Your basic point - that political parties should be allowed to pick and choose members based on political belief - is obviously correct. But that’s exactly what the Ali decision in relation to the Green Party found: being removed from a political party for holding beliefs not in keeping with its ethos is not a detriment for the purposes of EqA.
Hi Gabriel! I agree the Ali decision is indeed in keeping in general with my point—but there it was largely concerned with him being removed as spokesman (where there’s less ambiguity since employment as opposed to being a rank-and-file member is a clearer scenario). So I pointed to it merely as a harbinger of future litigation, since a rank and file member might have a different result. I was pleased the Ali decision did highlight that the GPEW itself has arts 10 & 11 rights. We’ll have to see to what extent other courts/tribunals go with it
Your basic point - that political parties should be allowed to pick and choose members based on political belief - is obviously correct. But that’s exactly what the Ali decision in relation to the Green Party found: being removed from a political party for holding beliefs not in keeping with its ethos is not a detriment for the purposes of EqA.
ReplyDeleteHi Gabriel! I agree the Ali decision is indeed in keeping in general with my point—but there it was largely concerned with him being removed as spokesman (where there’s less ambiguity since employment as opposed to being a rank-and-file member is a clearer scenario). So I pointed to it merely as a harbinger of future litigation, since a rank and file member might have a different result. I was pleased the Ali decision did highlight that the GPEW itself has arts 10 & 11 rights. We’ll have to see to what extent other courts/tribunals go with it
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