Labour’s annual conference has long been a machine operation designed to showcase the Leader’s speech and to suppress any serious discussion of other controversial matters (and the Tory party conference is, if anything, even more orchestrated). It is done to convey a contented and anodyne impression for the television cameras, and the result is of […]
Posts Tagged ‘Labour Democracy’
Bring back democracy to Labour’s conference and discipline corrupt party officials
Sep 27th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.
The party, not its leader, must settle Labour’s future
Aug 8th, 2013 by Keith Ewing.So Ed Miliband is to have his Clause 4 moment. Last month’s announcement by the Labour leader of a special conference in the Spring to endorse Lord Collins’ as yet unwritten proposals to rewrite the Labour party constitution is a further provocation of the affiliated trade unions, which demands a strong response. The announcement compounds […]
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Campaign to defend the Labour Party-Trade Union link
Aug 7th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The Labour Party is calling on its members to let its leaders know by Friday 13 September what they think about Ed Miliband’s proposals on “building a better Labour Party, so we can build a better Britain.” Tell us how you’d build a better Labour Party – a party that is rooted in the hopes of the […]
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Policy making: tangled up in blue (Labour)
Jun 24th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.On Friday, Angela Eagle claimed that “the way that we make policy in the Labour Party is changing“. But for delegates to Labour’s national policy forum in Birmingham this weekend, the jury is out on whether the times they are a-changing, or the policy process just ain’t going nowhere. Certainly, Angela’s words are carefully chosen. […]
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Do Labour whips really want to run its conference too?
May 16th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The election for the two constituency party representatives on Labour’s conference arrangements committee (CAC) is hotting up. After the local elections, the two candidates backed by the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance Katy Clark MP and Pete Willsman began campaigning in earnest. Katy has been MP for North Ayrshire and Arran since 2005 and Pete is […]
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Why are the most powerful Labour politicians also the least accountable?
Jan 18th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Directly elected Mayors in England are, without doubt, the most powerful English politicians around, with the exception of the Prime Minister. They have unparalleled executive powers, sufficient powers of patronage to ensure they are untroubled by dissenters in their own parties, and the comfort of knowing that it requires a two-thirds majority to overturn their […]
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The Wilderness Years
Oct 13th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.If you haven’t seen The Wilderness Years, a BBC series of four hour-long documentaries broadcast in 1995, it’s well worth watching – and you can by following the links below. Documenting the period of Labour’s history from losing the 1979 election to the election of Blair as Labour’s Leader, it relies entirely on archive footage […]
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Labour needs to offer a bold alternative
Sep 30th, 2012 by Andy Newman.The briefing meeting by the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) was very well attended this morning, with around 200 people crammed into a basement bar, just a few hundred yards outside the entrance of the Party conference in Manchester. Keynote speeches were given by Jon Trickett and Michael Meacher, as well as Ken Livingstone, Ann […]
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Party fixing: we’ve had enough HP sauce
Jul 2nd, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Sighs of relief (as well as the odd celebration) spread this weekend amongst Labour activists following the announcement of the departure of one of Labour headquarter’s most notorious “fixers” during the New Labour years. It comes as no surprise that Hilary Perrin (HP), the London Regional Director, is to leave the party staff as she […]
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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 […]
