Labour’s HQ is taking an extremely heavy-handed approach to Parliamentary selections by ruling out perfectly acceptable candidates on increasingly spurious grounds. Factionalism is one thing. Vice-like control that subverts democracy and denies any diversity is another.

This must stop. If it doesn’t Labour will become a narrow clique with no authentic claim or ability to build the new democratic and political settlement our country desperately needs.

Co-sign the open letter, support us in calling for General Secretary David Evans to stop this short-sighted and destructive political control and instead build a diverse and plural party that can beat the Tories and transform our country.

Neal Lawson

Director, Compass