Know a Good Libel Lawyer? / Complaint to ICO over Labour Breach/ Liberty/ Stop the War
Whilst the Chronicle (see post of 24th April here) is regulated by IPSO and must respond to their inquiries, other publications, such as The Jewish News, are not. JN are sadly not regulated by anybody and the only way to deal with slander from them is in the courts. If any of you know a good libel lawyer, can you email me at postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com ? On the 11th March, JN published an article about the GMB rejecting my appeal, in which they claimed a number of falsehoods, one of which I assumed to be false because it was saying that I had been suspended by Labour. I furiously protested to them.
Then, five days later, I received notice from Labour that I really was being suspended. The letter stated this was for a possible breach of rule 2.1.8 (which I later found does not exist!) and demanded confidentiality. But Labour HQ had broadcast my suspension to the Jewish press at least five days before they told me. I therefore wrote to Labour Disputes Dept (copying in the NEC) pointing out it was they who had breached confidentiality and demanded an explanation. I also lodged a complaint to Labour HQ. Predictably Labour have ignored my requests. I also submitted a Subject Access Request (SAR) to Labour’s Data officer; under GDPR they must give up what they have on file about me.
After waiting the requisite 30 days for their failure to respond on either count I was able to complain formally to the Information Commissioner- see the complaint here. I must now wait up to 3 months for action. Several others have been the victims of Labour HQ leaks over the past three years.. but since early March the Zionist mole in the Disputes Dept has been working overtime. The Electronic Intifatada article on Asa Wistanley shows how far the rot has gone and recently Jackie Walker, Pam Bromley and Sian Bloor also suffered in the press. Clearly there is a pattern here, one that needs addressing. I urge all who have had their SAR ignored or who have suffered a data breach by Labour to complain to the ICO here ; if we work together, we can begin to root out Zionist infiltration at Labour HQ.
Many breaches and suspensions (including that of Chris Williamson MP) have occurred since the beginning of March. This is about the same time that Labour’s General Secretary Jennie Formby (who usually has a firm grip on HQ affairs) started treatment for breast cancer. I suspect this has led to Zionists in the London offices going on a witch-hunting spree.
UPDATE – 3rd June. I received an email from the ICO noting “The ICO are aware that The Labour Party have a number of outstanding SAR requests and in this instance have failed to respond to your request within the statutory one month calendar deadline. We therefore consider the organisation to have infringed their data protection obligations in this instance. Further to this, the organisation have not addressed your concern that your personal information was disclosed to a third party.” …”The Labour Party are responding to SARs in the order they were received. We consider this to be the most efficient way to deal with any outstanding requests and therefore will not request that the organisation prioritise the requests of individuals that have also complained to the ICO. We will however write to the organisation to advise them that you have submitted a complaint to the ICO and ask them to respond to your request according to the date they received it. In this case we will also raise the fact that you have not received a response to your disclosure concern and ask that this is addressed as soon as possible.”… “The ICO does not consider it necessary to take any further regulatory action against the organisation at this time.”
UPDATE – 20th June. I received an email from the Senior Governance Officer at the Labour Party apologising for the delay, saying that because I’d been a member (mostly) since 1986, it would take them a long time to gather the info.
UPDATE – 21st June. I’d complained again to the ICO that the disclosure matter was still not being acknowledged by the Party. In response the ICO Lead Case Officer replied saying “. I have asked the organisation to write back to me once they have addressed the disclosure aspect of your concern. I have also advised our enforcement team about the potential s170 aspect of your complaint and am waiting for feedback on whether this is something they will look further into at this time.”
Liberty
The campaign group for freedom of speech in the UK, Liberty, have refused to address the loss of freedom of speech on Israel. At their AGM last May, Professor Jonathan Rosenhead of the LSE moved a motion, seconded by Louise Christian, a well-known solicitor, opposing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. The motion was passed almost unanimously.
Liberty’s officers took fright, as I have myself learned. Following the advice of my QC, Michael Mansfield, I hassled Liberty for months over my GMB woes. At one point I was able to get to speak to a Liberty adviser on the phone; she assured me she would pass my email onto the legal and policy Depts. Eventually an email came saying they were busy with other matters and because the GMB were not a public body they couldn’t help. But their website says “Liberty challenges injustice, defends freedom and campaigns to make sure everyone in the UK is treated fairly” Everyone except trade unionists and Labour Party members, it would seem. This post in Tony Greenstein’s blog of 9/10/18 “Why are the Officers and Employees of Civil Liberties Group Liberty Refusing to Implement its Policy of Opposition to the IHRA?” has helped me understand why. I have written to the Liberty Director, Martha Spurrier, and gotten no reply.
I now intend to picket and attend the Liberty AGM in Leeds on the 18th May. Will any of the 2,122 of you who have signed this petition come to join me? I would REALLY APPRECIATE SUPPORT!!!
If enough of us together tell Liberty that they need to get busy on this and honour their charter, please get in touch with me at postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com These days they are more interested in Brexit and knife crime. They have forgotten their purpose. The IHRA definition is being used to muzzle free speech on Israel and they fail us by looking away. Let’s make them listen.
Stop the War
I have learnt that Stop the War coalition are really a front for the SWP, who in Scotland are sympathetic to the Friends of Israel. Thus the Zionists effectively dictate Stop the War policy. Their hypocrisy was exposed when I sought their support for the Glasgow ZIR rally for Palestine to mark the Great March of Return. None of their patrons – Brian Eno, Diane Abbott MP, George Galloway, Mark Rylance, Tariq Ali plus 22 other luminaries cared to consider my complaint. The Weekly Worker published my letter about it- see “Clumsy Oaf?” (that’s me!) which is the seventh letter down here.