Breaking News: Garfield Resigns from Newham Cabinet. The Issue of Antisemitism in Labour Resurfaces

It seems that Mayor Fiaz is struggling to exercise any control over Labour Group, it leaves some observers reflecting that she “has lost the plot”. We noted earlier that Labour Group had effectively rejected her leadership when they rejected her favoured candidates as Group Officers. This was compounded when her nominee for Scrutiny Chair was also rXejected and those loyal to her seem to have dwindled to those on the payroll. Moreover, there remains the unresolved issue of the complaint of 20 councillors against her bullying of colleagues and the Standards Committee report about her behaviour, that has still not  been given to Group.

Amongst those that were less impressed by the mayor, was Cllr Joshua Garfield, Cabinet Member for Education. Garfield has submitted his resignation as of 22nd October 2023 in protest at Fiaz’s handling of antisemitism. We have received a copy of his resignation letter.

Rokhsana,

I'm proud of our achievements in the education portfolio over the past eighteen months, having led the department through pivotal changes. However, I've decided to resign from my cabinet position. I have copied in the Chair and Vice Chair of Majority Labour Group for their information.

On Monday, you urged Labour Group to deviate from the national Labour Party position concerning the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict after the October 7 terror attack. Tensions are high, and leadership should guide us towards the right decisions unequivocally. I feel that leadership is currently absent.

My concerns with the administration's direction have grown; from funding vanity projects while we’re forced to cut essential services in the CYPS budget, to the loss of some of our finest officers due to expressed concerns about their treatment, and the marginalisation of scrutiny. I believe this has all tarnished our reputation. Friday’s exchange on WhatsApp was the last straw.

Since Keir Starmer's leadership, significant strides have been made in restoring national trust in the Labour Party. The EHRC have taken us out of special measures and voters now view a Labour government without apprehension. Diverging from national policy jeopardises this progress.

It's a matter of record that the EHRC found the Labour Party guilty of unlawful discrimination in 2020. Two years ago, West Ham and East Ham CLPs faced suspensions over concerns including antisemitism within their top ranks. There are individuals, previously associated with the Labour Party, who were suspended for espousing values we reject. Their actions and endorsements since the October 7 massacre have only deepened divisions. As elected Labour Party officials we should be distancing ourselves from those intent on fostering division in these challenging times.

With antisemitic incidents in London surging by over a thousand percent since the October 7 terror attack and the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, and Islamophobic incidents doubling, vulnerable communities are in fear. They look to local leadership for reassurance as much as they do national figures or city representatives like Sadiq Khan, who has been an unfailing ally to Jewish and Muslim communities.

We have a responsibility to bring diverse communities together at a time of immense grief. There will be families in Newham fearing for loved ones in Israel and Gaza; families mourning innocent victims of terror, both Israeli and Palestinian, along with nationals from more than twenty countries including the UK.

When voicing concerns with cabinet colleagues over the amplification of individuals who might incite antisemitism, I was told I'm too focused on 'my feelings.' There are not many Jews in Newham, imagine their alarm when genuine worries about hate crimes and rising antisemitism are dismissed. This symptomises a broader issue that threatens to divide us when we should be uniting in our shared grief and humanity; there's a palpable absence of local leadership.

Earlier this year you told a room full of cabinet members and staff in the corporate management team, “if you don’t like it, leave.” So, I'm making that choice.

I've informed the Education department of my decision and will revert to the backbenches immediately. There, I'll remain dedicated to representing my Stratford residents and championing for those across the borough who feel defenceless against hate.

Sincerely,

Councillor Joshua Garfield 

Garfield and Fiaz have history. Both backed Corbyn and Momentum. Fiaz ditched Momentum when the political winds changed. Garfield  resigned from Momentum prior to the 2018 council election stating “I have witnessed more antisemitism in the past week than I ever have in my 8 years of Labour Party membership”.

Following his election, he raised the matter of antisemitism on the Labour Party Facebook page. For his efforts he was marginalised and belittled. He was unsupported by the mayor and undermined by the deputy mayor.

Garfield was vindicated in his accusations by the Hirsh Report, which found evidence of antisemitism and was critical of the mayor who “could have done more”. In this, the Goldsmiths’ academic found,

That “disloyalty to the values of the Labour Party” was on the part of the political leadership, a leadership that remains in place.

Mayor Fiaz and her allies had hand-picked the councillor candidates for her first and even more so in her second term. In a process without local party involvement and in which two-thirds of the applicants were never interviewed, she oversaw the selection of loyalist candidates. But even before the date of the election, one of them was suspended (and subsequently expelled) from the party for posting statements that were grossly antisemitic.

Within 18 months another three had resigned their council seats precipitating three byelections.

This came on top of a first term in which antisemitism, which was “toxic” and “routine” in the local party seemed to constantly surface and resurface. There was the Deputy Chair of Group, Cllr Ahmed; then there was Cllr Mughul; and the other Cllr Mirza; and of course, Cllr Thekkepura. And there was the habit of supporting well known antisemites in the party.

The second term of the Fiaz mayoralty did not dispel the belief that antisemitic undertones were still present in Newham Labour Group. Nor was the mayor above using the occasional Palestine dog whistle.

Following the events in southern Israel and in Gaza, feelings are running high in the Labour Group on council. These feelings have revealed an unpleasant side to some of the comrades. 

We reference the ‘Gaza Debate’ at council elsewhere. What appears to have happened is that Cllr Garfield argued against amending the motion from Cllr M Mirza. Garfield urged that Group followed the advice from David Evans, the Gen. Sec. of the Labour Party. Sources have indicated that Garfield received guidance from the London regional director Pearleen Sangha that no motion should be amended and that the Labour group should vote against any motion that is tabled. 

He shared this advice, but it seems was in a minority, with even the mayor voting against him.

It’s almost as if Newham Labour cabinet have a death-wish and are intent on undermining their own credibility.

Key to this decision, we are told, was none other than James Asser, the new chair of the NEC. Newham Labour have inferred that the Israeli response was “disproportionate” and this is now Newham council policy. We can only make assumptions as to why this is. The most likely reason appears to be to generate some communal support in Plaistow North ahead of the byelection.

Sources tell us that there was an exchange of messages on WhatsApp in which Garfield was the subject of yet more antisemitic abuse from amongst his own cabinet colleagues. He was labelled “divisive”. Mayor Fiaz, again it seems, has done little to support her only Jewish cabinet member. There is a pattern here that seems eerily familiar to anyone who remembers the 2018 incidents over the Labour Facebook page.

On Sunday 22nd he offered his resignation from the cabinet.

NB. There is a further question. If the information we have is correct that the only Jewish cabinet member has been hounded out of office in this way, what was the role of the deputy mayor and the mayor? It was proclaimed that Labour had rooted out antisemitism “root and branch”. 

We hate to say it, but they might just have missed a bit.