Syed Siddiqi – another case of Labour party injustice

Ilford Muslim Syed Siddiqi was infamously suspended by the Labour party after being the victim of an anti-Muslim phone-call from a Labour figure. Siddiqi received the late-night call from the right-winger and had the presence of mind to record it:

In an outrageous response to Siddiqi’s complaint about the racism he suffered, the party suspended the right-winger – and Siddiqi, but the party’s right-dominated machine withheld the recording of the abuse from the National Executive Committee (NEC) ‘disputes panel’.

The right-winger was quickly reinstated so that he could again stand for election as a party member, while Siddiqi remained suspended for years. The case featured extensively in discussions by right-wingers exposed by the leaked Labour report, which notes:

Although the audio recording proved that X had engaged in aggressive Islamophobic abuse of Siddiqi, the recording did not evidence the claim that Siddiqi made a threat on the call, and the counter-complaints X submitted were mostly refuted by the Whatsapp evidence he himself supplied, [party official A] and [party official B] then lifted the suspension of X, and placed both him and Siddiqi “under investigation”.

All investigative attention was now turned on Siddiqi, however, with B proactively collecting and investigating even minor complaints, for example about CLP meetings being organised without enough notice, that were normally in the purview of Internal Governance, not Disputes. B even personally insisted to Siddiqi that X’s status as a local voting delegate to the CLP be accepted, but when Siddiqi was selected as a council candidate, B tried to get the Local Campaign Forum to re-interview him on the basis of information he provided…

…on 6 December 2017 GLU suspended Siddiqi, and he became the focus of all investigative efforts.
B worked to collect a range of complaints against Siddiqi, most of which were very minor. Although further complaints about X’s conduct at a CLP meeting were received in February 2018, however, alleging bullying and intimidation, no further action against him was taken.

Siddiqi’s suspension meant that, with an upcoming CLP AGM in February 2018, Siddiqi was no longer CLP Secretary and would not be able to stand again, and he could no longer be a council candidate. At the February 2018 AGM, X was then elected CLP Secretary in his place. B did not raise that there had been complaints about X, including an audio recording in which he used abusive and Islamophobic language, ahead of the election at the AGM, even though he had proposing submitting evidence on Siddiqi to the Local Campaign Forum and argued that he should be re-interviewed after he was selected as a council candidate.

Emails show that B instead worked with the regional office to ensure that the disciplinary case against X was not raised at the AGM. When complaints followed about X’s conduct at the meeting, B promised action but took none

It went on to describe the coordinated efforts of local right-wingers against Mr Siddiqi and the efforts of right-wing staffers to stitch him up while protecting his abuser.

The Forde Inquiry, long delayed, confirmed earlier this year that the leaked report revealed racism and a hierarchy of racism on the part of party right-wingers, including rampant Islamophobia.

Eventually reinstated, Skwawkbox has learned that Siddiqi was recently suspended again – local party members say over tweets defending the right of Labour members to complain of sexual harassment.

Siddiqi has also resigned his membership of the right-managed Unison union and has tweeted the news with an expression of disgust at the party’s continued promotion of local right-wingers, specifically Redbridge council leader Jas Atwal, who was suspended over ‘serious’ allegations of sexual harassment that were dismissed shortly after Keir Starmer took over the party leadership:

Mr Siddiqi declined to comment.