Jennifer James vs Labour Party

[Maskless]

I made a substantial donation to the fundraiser Jennifer James started, and for about 2 years received many updates on the progress of her case.

Her solicitors, she said, had served papers on the Labour Party.

Then, suddenly, nothing. Now the links are dead.

I know she used to post on these boards.

Anyone know what happened to the - was it £35,000 - that she raised from us, and what was the result of the case, please?

I did a search in advanced search and found this thread.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4037308-That-All-Women-Shortlist-case

Here's a post by me from the thread! Nov 2020.
"There was a new update on the challenge to the Labour party to keep all women shortlists female only.

They have been refused permission for judicial review. The reason given seems to be (from what I can tell from the update) that the Labour party has said they are not subject to judicial review because they are not a public body.
Plus an administrative cockup in that the court received this response from the labour party some months ago, but the claimant did not received the response.
But in the update JJ says she won't give up."

I have heard anything about it since. I think it was pretty clear it should have been an obvious non starter from the beginning.

JJ"s updates had got quite erratic (if I remember correctly). There was also some talk to misuse of funds - I think it was about logistics for her bills rather than actually misusing the funds. She got a lot of flack and apologised for it.

I do not put my head above the parapet much and am very grateful to those who do - even if it goes nowhere.

I contributed too and have always wondered what happened. It hasn't put me off donating but it leaves a bad taste.

I donated too. She blocked me on twitter after I asked which newspaper other than the Morning Star she'd be willing to give an interview to.

Thanks for the responses.

So, it was refused and never went to court. So where is the money?

She promised to exhibit the legal bills to prove where the money was spent.

Has she pocketed the money we gave her, then?

This case didn't work out. But I think it was still important - this is the first case I was aware that was crowdfunder in this area - for me this case is what really kicked off the idea that women could organise and crowdfund legal cases that could actually do something.

She promised to exhibit the legal bills to prove where the money was spent

I'm pretty sure I have seen these posted, not sure if on her own site if she has one, or on the crowdfunder. I don't think there was a lot left over.

I found this. Crowdfunder closed the fund, leaving JJ with no quick way to update donors....

A bit more digging.

The case was thrown out by a judge almost a year ago.

There was apparently £32,000 in the pot. There's no way the legal costs could have reached anthing like even half that, because it never went to court.

I think this is why you should only give small amounts (£100 max) and if enough of us do it, it still gets somewhere in most cases.
I am incensed that after paying tax, we have to donate to these legal cases to try to roll back a deliberate misinterpretation of existing laws.

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

This case didn't work out. But I think it was still important - this is the first case I was aware that was crowdfunder in this area - for me this case is what really kicked off the idea that women could organise and crowdfund legal cases that could actually do something.

Jennifer James didn't do anything. She occasionally posted on here and was extremely rude to several posters.

The whole premise of her purported action was fundamentally flawed in law from the outset. It also garbled 2 separate issues- James' personal expulsion from the Labour Party and the alleged breaches of women only short lists. Neither are appropriate for judicial review as the Labour Party isn't a public body, but even if they were they are 2 distinct and separate issues.

I'm a bit sceptical that Crowdfunder has apparently just closed the account (and what ? kept all the money???) and that somehow prevents James issuing updates on her own Twitter account.

Those screenshots show that Gofundme closed her account, leaving Jennifer with no way to contact her donors. What a dirty trick. I think some of the other platforms have pulled this kind of stunt against feminists too. So many organisations are in thrall to genderism.

Does anyone know of a feminist fundraising site? Or one that’s dedicated to free speech?

@thinkingaboutLangCleg

Those screenshots show that Gofundme closed her account, leaving Jennifer with no way to contact her donors. What a dirty trick. I think some of the other platforms have pulled this kind of stunt against feminists too. So many organisations are in thrall to genderism.

Does anyone know of a feminist fundraising site? Or one that’s dedicated to free speech?

James is extremely active on Twitter as I'm sure are many of the people who donated. She can easily update her supporters on Twitter about what is happening.

I asked for my money back after I realised how horrendously antisemitic she was.

She did refund me, to be fair

As I understand it gofundme money is available instantly for the person setting up the crowdfunder so the funds were available for James.

This is what gofundme say about closing an account.

support.gofundme.com/hc/en-gb/articles/203604074-Ending-your-fundraiser

There is nothing to prevent James explaining on Twitter what has happened to the money.

Also there's nothing to prevent James coming back on here to post updates; between MN and Twitter I'm sure she would reach the majority of her funders.

I would like to think it has been donated to a similar legal action, plenty to choose from

@catzwhiskas

I would like to think it has been donated to a similar legal action, plenty to choose from

You could ask her via a Twitter post. She is very active on Twitter.

@MorrisZapp

I donated too. She blocked me on twitter after I asked which newspaper other than the Morning Star she'd be willing to give an interview to.

Didn't she say something like "We don't deal with fascists" as an explanation as to why she wouldn't talk to The Times?

I don't get her, she's a raging Corbynista and far leftist, despite the shitty way they have acted and treated her and other women.