I spell it Labor, you spell it Labour, let's call the whole coup off

July 16, 2016 12:16 PM

I am an American who supports Jeremy Corbyn. Is there anything I can do from the U.S. that would be meaningful or effective in helping him retain his leadership of the Labour Party? (e.g., am I allowed to contribute money to Momentum? Can I write letters protesting the NEC’s disenfranchisement of new party members in the upcoming election?) What about when I visit the UK in late August?
posted by anonymous to Law & Government (5 answers total)

Mod note: One comment deleted; let's take it as read that some people will want to say "don't do this", and anon can consider that, but let's stick to answering the question as asked.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:35 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

One thing that night be worth doing is checking times when the local labour MP of wherever you're going is holding a surgery, these are public meetings where you wait in line to meet personally with her or him. It would allow you the best and clearest opportunity to say what you think and be more likely to be communicated to other MPs.
posted by parmanparman at 1:08 PM on July 16, 2016

it looks like you could donate under 500 GBP here although according to PPERA2000 it would be illegal.
posted by andrewcooke at 1:18 PM on July 16, 2016

Don't bother donating until after Corbyn wins again. The reason for this whole thing is pretty complicated but it is all about money. A group of labour donors have stopped funding the party proper and instead dropping little bags of cash on MPs willing to say things in the Commons our on the record about Jeremy Corbyn. The party only has twenty or so MPs who are making money off these donors, and the other 80 wanted in on these £10,000 bonanzas. The donors gave £200,000 to Tom Watson just weeks ago. But they really want to fund the party proper with a leader who will take their money without questioning their agenda. So the Parliamentary Labour Party is raising the stakes in the hopes that Mr. Corbyn loses, then they get all that sweet cash. Writing a cheque to the Labour party now is a risky bet.
posted by parmanparman at 1:58 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

You can certainly write letters - I've gotten much more responsive replies from UK officials (including the royal family) than from my congressman, leading me to believe that they at the very least have more diligent interns. Also they use much higher quality letterhead.

I strongly suggest you refrain from doing things that fall on the "publicity stunt" side of the line, though. Plenty of my Ohio neighbors are still angry about that "call people in an American swing state because this election is that important" thing, even though it's been quite a few years and I've never met anyone who was directly contacted by someone in that campaign. I imagine that British voters are at least as susceptible to the "screw you" reflex as midwestern American voters are. Basically: send letters to officials, not individuals.
posted by SMPA at 7:16 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]