• I WAS disappointed to read the misleading item, (People power, November 29), referring to the meeting held at St Pancras church to discuss and vote on the question of delegate representation in the Labour Party.

In the interests of accuracy I should like to point out that the local Labour Party has not “split itself in two”, nor was the meeting “rancorous”.

On the contrary it was held in good spirit with members listening to one another respectfully. The meeting voted by a strong majority to retain the delegate structure of choosing candidates to sit on the general council of the constituency party.

The delegate system is not “Leninist” as you chose to call it, but is a democratic system. Delegates are elected at branch meetings where a one-person-one-vote system operates.

Having been chosen in this way, the delegate has a responsibility to reflect the views of their branch at general council meetings, and to report back to the branch.

The alternative, whereby any party member could turn up and vote at the general council is an anarchistic system, since in that situation no member has any responsibility to anyone except themselves as they have no mandate from their branch. This would not be a genuinely representative form of so-called “people power”.

I should further point out that this was precisely the proposal thought up by the NEC of the Labour Party, which insisted that all branches and constituencies vote on it and it was therefore the NEC that was acting in a top-down and hierarchical manner.

Finally, to set the “politicians” against the “people” is dangerous and divisive, enlarging the disconnect that unfortunately exists, but which is due to years of damaging government policies rather than decision-making structures.

ELIZABETH WILSON
Address supplied