Open Letter to Siân Berry from Shahrar Ali, GPEW Leadership candidate, 1 Sept 2021

FROM: Shahrar Ali for Reality Check, Candidate for Green Party Leader, Personal capacity (not GPEW)
TO: Siân Berry, Acting Leader, Green Party
Pdf version

1 September, Eve of Leadership ballot

Dear Siân

Negative voting in Leadership elections

I was disappointed and upset to see you actively campaigning yesterday (31 August) against three of the leadership candidates, including me, by publicly advocating that members should place RON ahead of us. I would like to set out why I think this behaviour falls short of the standards we expect from our Leaders and how your recent public pronouncements have put me, as a candidate in this election, in a situation where I feel that I must now speak out. My overriding objective is the well-being of the Party and to this end I am convinced that we must find a way to settle our differences and unite around urgently tackling the pressing crises faced by humanity.

You have every right to vote as you please but I do think that the position of Acting Leader, and the use of that platform, carries with it certain duties towards the well-being and reputation of the Party, especially in one’s public statements. Most people would regard it as an unwritten rule that an outgoing incumbent would not try to exert undue influence over the election of their successor. There is a potential conflict of interest to consider, just as it would be improper for the returning officer, say, to sanction your chairing one of our hustings events. By writing off four of the candidates as being unworthy of election, you are effectively sowing the seeds for further division and conflict should one of those candidates or a pair succeed, contrary to your wish. Should myself, or Tina and Martin, say, be elected, would you cooperate with us in handover processes and generally help us settling in? I should hope that you would respect the integrity of the process and the will of the voting membership.

Can one meaningfully indulge in publicly announcing one’s voting preferences, in a personal capacity, while in the role of primary spokesperson for the Party – when most everything one does or says can be interpreted as official? I note that, today, you have reposted your video this time without a Green Party world with petals logo – to reduce the misapprehension that this was an official announcement, approved by the Party.

Your resignation statement, “active anti-transphobia” and inconsistency

I have refrained from responding in any way to your resignation statement of 14 July 2021 but now feel bound to say something. To date, I know of no member who has received an official party communication about your resignation, i.e. your statement of intent not to stand again following Jonathan’s resignation (which was official). Your statement avoided naming me as the reason for your dissatisfaction with the appointment of our spokespersons and the alleged inconsistency between those appointments and the Party’s position on trans rights and inclusion. However, since the official spokesperson launch on 7 June, no other spokesperson has been subjected to an onslaught of mob abuse over social media alleging transphobia; and it is clear to everybody who has been following the matter that you could only have had me in mind. I think you do me a disservice not to contact me directly over your stated concerns, which remain vague, or even to use internal processes to evidence your allegations. Whilst I wouldn’t wish complaints upon anyone, you do know how to use such processes; of which more shortly.

Instead, I believe, the course of action you have taken has facilitated, however unwittingly, a climate of hostility towards me. You gave an interview on 17 July (Open Democracy) advocating for “active anti-transphobia”. Some members have taken this as a call to attack me further, citing that very phrase. I am sure you would not seek to stir up a hostile environment towards me, which could endanger my personal safety and those who most relied upon me. Had many, many friends in the party not stood up for me or called out this hostile campaign for what it was, I don’t think I could have survived it. I would like to ask you, however, to ask others to desist from such behaviour and take greater care yourself not to make statements which could reasonably be interpreted as about me – at least not before you have taken steps to have them proven first.

The zeal with which I have been targeted, with a blogger in train, can hardly be overestimated. On 18 July, Young Greens, at their annual convention, passed a motion calling for GPEx to consider terminating my appointment as spokesperson. This was reported the same day (by Bright Green) as 93% voting in favour and without giving any further numbers. I had been offered no prior right of reply to the motion and subsequently learned, after some considerable effort, that only 21 people had voted for it. Does this kind of institutionalised attack upon a spokesperson lack democratic legitimacy? A subsequent attempt to put this motion to our national party conference this October has been deemed out of order due to insufficient supporting signatories.

