Ekua Bayunu

Four Green Party Councillors have launched a crowdfunder to make a libel claim against a Labour Councillor in Birmingham. All four of the Councillors were formerly in the Labour Party.

The legal claim follows an article published in Bright Green on August 12 which covered the increasing number of Councillors who have defected to the Green Party of England and Wales – including from Labour. Following publication of the article, Jack Deakin – a Labour Councillor in Birmingham – quoted tweeted it, saying, “The Green Party – proud to host your antisemites for you. Put that on a billboard, bab.”

Manchester Councillor Ekua Bayunu, Wirral Councillor Jo Bird, Lancaster Councillor Kevin Frea and Peterborough Councillor Heather Skibsted were all named in the article, and have since launched the crowdfunder. At the time of writing, the group has raised over £2,900.

The four Councillors have said in their crowdfunder,

We have learned from many people’s bitter experience, that to take no effective challenge to smears increases the risk of further libel and damage – no matter how vexatious or evidence-free the allegations are. Such allegations undermine all forms of anti-racism and could be damaging for many elected Green Party representatives and members. We want to nip this in the bud and send a clear message to everyone that [antisemitism] is a serious form of racism and casually throwing around unfounded allegations undermines the real struggles by Jewish people and their allies to fight real cases of antisemitism.

Bright Green approached Jack Deakin for comment on August 27. We had not received a reply at the time of publication.

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