Does the Tory Party not want any members?

Party Members

            I have recently become quite disturbed about the number of Party members who have been suspended from membership.   This often appears to apply to people who were formerly members of UKIP, but not in all cases.   I know of at least one constituency where the Agent openly boasts about how he is stopping UKIP members from joining the Conservative Party.

            I highlight a particular case which has been brought to my attention.   Jason Mcquade is a member of the Basildon and Thurrock Conservative Association.   On November 17^th 2018 he emailed the following letter to his member of parliament:

Hi Jackie,

with the recent developments over the Brexit deal and our current prime ministers handling of this I have no choice but to add my voice to the growing number wanting a change in PM and to see the Brexit we voted for.

The deal offered is not Brexit, it gives all the power to the EU on when and if we even leave forever closing the door to a truly global Britain.

It is a betrayal of the 17.5 million Brexit voters and a betrayal of the majority of Thurrock that simply cannot be allowed to happen.

Our prime minster shows no sign of listening, simply saying it’s her way or no way and this is not true. The mood in parliament and the country is clear this deal must go.

We have seen members of the EU over the last 48 hours gloating about their win on this and demanding more from us on tax control, fishing and defence.

Spain is again talking about taking joint sovereignty of Gibraltar which is again a betrayal of British people, yes they voted heavy for remain for clearly understandable reasons but they have shown more respect for the vote then many within the remain side have done.

On defence it says that the EU will have use of our forces but our government and commanders will have no say in such use. This is yet another betrayal of our armed services that has been harmed greatly since Blair's days.

A look at the ministerial code and law of the land suggests that May has broken both on Brexit and defence.

Jackie we have had our differences, I hope we can both agree they are in the past and we all need to work towards a better future, a future that Brexit will give us. The deal is not Brexit. We know you have the ear of May, you have recently come out in support of leave, I urge you to use this and help us stop this sell out and if she will not listen as I fear will be the case resign from cabinet on the principle you represent one of the biggest leave majorities in the UK.

Kind regards

Jason Mcquade

That day 17^th November the Association Management team met and determined that Jason’s membership be suspended and on 1^st December Jason was notified by email.    See the following:

Good afternoon Jason,

At a meeting of the Association management team held on the 17^th November 2018 it was determined that your membership of the Conservative party be suspended pending a formal expulsion proceedings.

 You will have the opportunity to be heard at the next meeting of the executive council. I will write to you in due course.

 Any member suspended from the party may not participate in any Conservative party activity including attendance at meetings and social events .

 Yours Sincerely,

 Tony Coughlin

 Chairman of Basildon and Thurrock Conservative Federation

Under the Party “Guidelines for the Suspension and Expulsion of Members of the Conservative Party” it states as follow:

• If it is considered that an individual has breached the constitution and there is a case for an expulsion to be considered by the Executive, an association chairman may call an emergency meeting of the management team, to discuss the immediate suspension of the individual pending a hearing at an Executive.
• If at that meeting it is decided by a majority vote that the individual is suspended, he or she must be written to within 24 hours of that meeting advising them of the suspension.   The individual must also be advised that they will have an opportunity to be heard at either the next regular meeting of the Executive or earlier if a special Executive is to be convened to deal with the matter (whichever is earlier within the following eight weeks).

You will see from the above that contrary to the “Guidelines”, Jason was not written to within the 24 hours of his suspension.   Secondly, as of today there has been no Executive at which he has been invited to be heard.

Under the “Guidelines”

• During the time of the suspension, the individual will not be allowed to participate in any party activity or vote.

Also they state:

• The individual concerned will be given at least fourteen days written notice of an Executive Council meeting at which he or she shall be given an opportunity to be heard and to answer the charges laid against him or her.
• It is particularly important to remember that both the letter to the individual and the notice calling the meeting must include a statement setting out full details of the charges.   The statement must be specific, it is not sufficient to simply ask a member to “explain his/her conduct”.   The charges shall be the basis of the hearing and will not be added to at any time after the notice has been served.

None of this has been done!

What is quite clear is that the Basildon and Thurrock Conservative Federation have so far not followed these Guidelines, which does not give any confidence that the other parts of the Guidelines will be followed.

So far this case has not followed natural justice or the Conservative Party’s own Guidelines.   I hope this is an isolated case but I fear not.   Perhaps the Chairman of Basildon and Thurrock will respond and take action now!