The move has been branded "deeply disappointing", "designed to silence critics of Labour's direction under Starmer", and "a complete affront to the most basic principles of democracy"
Young Labour has had its Twitter account “restricted until further notice” by the Labour Party. Young Labour is the official youth section of the party, representing members under the age of 27.
A statement from the Young Labour Twitter account read, “We regret to inform you that access to the @YoungLabourUK Twitter account has been restricted until further notice. As an official channel for the Youth Wing of the Labour Party, we expect certain standards of behaviour from those with responsibility for this page’s output. In particular, it has become apparent that the account has recently become actively detrimental to the Party’s core objectives: to promote Labour candidates and policies, and to win elections.”
No similar posts have been made on other Young Labour social media channels at the time of publication.
Young Labour’s Chair Jess Barnard has since issued a statement, expressing that Young Labour is ‘deeply disappointed’ by the move. The statement read, “We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the Labour Party to block our social media access without any prior warning or discussion with the committee. The Young Labour committee was democratically elected by young members on a platform of socialism and autonomy has fought to uphold those values throughout.
“We have tried to work with the Party at every stage and our efforts repeatedly rebuked [sic]. We are hoping to resolve this issue immediately and are seeking dialogue with the party. It is important that young members are not bullied into silence and we will continue to push for a democratic and autonomous Young Labour”.
The move to restrict the Twitter account comes after Young Labour issued a statement on the Labour Party’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that read, “especially concerned in this instance to see Keir Starmer pushing not only for further engagement with NATO, but celebrating it while attacking Stop The War and other pro-peace activists”. Young Labour also condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – stating, “Young Labour condemns Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The actions of Russia, the use of force and the contravention of international law is utterly reprehensible.”
Restricting Young Labour’s Twitter account has been widely condemned by groups and prominent figures within the Labour Party. Labour for a Green New Deal called the decision “anti-democratic and shameful”. Journalist Owen Jones accused Labour of “silencing” the party’s youth wing and described this as “a complete affront to the most basic principles of democracy. According to reports in LabourList, Momentum has said restricting the Young Labour account was “a blatantly factional move designed to silence critics of Labour’s direction under Starmer”. And Paul Mason – who backed Keir Starmer in the 2019 leadership election – branded it “daft”.
Not all in the Labour Party have criticised the move, however. Labour MP for Exeter Ben Bradshaw tweeted that it was “great news”.
Left Foot Forward contacted the Labour Party for comment on this story. They declined to comment beyond the statements made from the Young Labour Twitter account.
Following the news that Young Labour’s Twitter account had been restricted, The Mirror reported that the youth wing will be having its funding from the Labour Party cut and its annual conference scrapped.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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