Letter from the past to Sian Berry

In October 2018, a much loved and highly respected senior member of the Green Party  wrote a letter to the then co-leaders Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley where she expressed her deep concern about intimidation and a bullying culture developing in the party. Not  afraid to speak truth to power, she added “ and the role that you appear to be playing by feeding that culture”.

Recalling an incident at the Autum conference of that year where members had been named-called and suspended from the party for expressing their opinion about women’s rights and where the police had been called to disperse a peaceful green feminist  protest  ( rumour has it that the call was made by Sian Berry herself ), the letter writer warned the co-leaders that such behaviour was  feeding into a damaging and illiberal message “that does not fit easily with Green Party values and ethics”.

Warning that party policy “ transwomen are women and transmen are men …”  was deeply offensive to 1000s of women in the party, she asked Sian Berry, Jonathan Bartley and deputy leader Amelia Womack to avoid actively promoting such policy. She warned that it had become the “ focus of huge disquiet both within the party and outside “.

Five years later, and as the leadership team has deliberately chosen to ignore her wise words, the level of intimidation, bullying and harassment towards green party women – and a few men – has been allowed to fester so badly that the party is not only more divided than ever, but also facing a number of costly legal challenges for alleged sex discrimination and victimisation.

The end of her letter – which could just as well be addressed to our existing co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay – reads:  “ Whereas I am in no doubt that the party, and society as a whole, needs time and space to debate the issue in a fair, co-operative and respectful way, what is happening at the moment is none of these things “ and pleaded : “ Your roles will be vital in ensuring we can work our way out of this awful confusing mess “.