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(Continued from page 33)
The Model Letter
When, following the Good Friday Agreement, Mo Mowlam went on television
with a recruitment appeal, people in Northern Ireland thought that the
appeal was to them, and responded in large numbers. They were quickly
disabused and a Model Letter was sent by Mo Mowlam's office to Labour MPs
to use if an when they received letters from people wishing to join..
A copy of this 'Model Letter' was included in a leaflet 'We Want
Membership' distributed to delegates to Labour's 1998 conference in
Blackpool by an organisation called LiNI. The Model Letter says: "Labour's
position, as established by the Party constitution, is that we do not stand
candidates for election in Northern Ireland. This position has been
supported by a majority of Labour members for many years." It concludes:
"We greatly value the support for Labour shown by people like yourself in
Northern Ireland. But I genuinely believe there is not the support for the
change you are proposing either within the Labour Party or in Northern
Ireland itself. Thank you for writing".
The Model Letter and the Labour Constitution
The trouble with this 'Model Letter' is that Labour's constitution says
nothing of the kind alleged. And as rule 2A.3 quoted above demonstrates, UK
citizens living in Northern Ireland are entitled to join. As there is no
such proviso in Labour's constitution as the 'Model Letter' claims, "a
majority of Labour members" could not, logically, have supported it. The
exclusion of Northern Ireland citizens from the Labour Party seems
therefore to hang on the "genuine belief" that the Model Letter tells
Labour MPs that they hold. And that "genuine belief" would be given short
shrift in a Court of Law and the European Court.
One recent excuse for not allowing the people of Northern Ireland their
constitutional right has been given as the Good Friday Agreement, which
apparantly makes this the wrong time. Previously Northern Ireland
applicants to join were told to join Labour's "sister party', the SDLP,
described as Northern Ireland's largest nationalist party by its deputy
leader, Seamus Mallon at their 1998 annual conference . For a political
party to have a 'sister party' within the borders of its own jurisdiction,
and to tell possible recruits to join that instead of their own party must
be without precedent.
(Continued on page 35)
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