as a means to block independently minded councillors from standing again. This has created a climate of fear where most members avoid speaking out. My concerns about the Council’s engagement with a controversial church, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, were largely dismissed by the leadership, with the Mayor suggesting I was being ‘uncomradely’, threatening to involve the Chief Whip. Privately, many colleagues agreed with me. Following sustained media coverage and representations from a UCKG survivors group, a councillor implicated in the issue resigned from the cabinet, yet the Mayor and Council have remained silent, with no apology or recognition of the harm caused to victims of the church. I was then told that the party leadership intended to punish me for raising the issue. This is just one example of the party’s immoral and unethical practices where silence and loyalty takes precedence over truth and integrity.
To the residents of New Cross Gate, including the constituents who voted for me as their councillor: I will continue to fight for your interests and work hard to improve the ward. I am proud of my track record as a responsive and active local councillor and I will strive to represent you as best I can. To my former Labour colleagues: whilst we no longer share a party, we have a shared commitment to our residents and I wish to work constructively and collegiately with you on the Council.
I recognise that I was elected as a Labour candidate and some may feel that choosing to leave and join the Green party goes against democratic norms. But the beliefs and values that brought me into Labour have been systematically undermined, destroyed and discarded during Starmer’s leadership. Lewisham Labour’s 2022 manifesto spoke of equality, justice and fairness for all, caring for vulnerable people and welcoming refugees, yet this callous and insipid government is intent on doing the opposite.
As many have said before me, I haven’t left the Labour party, the Labour party has left me.
Cllr Liam Shrivastava
Green Councillor for New Cross Gate