is vulnerable to exploitation by any such group – just now it is the trans rights lobby, but it could have been a pro-Brexit group, or a pro-nuclear group; anything. One solution to this problem might be to raise the quorum for conferences to a higher percentage of the total membership; there could be campaigns at the local branch level to encourage more members to engage in the democratic process….
As a result of all of this, I am going on strike. Not just me: the officers of the Bridgwater and West Somerset branch, along with those active members with whom we work closely on a day-to-day basis, are going on strike. Our acting Secretary, Tony Seaman, has this morning taken the further step of resigning altogether from the Green Party. We are not willing to represent the Green Party in its current dysfunctional state; nor are we willing to ask others to stand as candidates or to take part in election campaigning for the Green Party. This strike will last until, as a minimum requirement, Emma Bateman's suspension is lifted.
With all good wishes to all of you
Caitlin Collins
Co-ordinator, Bridgwater and West Somerset Green Party
My only argument would be with the contention that any single-issue group could have captured the party, which I doubt. I'd guess that there's quite a reasonable level of support for the trans activists within the party rank and file. This, after all, is widely seen as the next great progressive movement in our liberation from all manner of unpleasantnesses like racism and homophobia, and is particularly in vogue, I'd imagine, amongst the ranks of the young middle class idealists who form the backbone of the party. Luckily, though, there are those, like the esteemed Bridgwater & West Somerset branch here, who see through it all.
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