The announcement by the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove Council, Warren Morgan that he may ban future Labour Party conferences from the city following what has been described as an anti-semitic comment in a public meeting held in a private building (the Friends Meeting House) and according to Warren Morgan, another anti-semitic comment made on the floor of the conference hall (which belongs to the City Council)  raises all sorts of issues that appear to go much further than the impact of that one meeting and one speech. The reason why Warren Morgan is in a position to write to the Labour Party as he did is because he is a Councillor and because his Political affiliations to the Labour Party and his popularity as a Councillor mean that the Labour Councillors voted for him to lead the Party. Each of these Councillors was elected because of who they were and/or their political affiliations. In his public letter he stated

“I hope that you and the entire Labour team in Brighton and Hove are enjoying your stay and that the facilities offered by the Brighton Centre are everything that you would expect from us. As a city we very much appreciate the business that conference brings to our hotels, restaurants and shops. I am, however, very concerned at the anti-semitism being aired publicly in fringe meetings and on the floor of conference.” after referring to his concern for a sense of fear amongst the Jewish community and an internal party matter he goes on “As the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, I will undoubtedly face questions as to why we allow any event where anti-semitic views are freely expressed to happen in the city, particularly on council premises. As a Labour Party member I expect the inquiry announced today to take firm action. As leader I will need reassurances that there will be no repeat of the behaviour and actions we have seen this week before any further bookings from the party are taken.”

This appears to suggest that Warren Morgan in his role as leader of the Council has the  authority to determine which bookings are taken for the Brighton Centre and presumably for the Friends Centre too even though it is an Independent charity. This seems very counter to the way in which one would expect a democratic City Council to be run. The challenge in our modern society is that any group can choose to hold public events on the streets of the city, even though the private land and property which belongs to the Council or other organisations does require permission to be used. Groups that hold widely understood views with racist undertones are as free to do this as groups that are much more consistent with the views of city residents. Whilst the Labour Party is undergoing a great deal of internal deliberations about the views of certain members and indeed the culture of the party itself, this is a long way from the position of groups that have regularly marched on our Streets. If Warren is as disturbed as his letter suggests, he could of course apply the same attitude to his own party membership. Whilst Warren Morgan leaving the Labour Party would have an impact in the short term on the City Council, it is not doubt the case that a new leadership would be formed. However as matters stand Warren appears to be making a statement that at best appears to be one that has more to do with posturing than with real leadership. In any event if there have been cases of racism or anti-semitism these can be dealt with by the law which is perhaps a place for Cllr Morgan to put some of his efforts.