The Labour Party have announced that Karie Murphy and Steve Deans, the two individuals suspended after the Falkirk selection row, have been exonerated of any wrongdoing and reinstated. A Labour party spokesman said that no rules had been breached by organisations or individuals. This is despite Ed Miliband declaring Falkirk was an example of a "politics of the machine" that is "rightly hated" for confirming "people’s worst suspicions". He claimed he would "build a better Labour Party" and Labour even referred the matter to the police.
Ed Miliband has some questions to answer over this because after reading the Falkirk report, which still hasn't been published, Ed Miliband said events in Falkirk "have betrayed the values of our party" if this is the case why have to people in question been cleared? Why if there was no evidence of wrong doing were the police called in? Why did Deputy Leader Harriet Harman on the Andrew Marr show say that the Falkirk selection was a "one off" problem if there was no wrongdoing or rule breaking?
Just days ago the Unite Union threatened to boycott the Labour party conference unless the two figures were reinstated and the GMB union announced that they would be slashing their funding to Labour, calling into question Labour’s motives for reinstating these individuals. A Labour spokesman said that evidence had been "withdrawn".
Lib Dem sources are saying its a "stitch up" union threats. Channel 4 news' Michael Crick tweeted that "Falkirk Labour source claims witnesses to wrongdoing were persuaded to withdraw their evidence under pressure". Also Michael Crick tweeted that a "Senior Labour source in Falkirk says Miliband "hasn't a backbone" and did U-turn "purely on the basis that the GMB took their funding away"
The Conservative Party Co-Chair Grant Shapps in a statement said: "It’s clearer than ever that Len McCluskey is calling the shots in the Labour Party. If Ed Miliband is too weak to stand up to his union paymasters how can he stand up for hardworking people? Ed Miliband must now stop dithering, come clean and publish Labour's report into the Falkirk selection in full."
In a statement Karie Murphy said she had been left "shocked and saddened" by the affair and had always acted in the interests of the (Labour) party. But she said her continued presence in the Falkirk contest would "detract" from the work of selecting a good candidate and was withdrawing from the race for the Falkirk candidacy for the sake of "reconciliation and unity".
