Jon Cruddas harvesting Compass e-mails – that’s not what Compass is for
I received an e-mail yesterday from a Slovene friend based in Brussels, wondering why he had suddenly started to receive campaign updates from Labour Deputy Leadership candidate Jon Cruddas. The e-mail address now on Cruddas’s list was subscribed to no other centre-left UK politics list other than the Compass Newsletter.
The relationship between Cruddas and Compass has grown ever closer, but the point of Compass – so I thought – was to work for the democratisation of the Labour Party and push a particular policy line within Labour. That’s why I joined it. The reason it exists should not be as a front for Cruddas’s campaign and using e-mail addresses from people who thought they were just supporting Compass would really not be acceptable.
Thanks for the explanation. Backing Benn is also now covering this…
Still doesn’t explain how I started to get Cruddas e-mails a few weeks earlier, but that’s another story.
Hi Jon, in response to your latest blog.
As subscribers to the Compass e-bulletin will have seen and as you point out, Compass has asked the Jon Cruddas campaign to keep people informed about his latest news and events, following Compass members’ endorsement of him. Compass as an organisation democratically decided to back Jon Cruddas for deputy leader of the Labour Party, so it is right, and our members would expect, that the organisaiton does what it can to support him. As a member you and others got given a vote in that ballot.
However an email message was supposed to have been sent out from Compass before the one on Friday sent from Jon, giving Compass email list subscribers the option not to receive these messages, however this did not happen due to a mistake with the email list. Subject to people not opting out, our list will then have got these emails only for a couple months until the end of the campaign (expected in June). So Compass apologise for this mistake and that the proper process wasn’t followed. Compass email subscribers can however unsubscribe at any time by clicking here: http://action.joncruddas.org.uk/unsubscribe. They will be explained this in an email message to be sent out later this week. Only a very few complained and I have written to them personally with an explanation.
I think given the importance of the leadership elections and given most people are likely to want as much information as possible as to why Jon is standing, to find out about his activities and position on things, we believe that the vast majority of the email list will be very interested to receive updates from Jon for the duration of the campaign. This is certainly in line with feedback that we have had from Compass members and supporters alike.
As well as our support for Jon Cruddas, Compass will continue to promote an open and inclusive debate about the ideas and action needed for a better world, at what is a very important time. We will soon launch a major policy consultation amongst our members on what policies they’d like to see a new leader puruse.
I hope you’ll continue to play your full part in this important debate as the Labour Party and wider progressive movement decide on which direction to take next.
Kind regards
Gavin Hayes
General Secretary