Why did Starmer settle out of court Give a grovelling apology and pay out six figure sum?

I very much agree with the three above posts contributed by trisher and nightowl. People choose to forget how well the Labour Party did in the 2017 general election under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Had there not been, as alleged, senior party members and Labour Party employees working directly against Corbyn and in that contributing to preventing an overall maximisation of support, then Labour could well have become the largest party in the House of Commons.

Those working against that election win gave untrue stories to Britain's right-wing press and harassed colleagues who did not share in their personal unelected views. Sadly, now those same persons may well walk away with large compensation awards due to the failure in duty of care by the Parliamentary Labour Party. Those payments and other prosecutions will without a doubt bring the party into a possibly unsolvable financial crisis.

Thank you to Jeremy Corbyn solidarity

People are talking about a new left wing party.

£301,662 raised of £20,000 target 2,924 people have just made a donation

16.1K
donors

Len McCluskey the general secretary of the Unite union, Labour’s most generous financial backer has stated that his tenure of that office will not come to a premature end. In an extensive interview, he said “There’s lots of people who would be delighted to see the back of me, but they’re gonna have to put up with me a little longer,” he says. “I’m going nowhere.”

McCluskey not only insists he will be in charge until his mandate expires, but he also says the left is regrouping and that it will continue to demand a major say over Labour’s direction – and puts Keir Starmer on notice against any shift to the right.

McCluskey brought out a leaflet at the interview which had been published during Starmer's leadership campaign in which the pledges included higher tax on the wealthy, the abolition of tuition fees, the “common ownership” of rail, mail, energy and water, and ending NHS outsourcing. McCluskey stated “The fact is that Keir Starmer ran on a radical programme, some might say a Corbyn programme, and of course I keep this to hand,” he says. “I intend to keep that front and centre within the Unite Union for the coming months and years.

Unite and other unions are watching Starmer carefully, he stated. “There will be some interesting debates and discussions in the coming months with Keir, not only for myself but all the unions on the left who are equally in a situation at the moment where they are wondering where we are, what direction are we going in. Are we going 10 pledge direction? If so, then good.”

McCluskey stated further that the Labour Party should not take the Unite Unions affiliation money for granted as if it will always be there under all conditions, for that is not the case.

So, it would seem that there may be a large decision to be made by non-affiliated labour party members in the coming months as to whether the party should remain within the wider labour movement in Britain or an attempt made to fund the Parliamentary Party from commercial and private donations which would allow it to move to the right in it's policy choices.

Link to the full interview with Len McCluskey can be found here:-
www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/aug/01/len-mccluskey-labour-should-not-be-taking-unites-money-for-granted

Lots of these responses on social media.

As a Unite member, I am putting you on notice, stop supporting Labour and I will leave the union and donate my monthly dues to the Labour party.
Don’t take my support of Unite for granted.

More thoughts on McCluskey

Labour's campaign to save jobs, or warning and organising against a devastating Hard Brexit; but no, he chooses to threaten the Labour Party and put its leader on notice.

A disgrace.

McCluskey clearly trying to destroy a Democratic Party.

“Do as I want or else”

Corbyn lost, then resigned.

Starmer was elected by a huge majority.

Get over it or leave.

Whitewavemark2

Lots of these responses on social media.

As a Unite member, I am putting you on notice, stop supporting Labour and I will leave the union and donate my monthly dues to the Labour party.
Don’t take my support of Unite for granted.

Whitewavemark2, should it be that the Unite Union should seriously considers ending the membership political levy that is in entirety given to the Labour Party then that decision would have to be made by resolution or motions placed before the Unite Union Annual Delegate conference for ballot.

That conference could decide to end the levy, go to a full ballot of all members who pay the levy, or continue as of present. That would be democracy in action as being decided by the membership. Those who may or may not be members of the union posting on Twitter or Facebook will then have an opportunity to cast their opinion where it really matters and not on a social media page where it matters not at all.

Seems pointless a party member bothering to vote for a leader , where is the democracy, money wins, no different to the tory
party.

Whitewavemark2

McCluskey clearly trying to destroy a Democratic Party.

“Do as I want or else”

Corbyn lost, then resigned.

Starmer was elected by a huge majority.

Get over it or leave.

Whitewavemark2 I am not a direct member of the Labour party but an affiliate member by way of my subscription to the Unite Union which I have paid continuously since 1965. Therefore I will not be leaving anything.

Why anyone should become upset in regard to the McCluskey interview is beyond me. After all, McCluskey stated that he wished Starmer to remain with the policies he laid out in his leadership election campaign, and should that happen there will not any problem within the affiliate organisations continued support.

I cannot perceive any problem with the above stance.

