The political perils of blogs and email

I have not blogged much about local Labour Party matters for the past couple of weeks.

And I won’t now.

I just want to reflect on my experience of saying something online, which I said in good faith, but which turned out to have been ill advised and to have done harm to the wider cause and movement of which I was a part.

I apologised promptly for my actions and offered those to whom I was accountable the opportunity to hold me to account (and to replace me had they wished to do so).

It had all begun with the massive public sector pensions strike on 30 November 2011 – or rather in the small hours of the following morning.

Having played a leading role locally within Lambeth in the most successful strike action I can remember I decided to send an email message to trade union members thanking them for their support for the action.

Because I knew that the email would also be received by the minority of members who had not observed the strike call (and because I knew that those who had most actively supported the strike action were very angry with those colleagues who had not), I addressed a few choice remarks to that minority.

I did not actually “publish” my message to members beyond the circulation of an email, but someone who took umbrage at my remarks passed them to the media – leading to predictable coverage in (among others) “the Sun” and “the Daily Mail”. (I won’t link to them but I imagine they are still out there in cyberspace).

I could have responded to the momentary notoriety of having been described as a “trade union bully boy” in the national press by defending and standing by my remarks. I could have made a principled stand, defending myself with reference to my own track record and the history of our movement – but to have done so would have been divisive and harmful to the wider interests of the trade union at the time.

So, I apologised and promptly withdrew my remarks. I cooperated fully with investigations into my actions (which led to no action being taken against me) and I repeated my apology to the next branch Annual General Meeting a couple of months later, at which I was subsequently re-elected unopposed.

The ease of electronic communication (and of online publication for those of us who are bloggers) makes it easier than ever for an ill-judged remark to travel the world swiftly – and in so doing possibly to bring into disrepute a trade union (or a political party).

My understanding of how easily this can happen predisposes me to sympathy for the author of such a remark – if they subsequently and promptly show contrition and humility and put the interests of the wider movement of which they are a part ahead of their own feelings and personal reputation.