What makes a good policy process? A process that produces good policies, of course. Policies that are radical, innovative, resonate with our target voters and are up to dealing with the problems Labour will inherit. And Ed Miliband promised, through Refounding Labour, to give it to us – “to draw on the whole of our [...]
Posts Tagged ‘NPF’
Ed has one chance left to breathe life into the party’s policy process
Apr 4th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.
The People’s Policy Forum: a different sort of politics? Only if the people engage…
Mar 27th, 2013 by Mick Archer.Mick Archer was at the People’s Policy Forum in Birmingham last Saturday. “This is the time, this is the day we’ve been waiting for…” The chorus of Shine by Shannon Noll fades and Ed Miliband strides confidently on to the stage. Around him sit 1,000 people who have braved snow and sub-zero temperatures to hear [...]
Opening up Labour’s policy process
Nov 26th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.On the face of it, Labour’s new all-singing all-dancing policy process is open for business. We’re pleased but it’s got a long way to go before we’ll see if it will make a difference. Will policy-making really become less top down? Will party members, constituency parties, and affiliates really have some influence or will the [...]
The state of party conference: fixing, stage management and interior decoration
Oct 9th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Labour conference last week was as frustrating as ever. Stage management is thriving: new decor, billowing flags, ever changing sofa arrangements. Orchestrated panel discussions on the sofa and lectures from American philosophers still take precedence over delegates. Much effort is still made to control what gets onto the agenda, and who gets to speak. It [...]
Ed fails to deliver on his promise of empowering members
Sep 26th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.At Labour’s national executive yesterday, Ed Miliband failed to deliver on his leadership campaign promise to give members more say in policy making. The final package of Refounding Labour measures they have agreed is shrouded in the language of empowering members, as were those introduced by Tony Blair in 1997 and Gordon Brown in 2007. The reality, [...]
A glimmer of reason in Labour’s policy on Trident?
Sep 19th, 2012 by Kate Hudson.Questioning Trident has been a big taboo in Labour Party policy circles for a couple of decades or so. Every other commitment seems to have been reviewed except the ‘need’ for a nuclear ‘deterrent’. The reluctance to question this particular piece of weaponry was beginning to seem irrational. So it’s good to see from Jon [...]
Labour’s policy statements published in secret, members’ opinions suppressed
Sep 18th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.The posting, sometime in the past couple of weeks, of the national policy forum annual report on membersnet, Labour members’ private intranet, reveals that little has yet changed in the way Labour makes its policy since the bad old days of New Labour. No press release, no email to members, no reason why anyone would [...]
Labour’s National Policy Forum: slight shift to Left
Jun 20th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.In the contest for places on the Labour’s national policy forum, there was a slight shift to the left, a net gain of one place. The Left did especially well in Yorkshire, gaining two places, plus one each in London, the East of England and the South West, plus an additional councillor. However, three places [...]
National policy forum representatives report stimulation, optimism and bonhomie
Jun 20th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.The National Policy Forum met at Aston University last weekend, 16/7 June 2012. Here some of those present describe the highlights for them. For all of them, it was the last meeting in this term of office (and in most cases, they were still waiting to hear whether they have been re-elected). It has also [...]
National policy forum – at last, things are getting better
Jun 19th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Early reports from the National Policy Forum meeting in Birmingham at the weekend are encouraging not only about the review of policy itself, but also about the reform of the process. We shall bring you fuller reports by tomorrow, but in the meantime there seem to be grounds for thinking things are really getting better. [...]
