Vindicated at last: Green Party dismisses complaint against me

Last week the Green Party Disciplinary Committee (DC) dismissed a complaint made by a party member against me over two years ago, which had put me on a ‘no-fault suspension’ (NFS), as described in my earlier blog: roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/Cancel-culture-Green-Party.html

A DC panel of four members heard my case on 12 April and notified me a week later that they had dismissed all the counts of the complaint against me, which included allegations of transphobia and anti-Semitism. As I said at my hearing, it would be nonsensical for the party to find someone guilty of transphobia, let alone anti-Semitism, when the party has not adopted a clear definition of what either of these terms mean.

The complainant was a member of the Green LGBTQ+ group. They was granted anonymity by DC because they alleged that they was so traumatised by my conduct that they could not reveal their name. But I found out who it was last year when, due to a bureaucratic bungle, DC sent me an email intended for 'Joe'. I now know he is a Green Councillor and that I have never met him or heard of him before. Still, Joe demanded a no-fault suspension because of the alleged risk I posed to them or the party – they never said which – and demanded that I be expelled. Joe was invited to attend the hearing (and appear anonymously) but they did not bother to turn up. 

It was a frivolous and vexatious complaint. That could have been spotted from day one, back in February 2021, by anyone with a common-sense approach to triaging complaints. It should have been thrown out there and then because there was no case to answer. But the Green Party Representative Council (GPRC) and DC played along with the complainant’s narrative at every stage. 

Firstly, they put me on NFS, which is a draconian punishment that turns on its head the principle that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. It is no doubt a well-intentioned measure that has its place in extreme cases where an accused member poses such a risk to the party's reputation that the only remedy is to keep them out of the way until the Disciplinary Committee can deal with the complaint: it’s a bit like remanding a defendant in custody instead of granting them bail. It is open to abuse.

Secondly, they never gave me a chance to put my case until the hearing on 12 April. Maybe the reason for this is, as alleged in a new blog called The Green Light, that gender identity ideologists have taken control of the party’s key committees including GPRC and DC. For more, see thegreenlight.blog/2023/04/20/transactivists-take-control-of-the-disciplinary-committee