Evidence 19 unlisted - Minutes: WGPC Telephone Conference, 23rd May 2013

Item 19 evidence not on CS list

23.5.13


Minutes: WGPC Telephone Conference, 23rd May 2013





Present:          John Matthews, Pippa Bartolotti, Paul Atkins, Chris Simpson, Ann Were
                        Dorothy Wilson, Jane Cooke, Chris Were, Owen Clarke
Apologies:      John Evans, Trish Evans, Max Wallis
Introduction
            The telephone conference was called at short notice to discuss the situation which had arisen regarding the dissemination of internal WGPC e-mails to non-members of the Green Party, and subsequent damage caused to the party by this and related matters on social media and within the print media.
Background information and assumptions
1)     Anne Greagsby has been forwarding e-mails after deleting the e-mail address of the person who sent them to her from the forwarded e-mail.
2)     Max Wallis has been receiving these e-mails in his capacity as an elected member of WGPC – campaigns coordinator. (He has already been suspended from his post as newsletter editor.)
3)     Max Wallis and Anne Greagsby are partners living in the same house.
4)     We are acting on the assumption that Max Wallis has forwarded WGPC e-mails to Anne Greagsby.
5)     Max Wallis has not admitted to sending internal e-mails to Ann Greagsby. The General Secretary alleged that Max Wallis also pointed out that it is not written down anywhere that e-mails are confidential. We note that he has a long history of political activism in both FOE Cymru and the Communist Party – he knows what is confidential and what should remain internal to party members.
6)     There is also a general obligation on all party members not to bring the Green Party into disrepute.
Decisions taken
1)     Wales Green Party Council voted unanimously to suspend Max Wallis from his elected post of Campaigns Coordinator with immediate effect. (The justification for this is our assumption that he forwarded internal e-mails to a non-member, the fact that is had caused problems in the selection of a Euro list and the fact that so much activist time is having to be diverted to dealing with these problems – especially coming after the newsletter editor fiasco.)
2)     Wales Green Party Council voted unanimously to remove Max Wallis from all internal WGPC e-mail traffic with immediate effect.
3)     Ann Were will write to Max Wallis informing him of these decisions. She will send the letter by e-mail (requesting electronic receipt) and via the post.
4)     Ann Were will send out a short members’ newsletter by e-mail informing all members of the facts leading up to the suspension of Max Wallis from his two WGPC positions. She will also include a warning about the fact that ex-members of the party may contact party members and try to turn them against the Green Party.
Post-script

a)    Pippa Bartolotti informed Council members that she had started the procedure to have Max Wallis expelled from the Green Party.

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