Claire Khaw's membership of the Conservative Party cancelled

Thursday 20th December 2012



Dear Ms Khaw

I am writing on behalf of the Conservative Party Board to inform you that your membership of the Conservative Party has been cancelled under Part IV 17.7 of the Constitution of the Party, which states:

The Board of the Party shall have power to do anything which in its opinion relates to the management and administration of the Party.  It shall be ... responsible for ... the cancellation or refusal of membership, in its absolute discretion of any Party member ....

Yours sincerely

Stephen Phillips
Secretary to the Board of the Party

That really is it.  There is no more information about what I was supposed to have done wrong.  The letter is also saying that I do not have a right to demand a reason and they  have no obligation to give me one.

This does not particularly surprise me though I was very flattered to asked if I wanted to be councillor when I attended their Xmas Party on 14 December.   

There is no mention of returning my membership fee (£25) either.

There is certainly precedent for treating political parties as public bodies as can be seen at http://www.strathmore.edu/ethics/pdf/CharlesKhamalaPoliticalParties.pdf

Democratic traditions prescribe periodic elections to transfer political power within the modern  nation-state. Political parties are quasi-public bodies which serve various critical functions to facilitate policy-making within multiparty constitutions. Myriad disputes potentially arise in the life of the party. Prior to 2008, two Kenyan statutory bodies, the Registrar of Societies (RS) and defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) regulated political party operations. This paper examines the judicial review of administrative decisions regarding leadership and nomination disputes in Kenyan political parties. To what extent can aggrieved officials, frustrated voters or unsuccessful aspirants challenge decisions by statutory bodies that wrongly recognize irregular party elections?

This is clearly saying to me that I have no future in mainstream politics.

I would like them to say exactly WHY and exactly which rule of theirs I have infringed.

It seems they are not obliged to give an explanation at all.

If my views are really so obviously transgressive and subversive, I would like to know exactly how and why.   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law

It says in the Conservative Party constitution that is the Party's purpose "to sustain and promote within the Nation the objects and values of the Conservative Party."

What are the objects and values of the Conservative Party?

These have never ever been defined.

Perhaps this is so that it means that in practice the objects and the values of the Conservative Party are whatever the leader says they are.

Is this not a tyrant's charter?  At least you can read the BNP constitution online at http://www.bnp.org.uk/sites/default/files/final_amended_12.3_constitution_19.10.11.pdf, and they do at least state what their objects are, but the Conservative Party constitution is dirty nasty little secret whose only object is to stay in power for the sake of staying in power with no regard for anything else, certainly not the long-term national interest.

The remedy I shall seek is that the Conservative Party be required to give a reason for cancelling my membership

When they give me a reason, it will be shown to be one or some or all of the following:

• the decision-maker does not have power to make that decision, or is using the power they have for an improper purpose;
• the decision is irrational;
• the procedure followed by the decision-maker was unfair or biased;
• the decision was taken in breach of the Human Rights Act; or
• the decision breaches European Community (EC) law.

I expect to get lots of support and to be bankrolled in this legal action I intend to take.

After all, I am not the only one that the Conservative Party has deprived of membership in this way, am I?

At http://www.chinatoday.com/org/cpc/china_communist_party_constitution.htm#1 you will find the rights of members of the Chinese Communist Party defined, online and already in English, for the Chinese are actually rather proud of their party constitution.

Article 4. Party members enjoy the following rights:

1) To attend relevant Party meetings, read relevant Party documents, and benefit from the Party's education and training.

2) To participate in the discussion of questions concerning the Party's policies at Party meetings and in Party newspapers and journals.

3) To make suggestions and proposals regarding the work of the Party.

4) To make well-grounded criticism of any Party organization or member at Party meetings, to present information or charges against any Party organization or member concerning violations of discipline or the law to the Party in a responsible way, to demand disciplinary measures against such a member, or call for dismissal or replacement of any incompetent cadre.

5) To participate in voting and elections and to stand for election.

6) To attend, with the right of self-defense, discussions held by Party organizations to decide on disciplinary measures to be taken against themselves or to appraise their work and behavior; other Party members may also bear witness or argue on their behalf.

7) In case of disagreement with a Party resolution or policy, to make reservations and present their views to Party organizations at higher levels even up to the Central Committee, provided that they resolutely carry out the resolution or policy while it is in force.

8) To put forward any request, appeal, or complaint to higher Party organizations even up to the Central Committee and ask the organizations concerned for a responsible reply.

No Party organization, up to and including the Central Committee, has the right to deprive any Party member of the above-mentioned rights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China


Current members of the Conservative Party (including members of the Cabinet) should know that the average member of the Chinese Communist Party has more rights than they.

There is apparently no right for a member to hear any accusation made against him or her.

His or her membership can be cancelled at any time at the absolute discretion of the Party for management and administrative reasons.

At the absolution discretion of a corrupt party machine, any citizen can be excluded from meaningful political participation, apparently.  

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That is why the Sixth Amendment is so important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

But the Sixth Amendment does not apply to Britain.

Do you think that it is right that anyone who wishes to participate in politics could have his or her right to participate in politics in a meaningful sense taken away without explanation or appeal?

What other party can you realistically join once you have been expelled from the Conservative Party?

Well, there is always UKIP and BNP, who will never amount to anything.

Perhaps it is understandable then why so many Conservatives are so contemptible and cowardly. Once they realise exactly how things are stacked against them, they just keep their head down, try to hang on to whatever position they  have in the party and try not to say anything controversial, ever.

Is this quite how politicians are supposed to behave?  I thought the point of them was to serve and represent the people by articulating their views and dealing with their concerns, rather than tell them they must be evil and extremist, racist and fascist for thinking and feeling as they do.

I know that I am not the only victim of   Part IV 17.7 of the corrupt constitution of the Conservative Party who are in effect able to end your political career without warning or explanation.

You are led into thinking, if you choose not to give up politics altogether, that something may yet be achieved by having a kind of political half life going from one Eurosceptic party to another. Of course, nothing is to be achieved by joining those despised pariah parties.

It would be quicker and cleaner to be taken out and shot and have the cost of the bullet charged to your family. Then we would all know where we stand.

HOW TO MAKE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONSERVATIVE
http://thevoiceofreason-ann.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/how-to-make-conservative-party.html

What I hope to achieve for social conservatives by applying for judicial review of the Conservative Party's decision to cancel my membership without giving a reason
http://thevoiceofreason-ann.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/what-i-hope-to-achieve-for-social.html

My open letters to the Conservative Party
http://thevoiceofreason-ann.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-open-letter-to-conservative-party.html