Three hours before the deadline for General Election nominations on June 7th, 2024, I resigned as a Labour councillor and as Chair of the Bromsgrove Labour Party. I stood as an independent parliamentary candidate, secured 1561 votes, while Labour lost by 3016 votes to the Conservatives. I have since joined the Lib Dems as I explain below, and we are now the main opposition on Bromsgrove District Council.
Why did I leave the Labour Party and stand against its official candidate? I had poured my heart and soul into leading the Labour Party in Bromsgrove, transforming it from a gathering that struggled to reach quorum (with fewer than five attendees in 2021) to a team of eight dedicated councillors within three years. Throughout my tenure as a councillor, I earned the respect and trust of all political parties in Bromsgrove, culminating in a unanimous vote to chair the council for a second term in May 2024, just before the General Election was called.
The decision to resign from Labour weighed on me heavily, but the Party had behaved in a very undemocratic way, and after deep reflection, I knew I had to leave. The local party had been trying to appoint me as its candidate for some time and had been pressing the National Executive Committee (NEC) for action. But on 24 May, it received an email from HQ announcing that Neena Gill, a former MEP, was to be the candidate. I received a phone call the following day from a member of the NEC from which I gathered that I had failed the “due diligence test”. When I pressed for the report, they told me it might be shared after the elections, but not before. I saw this as an affront to the democratic process that denied me the opportunity to understand the basis of their rejection. I submitted a data access request after the General Election, but I was not allowed to see it.
During my time as a councillor, I had focussed very much on local issues but, following Israel’s war on Gaza, I started to post and write about Palestine, including the ICJ ruling, and my father’s harrowing story of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem in the Nakba of 1948. It became clear to me in the days after the nomination fiasco that this is what had upset people in the higher echelons of Labour who are/were keen to suppress pro-Palestinian voices and who were probably uncomfortable to discover that my father was Palestinian.
Initially, local councillors tried to persuade Gill to step aside and called on the Party to reconsider its decision. But then, twenty-four hours before my resignation, all councillors but two were photographed championing the parachuted candidate.
After a period of reflection and serving as an independent councillor, I accepted an invitation to join the Liberal Democrats. This decision was rooted in my respect for the local councillors and for the Party leadership. The Lib Dems then carried out their own due diligence on me and found no reason at all to deny me membership and I have been warmly welcomed into the local party.
To me, being British and Palestinian feels accepted in the Liberal Democrats, as shown by Layla Moran. It is quite telling there is not a single Labour MP of Palestinian heritage.
I joined the Liberal Democrats, because I see it as embodying what Labour cannot offer – a principled and consistent foreign policy position that centres human rights and isn’t bogged down by the trials and tribulations of Labour’s internal divisions. But really, I shouldn’t have been too surprised. This is what Labour does, time and time again. From Wilson and Callaghan’s Kenya immigration policies in the 1960s to Iraq and Afghanistan under Tony Blair and his consistent tolerance of Israel’s periodic attacks on Gaza, Labour’s moral compass is consistently cast aside when crossing the threshold of Number 10, replaced by a crushing and cynical Realpolitik. This tolerance of Israeli atrocities has been maintained under the Starmer government, even though they have got far worse.
This is best embodied by a piece Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote ahead of the election, in which he coined a new term as a governing principle of Labour’s foreign policy approach: “Progressive realism” advocates using realist means to pursue progressive ends. For the British government, that requires tough-minded honesty about the United Kingdom, the balance of power, and the state of the world.” In truth, it would have saved everyone a bit of time to just say Realpolitik.
Looking away from Labour now, and instead looking at the Lib Dems, there is one key takeaway message from my story. And that is the opportunity presented to us. We can’t let that slip through our fingers, because there are so many people like me who could be persuaded to become Lib Dem members and activists. So many who abhor the toleration of ongoing Israeli war crimes by Labour. So many who are looking for a real and vibrant alternative.
We must be bold, we cannot be defined by what we are not, but rather what we are – a party that has liberty at the heart of its essence, not just for people in Britain, but for people around the world, wherever they face persecution. This is the message that should continue to drive the Lib Dem foreign policy approach. We just have to be brave enough to keep shouting it, and many more like me will follow.
* Sam Ammar is a Lib Dem member in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and Chair of Bromsgrove District Council
12 Comments
An interesting story, thanks for sharing. And welcome to the LibDems. I made a very similar journey from Labour some years ago, although with different motivations (and in my case, via a flirtation with the Conservatives, at a time before the Tories had gone completely insane 🙂 ). Meanwhile, Labour seem to have gone from the insanity of Corbynista politics to playing so safe under Starmer that they have basically reduced Government to, not doing anything to rock any boats – including on the Palestine issue that seems to be what ultimately drove you out. And unfortunately if you’re not prepared to be a bit radical and rock a few boats, you’re probably not going to be able to make the country significantly better. I also agree with you that the Government’s (and Labour’s) lack of support for the Palestinians is appalling.
The Labour organisation does have an unpleasant tradition of trying to suppress dissent. I imagine the original reasons for that are somewhat legitimate – dating back to attempts by the far left to take over Labour during the 1980s, but the response over time has really gone too far. It’s just not on if you’re preventing members and councillors express completely legitimate concerns and disagreements with what the leadership are doing.
I hope you are able to fit in better in the LibDems, and work within the party to make the UK and the World a better place.
Well done Sam; not only for standing up for yourself and for principles in trying to fight such an undemocratic action, but also in taking the leap of faith and joining the Lib Dems. As someone who has also come to the Lib Dems from another party, having the courage to make the move can be tough, but I’m glad to see you’ve been welcomed so warmly.