I am sorry to see this forum being used for partisan and ill informed political opinions and fundraising attempts, there are many other more appropriate outlets for your vitriol and your money. The world is facing one of the worst crisis ever, lets get our priorities right here at least.

janthegranx6

I am sorry to see this forum being used for partisan and ill informed political opinions and fundraising attempts, there are many other more appropriate outlets for your vitriol and your money. The world is facing one of the worst crisis ever, lets get our priorities right here at least.

????are you new janthegran? If so welcome. Perhaps if you ignore the political threads you might find it more comfortable.

Where is the democracy in a leader paying out money without asking anyone else? As McCluskey said this could open the door to anyone with a grievance threatening to sue but agreeing to settle for cash, because the party will apparently pay out to keep things out of court, It is untenable and undemocratic. The leader of the party is not the party.

If you dont want to see political opinions you are probably on the wrong section of the forum

janthegranx6

I am sorry to see this forum being used for partisan and ill informed political opinions and fundraising attempts, there are many other more appropriate outlets for your vitriol and your money. The world is facing one of the worst crisis ever, lets get our priorities right here at least.

janthegranx6, this section of the forum is for political discussion after it's name. However, if you feel that any post is ill informed or partisan please feel free to post your own opinions on why you feel those posts are wrong.

Debate is all in this section of GN.

Should you be a new member janthegranx6 then a very warm welcome to the forum, and I hope we see much of you on here. ?

That's the second time this morning you've told people that it's a waste of time posting on social media Grandad. Don't you believe in free speech?

trisher

Where is the democracy in a leader paying out money without asking anyone else? As McCluskey said this could open the door to anyone with a grievance threatening to sue but agreeing to settle for cash, because the party will apparently pay out to keep things out of court, It is untenable and undemocratic. The leader of the party is not the party.

trisher, very well stated. ???

People do know that GN is social media dont they

janthegran
partisan and ill informed political opinions
That's your opinion as are the opinions posted on here.
We are a free country and therefore free to express our opinions.

I need to lie down I think I have just posted in defence of grandad

trisher

Where is the democracy in a leader paying out money without asking anyone else? As McCluskey said this could open the door to anyone with a grievance threatening to sue but agreeing to settle for cash, because the party will apparently pay out to keep things out of court, It is untenable and undemocratic. The leader of the party is not the party.

Ask yourself, “what was the alternative”

To take the matter to court and be saddled for vast expense of costs plus settlement.

Starmer has saved the LP untold hundreds of thousands of pounds.

That is the reason it was settled out of court. Starmer used his judgement as a top QC. I am prepared to assume he knew what he was doing given his knowledge and experience.

Starmer has saved the LP untold hundreds of thousands of pounds.That is the reason it was settled out of court
I agree Whitewave, but although settling out of court ‘in full and final settlement’ draws a line under matters financially, it doesn’t necessarily draw a line under the grievance itself, especially for defending side who may well feel that had the matter been aired in open court, they might have won & been vindicated.
The deep divisions in the Labour Party have been exposed again and the danger is that those who breathed a sigh of relief when Keir Starmer was elected, and who felt that voting Labour was once again a possibility, may now feel that nothing has changed, and take their allegiance elsewhere.

The problem is that a line has not been drawn under the antisemitism allegations and also the claims and prosecutions that are forthcoming in regard to the leaked report, the breach of the Data Protection Act and the failure of Employers Duty of Care under legislation.

There is a very long way to go in the above saga with Starmer's out of court Settlement in the one stage many feel Labour could have won in the courts may have made other problems far worse.

trisher

Where is the democracy in a leader paying out money without asking anyone else? As McCluskey said this could open the door to anyone with a grievance threatening to sue but agreeing to settle for cash, because the party will apparently pay out to keep things out of court, It is untenable and undemocratic. The leader of the party is not the party.

McCluskey clearly thinks that he is the leader though!
It’s all bluster.Keir Starmer will do well enough now that he has stamped his authority on the LP through showing he has understood and got to grips with the anti-semitism flourishing within the Party.
He is the kind of leader that will do well in the next GE, totally unlike the last incumbent!

lemongrove in regard to your post @13:47 today, Starmer many feel through his action in the out of court settlement with some staff at the Labour Party Central Office may well have greatly added to the financial insolvency problems the party is facing.

No point in being a political leader if that leader does not have a viable party to lead in approximately ten to twelve months time?

Whitewavemark2 Starmer is an expert QC in the field of human rights and if I wanted a judgement on HR I would ask him, unfortunately he isn't an expert on all law (few barristers are) and therefore he should have considerd the opinions of the experts employed by the LP. They considered there was a good case. Otherwise they would have advised settlement and not wanted the matter to go to court.
lemon McCluskey has simply said he isn't willing to allow the leader of the LP to spend money as he wishes which seems just a statement. If people in the union don't like what he says they can speak out. Unfortunately the LP money has already gone, so no one can do anything.