Brighton block - Stanton stamped on

Brighton Pavilion CLP recently faced the wrath of the Millbank Tendency when it nominated former councillor Richard Stanton to the local government panel. Elizabeth Cotten reports.

Richard Stanton was a Brighton councillor for nine years up to 1992. From 1988 onwards Richard broke the Labour whip several times. He took this action because of the pledge made by councillors to "abide by the instructions" of the local Party. Richard was disciplined in 1993 by the national Party and debarred from office for three years.

Last June Richard was accepted by Brighton and Hove Local Government Committee (LGC) on to the candidates' panel. Council Leader Steve, now Lord, Bassam expressed his displeasure. Noting that the LGC had at the same time turned down an ex-Tory councillor, his Lordship declared the Party had "shot itself in the foot" by "rejecting our new constituency."

Millbank intervened, ordering our LGC to "re-interview" Richard, claiming "No. 10 is taking an interest" in the case. Like Brighton Pavilion, Richard's CLP, the LGC insisted on his right to stand. Millbank removed Richard from the panel, pending an NEC hearing. Meanwhile, the ex-Tory James Humphrey immediately appealed to Regional Officers and had his appeal heard within the week. He was allowed on to the panel.

Richard was given two reasons for Millbank's action, the first referring to his alleged misdemeanours in the 1980s and the second to his remark, when originally interviewed in Brighton, that he could not undertake unconditionally to follow the Group whip in all conceivable circumstances.

At the NEC Disputes Panel, trade union NEC members Vernon Hince and John Allen agreed at once that the first reason for exclusion was inadmissible because he had already been tried on this. After a lengthy and serious debate about the difficulties raised by the whip issue, they volunteered - to Richard's surprise - to draw up a 'form of words' which they thought would offer a compromise acceptable to both sides. But this attempt at compromise did not last long. Two days later Millbank wrote to tell Richard that the NEC would be recommended to exclude him from the panel.

Sure enough, the NEC's Organisation Committee decided that he should be excluded. There is no appeal or explanation of its decision.

Seventy local members attended a recent local meeting to hear the case and listen to NEC member Liz Davies. Few members need Millbank to explain their decision. They know what it's about: the dismantling of Party democracy by a clique who - literally, in Brighton and Hove - give a whole new meaning to the term Labour aristocracy.

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