Look forward to you becoming the second MP of Palestinian descent.
Welcome to the Lib Dems, Sam – and this is a really important, timely piece. I do hope you feed into the members’ survey and make the same points in your comments there. It’s crucial that we shout out about our values as a party – no-one will do it for us.
Welcome to the party Sam!
Like you I spent a lot of years in the Labour party (local council candidate 1987,88 and 89, trade union delegate to GC for more years than I care to count, EC member etc) prior to switching my support to the Lib Dems in 2010.
The trigger for me was Labour councillors who I knew personally and had campaigned for lie to me in attempt to cover up their inaction on issues I had raised relating to my role as a family carer.
I have found the Liberal family more welcoming than I ever found Labour and I hope you will too.
The government has already started to fail badly given us real potential to make gains by winning over progressive voters to our cause.
I am quietly confident regarding our future!
When Israel unexpectedly singled out Ireland’s criticisms of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians by closing its embassy in Dublin this week, Simon Harris, the Irish Taoiseach utterly” rejected Israel’s foreign minister Saar’s baseless claim that Ireland was “anti-Israel” and pointing out that Ireland favoured a two-state solution.
As Mohammed bin Salman put it in a conversation in January with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaked to The Atlantic: “Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do.”
But the second of these two illuminating sentences is rather the point. For publics, not only in the Arab world but across much of the West, the stain left by Israel’s destruction of Gaza, let alone its de facto annexation of the West Bank, is unlikely to be removed any time soon. This cannot benefit Israel’s long-term reputation.
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/netanyahu-rarely-looked-stronger-middle-east-weaker-home-3444685
At present, as a party the Liberal Democrats have it relatively easy when it comes to taking certain policy positions. That is because at present we are well away from the risk of having a Liberal Democrat Prime Minister. That means Ed Davey is free to say what he really thinks! For example about Donald Trump.
When we do get closer to real national power, things will become much harder.
We saw this with the Labour Government’s recent decision to block some relatively unimportant arms sales to Israel, while doing nothing to block the sale of F35 spare parts, since doing so would have provoked an almighty row not just with Israel but also with the USA.
The word “Realpolitik” is often used pejoratively, as in the article above. However it means no more than taking all the implications of a country’s actions into account, and weighing up the pros and cons, which include the positive and negative consequences for the UK, be they diplomatic, economic, or military.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and welcome to the Lib Dem’s. We have had strong policies on Palestine for many years- including the immediate recognition of a Palestinian State, & more recently calling for an arms embargo to Israel since the terrible destruction & death toll in Gaza. I think @MohammedAmin would do well to read how successive British PMs (including Thatcher) have indeed risked an ‘almighty row’ with Isreal & the US in upholding international law, & banned arms sales & export licences to Israel in previous conflicts. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-prime-ministers-who-have-restricted-arms-sales-israel
@mohammed amin Yvette Cooper would agree with you – I heard her say in an interview recently that arms sales were a matter of foreign policy as much as international law. Using foreign policy as an excuse for breaking international law is anathema to Lib Dems. During the coalition government Vince, Ed and our cabinet ministers persuaded even David Cameron to have stricter arms controls on Israel when it was attacking Gaza. The present government’s policy would be welcome in the Conservative Party, is very unpopular in Labour, and not something we should entertain at all.
Thank you for all the kind words of encouragement.
I look forward to my journey with the Lib Dems. I am feeding into the ethnic minority survey and election reflection.
Israel has asked the world to pay attention after October the 7th ofcourse the Palestine struggle against colonialism has been going on since the 1940s. When the world payed attention- they didn’t like what the see. They saw what those who have travelled to the West Bank saw. A brutal control and occupation of a people based on ethnic heritage.
We can debate Zionism, but to Palestinians it’s the harboring of the ideology that rips them away from their homeland. Zionism is not a religious movement but a secular one. There are Muslim Zionists just as there are anti-Zionist Jews.
Salman as the comment above, doesn’t care, but he’s not the one doing the killing.
It’s important we understand who is killing and who is giving them the weapons. We have to look at Britain. My business means I travel to the ME. People are clear about who is doing the killing and who is giving the weapons, hence the closure of many American and British chains from the boycott.
Lastly, yes it took a woman to stand up to the USA and Israel – Thatcher placed an embargo for almost her full term. Nothing bad happened to her or the conservatives!
I don’t agree @mohamad but defeatism is normally understood when you look at minorities in Britain. They face so much hassle, it’s easy to resign and say, nothing ever changes!
If I thought that I would save myself the hassle of running for one election to the next, I believe surrounded with good, talented people, change is enviable.
@ Sam,
Thanks for telling of your experience.
All very believable unfortunately! Just a couple of years or so ago, when I was last a LP member, it was very difficult to even get the issue of Israel/Palestine on the agenda for discussion at branch meetings. No-one who had any ambition to progress in the party wanted to say anything at all on the subject. “Loose talk costs careers” was what I was advised afterwards, and off the record.
My own MP is one. She has plenty to say on her FB page about all kinds of trivialities such as, for example, her penchant for Raspberry croissants! She manages to find something to say most days but she’s never once had even a single word to say about the events in Israel/Palestine!
@ Simon,
“lack of support for the Palestinians is appalling.”
Except from those (ex?) Labour Party members who you have Just labelled “insane”, perhaps?
I sincerely hope Sam has been attracted to the Liberal Democrats over a whole range of issues. It is lovely to hear what David Warren says about the welcome he received when joining from another party (judging from his contributions to LDV that welcome was richly deserved) but we are not perfect in that regard.
The term “parachuted in” is in the eye of the beholder isn’t it? Sometimes an outsider can bring in a new perspective.