Bradford Respect councillors not happy

[faceless]

Here's George Galloway's response.

[faceless]

Five Respect councillors resign in suspension dispute
Claire Armstrong,
T&A Reporter
16th August 2013

All five Respect councillors at Bradford Council have resigned from their party en masse in protest at the suspension of two of their members. The dramatic move follows an internal row over MP George Galloway’s ambitions to become Mayor of London. The councillors say they will not rejoin the party until the two suspended members, Ishtiaq Ahmed and Mohammad Shabbir, are “publicly exonerated and their suspensions revoked”. In the meantime, the five say they will be continuing in their role as ward councillors, but as a group of independent politicians.

But group leader, Councillor Alyas Karmani (Little Horton), denied the move spelled the end of Respect in Bradford. The row was sparked when Mr Galloway, Respect MP for Bradford West, revealed he was considering running for Mayor of London in 2016. Councillors Ahmed (Manningham) and Shabbir (Heaton) made online remarks to a national newspaper criticising the move and saying his focus should remain in Bradford. On Tuesday, they were suspended pending a disciplinary hearing.

At the time, Respect national secretary Ron McKay said it would be “unfair” to comment publicly on the reasons for their suspension, but added there would be a wider party investigation into what he described as “attempts to subvert the party in Bradford”. But Councillors Ahmed and Shabbir claim they were accused of “conniving” to destabilise Respect, and in a joint statement released yesterday, all five Respect councillors, who also include deputy group leader Ruqayyah Collector (City) and Faisal Khan (Bradford Moor), demanded the pair be exonerated.

It said all the group’s councillors had voiced “legitimate frustrations” raised by their constituents about Mr Galloway considering whether to stand for Mayor of London in an election in 2016. It said: “The Respect Party, in response to our raising these concerns of Bradfordians, has sought to silence two of our group. “Our concern has always been that Bradford district and our respective constituencies should be the main priority of our work and that of George Galloway MP and the Respect Party in Bradford.” The statement continued: “We the Bradford Respect group of councillors collectively demand the two councillors be publicly exonerated and their suspensions revoked and the baseless and false allegations about them are retracted.”

Coun Karmani said he was “hopeful” that their demands would be met. He said: “We are hopeful of an amicable resolution to this whole matter, because that would be the best result for all concerned.” When asked whether the mass resignations spelt the end of Respect in Bradford, he said: “Not at all, not at all. It shows we are a mature party which has disagreements, but that we can resolve these issues.”

But the mass resignation met with a hostile reception at Mr Galloway’s office. Mr McKay, who is also Mr Galloway’s aide, issued a statement on behalf of Respect saying the five councillors had satisfied their “thirst for prominence” after never before featuring “in the media or noticeably in the Council”. He said: “The people of Bradford will no doubt find the whole matter absurd. These five were elected in the wake of George Galloway’s election victory. Does anyone think they could have been voted in without that and the backing of the Respect party? Does anyone doubt that they will continue to sit in the Council and pick up their £13,000 a year? The two councillors were suspended for widely saying that they intended to stand as independents and now they are independents they are demanding the allegation is retracted that they were going stand as independents. This is Lewis Carroll material.”

----------------------

This is pathetic. No matter what has happened, it is the party leadership which has clearly failed here. There's no other way of looking at it.

[faceless]

Councillors urge Respect to revoke pair’s suspension as MP rift continues
21st August 2013
Bradford’s Respect councillors, who temporarily resigned from their party en-masse last week, say they hope to resolve the dispute this week. All five sitting Respect councillors made the shock move last Thursday, after two of their number were suspended from the party over comments they made to a national newspaper about Bradford West Respect MP George Galloway.

They accused the party of failing to explain the reasons for the pair’s suspensions and said they would be resigning the party whip until the two councillors in question – Ishtiaq Ahmed and Mohammed Shabbir – are “publicly exonerated and their suspensions revoked”. But this hasn’t yet happened, group leader Councillor Alyas Karmani said yesterday. Coun Karmani (Little Horton), said he was hopeful the matter could still be resolved and expected an announcement by the end of the week.

Ron McKay, Mr Galloway’s spokesman and the party’s national secretary, said both he and Mr Galloway also wanted the dispute to be resolved and said the current situation looked “encouraging”.

The rift between Mr Galloway, the party’s most prominent figure, and the five Respect councillors has been blamed on three separate issues. The most publicised of these is Mr Galloway’s suggestion that he could run as Mayor of London in 2016. Councillors Ahmed (Manningham) and Shabbir (Heaton) both publicly criticised the idea, saying the MP’s focus should remain in Bradford – a move which led to their suspensions. In the aftermath of the suspensions, Mr Galloway also claimed there was a link between the local situation and a court case involving his former aide.

Mr Galloway’s former parliamentary secretary, Aisha Ali-Khan, 33, of Keighley, and Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Afiz Khan, 46, last week appeared in court charged with misconduct-related offences. The pair will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on August 28.

In a blog, Mr Galloway alleged that unnamed councillors had “openly connived with the Khans in destabilising the party in Bradford”. This claim led to anger among all five Respect councillors. A joint statement from the group – which also includes deputy group leader Ruqayyah Collecter (City) and Faisal Khan (Bradford Moor) said: “This allegation is defamatory, baseless and completely unfounded and is symptomatic of a culture within the party that seeks to marginalise and excommunicate party members that raise legitimate concerns in relation to the operation and future development of the Respect Party in Bradford.”

The third disagreement surrounds the party’s choice of candidate to fight for the Manningham ward at the next local elections in May. The councillors were said to be unhappy when Mr Galloway overruled their choice of candidate.

[faceless]