Siân, I see inconsistency between your attitude towards me in a recent election – where I was also a candidate (following an STV ballot), helping you and others to get elected – and your position on my candidacy now.

This inconsistency is not something I have had to face only now. In 2019, you sponsored a complaint against me on behalf of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, alleging antisemitism. Following investigation, this complaint was dismissed in all respects. Rumours have been circulating about your role and I have decided to confirm it – I think members have a right to know. I have never received any kind of acknowledgment from you about the considerable stress that put me under. I also won a significant IPSO ruling against the Jewish Chronicle in Oct 2020 on five counts. I have a motion again going to next Party conference advocating for our adoption of the Jerusalem Declaration instead of the IHRA – because I want us to fight racism in all its invidious forms, including anti-Jewish racism, and believe we must adopt a definition fit for purpose not counterproductive on its own terms.

Fostering Active Debate

In basing my leadership campaign on the three crucial issues of climate emergency, women's rights, and free speech, I am confident that all of us in the Party are united in caring about these issues. In expressing my support for women's rights, I am in no way minimising the importance of LGBTQI+ rights. I am convinced that the way forward within the Party – and indeed in wider society – lies in mutually respectful dialogue to ensure that everyone's concerns are heard and taken into account.

Nor am I going to sit on my hands when I see bad decisions being taken or thought justified as if they were truly Green. I cannot condone the hostile environment which former MSP Andy Wightman had to suffer when he wanted to vote for an amendment in the Scottish Parliament, which would have protected the right of rape victims to choose to be examined by someone of the same sex (his salutary tale). I believe the funding of women’s refuge Rise in Brighton, which was providing a vital same-sex service, was something we should have done more to support. I cannot remain mute while brilliant women campaigners in our party have felt compelled to leave because they cannot discuss their sincerely held convictions about the threat to same- or single-sex spaces or services.

Unfortunately, there have been communication problems within the Party that have resulted in many people feeling that their concerns are not being taken seriously. I want to encourage a culture of openness and mutual respect so that these matters, which naturally elicit strong feelings in people, can be debated in a compassionate manner. Kindness is sometimes overlooked in the heat of the moment, especially in the heat of exchanges on social media. I hope that, if elected, I can help to facilitate our all working together in the Party to find the way forward on these complex issues.

I end with a personal plea. Firstly, please respect the integrity of the Leadership elections (in your current role) and recognise that members may reasonably disagree about whom is best placed to lead the Party over the next few years. Secondly, why not come to me directly to discuss any concerns you might have about statements I have made or motions I’ve put to conference? Here we are engaging in lively discussion in 2016 – it can happen! Why don’t we ask someone we both trust in the party to facilitate such a discussion – a genuine invitation for dialogue?

Only by tackling these communication problems we can move forward together in our united determination to face the environmental crisis that threatens us all. The Green Party has a great contribution to make: we have to find the way to resolve our differences and pull together.

With best wishes,

Shahrar      

Promoted and Produced by Amelie Boleyn on behalf of Shahrar Ali as part of his campaign for election to the post of Leader. Not an official communication of the Green Party and England and Wales.

Postscript:
I am going to include some apologies I have received from members in recent years (anonymised), to highlight where I think the opposite culture leads or has led us (cancel culture). Apologies must be authentic, as I believe these were, wholly unsolicited.

Party Member 1 - 2019

“I failed to intervene when there were attendees who were clearly out of line. I should have taken the time to challenge their tone and encouraged them to be more constructive or else desist. It was a hostile unacceptable environment. I apologise too that it’s taken one of those people to do the same thing to me, for me to realise I should apologise.”

Party Member 2 - 2018

“I would like to apologise for my conduct during the last few weeks. I have reflected on my online behaviour and I have realised that I have been unreasonably negative and critical of you. I am sorry for this approach and my actions. I still feel very strongly about this issue, but I acknowledge that this was the wrong way to approach the issue and I continued to berate you online after you had given an answer to my enquiry. For that, I am sorry and I am particularly sorry if this caused you any unnecessary stress. I wish you good will in your continued efforts in this campaign.”

ENDS.