And here’s the former Greens deputy:
Manipulation of that sort will be much harder to achieve at an in-person conference than it was at an online one.
Passing the motion will have a number of immediate political consequences. The Green Party will be branded, with justification, as the Antisemitic Party – hostile to Jews in wider society and within its own party (several reasonable amendments put by Jewish members were not admitted). Think Corbyn years squared.
A further consequence is significant damage to our political credibility, bleeding through to the ballot box, including the Holborn by-election next Thursday. I believe it is realisation of this liability that led Polanski to push for conference to be cancelled (so much for internal democracy) and for Lucas and Ramsay too late in the day to ventilate their concerns about the motion.
What this means is potentially existential for both the Party and Polanski. He is already being presented as a betrayer, but those arguing against the motion motivated by avoidance of negative news stories or adverse electoral impact demonstrate that their priorities lie not with anti-discrimination in all it forms. Rather they are selective and only care when it suits them and for optics alone, ie. they don’t really care. The hostile environment for gender critical members is being extended to Jews of the wrong sort.
If the motion passes, this will be another sad day for the Green Party and its descent into authoritarianism. One of the biggest recurring themes of my seminar series today was how desperately menbers felt they need a space to speak freely and think aloud. It is hostility to free speech that lies at the heart of the Green Party’s institutional dysfunction.
For a political party which increasingly enjoys power, this represents an actual danger to society, and danger to Jews.
The only consolation I can think of is forewarned is forearmed. Other things being equal I think it is better for us to see clearly what the party has become instead of concealing that. Transparency is an important democratic principle.
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