The distinguished Labour Peer and former Government whip, the Lord Stoddart of Swindon, has been expelled from the Labour Party in a letter from the Chief Whip timed to arrive just before Christmas.
Lord Stoddart has issued the following statement in response:
"Having been suspended from the Labour Whip in the House of Lords since July 2001, I was informed by a letter from the Government Chief Whip - received on Christmas Eve - that the Labour Whip has now been withdrawn from me permanently, following my expulsion from the Labour Party.
"The reason given for my expulsion is my publicly voiced objection to the imposition of Mr Shaun Woodward, the Tory defector, on the St. Helen's South Constituency at the last general election. I also wrote a letter of support to Mr Neil Thompson, who resigned from the Labour Party to stand as a candidate against Mr. Woodward. I included a modest donation to his election expenses. I have not, to date, received the letter from Mr David Triesman, referred to in the Chief Whip's letter (see below).
"Whilst this is an unpleasant end to my fifty four years membership of the Labour Party, I have to say that I have become increasingly critical of the Labour Government and felt obliged to vote against them no fewer than eighteen times in the last session of the last parliament, so my regret at my expulsion is tempered by the knowledge that the present Labour Party is not the one I originally joined and certainly would not join as a new member, at present.
"I shall not be joining another political party and shall sit in the House of Lords as an Independent Labour peer.
The Lord Stoddart of Swindon was the MP for Swindon 1970 -1983 and a Government Whip in the Wilson and Callaghan Governments of the 1970's. He was Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and a Labour Councillor for eighteen years including serving as leader of Reading Council
TEXT OF LETTER FROM THE GOVERNMENT CHIEF WHIP RECEIVED ON CHRISTMAS EVE:
From the Government Chief Whip, House of Lords
To: Lord Stoddart of Swindon
18th December 2001 (received 24.12.01)
Dear David
I have now received a copy of the letter from David Triesman to you dated 22nd November 2001. This confirms that you are no longer a member of the Labour Party. This means that you have been automatically removed from the Labour Whip and, as you know, this can only be sent to members of the Party.
You will appreciate, I am sure, that I have no option in the matter.
You occupy a desk in a room allocated to Labour Peers and I shall be grateful, therefore, if you would arrange to move from that room.
On a purely personal level, may I say that I am sorry to have to write this letter.
I am copying this letter to Jean Corston, Chair of the PLP and Alf Dubs, Chair of the Labour Peers Group.
Yours sincerely
Denis Carter