National
Executive Committee, 20 September 2006
The Chair
Jeremy Beecham welcomed members back after a long hot
summer, politically and financially as well as literally.
Most of the blame for infighting was laid at the door of
ministers and senior MPs, echoing my feedback from ordinary
members as well as that from the majority of hardworking
backbenchers. Tony Blair agreed this had been damaging, but
there was still time to put it right, and the morning’s
political cabinet had shown an encouraging desire for
unity. There were no ideological divides such as the Tory
splits over Europe, though some pointed out that personality
clashes were more difficult to handle than policy
differences. He said we had to decide whether we wanted to
stay in power, or whether government was just too difficult
and we were tired of it.
Dealing
with the culprits was also discussed. The parliamentary
Labour party (PLP) recently agreed new standing orders
allowing it to suspend MPs, and chief whip Jacqui Smith
summarised her approach. She had received many complaints
about unacceptable behaviour, but individual contact and
advice was often preferable to public penalties which could
reopen wounds. The NEC agreed that providing platforms for
airing grievances was unhelpful and extended the same
principles to Clare Short, who will be referred to the
backbenchers’ parliamentary committee of the PLP.
There were
concerns that campaigning for the leadership and deputy
leadership was already underway, and I asked for the
mechanics to be clarified. Unlike local government and
parliamentary selections there is no six-month freeze date
before people can vote, so it is an excellent opportunity to
recruit new and lapsed members, including many of the
229,000 currently registered Labour supporters, up from
145,000 in June. This would also help to pay for the
ballot. John Prescott promised to bring the procedural
issues to the NEC in early November.
Looking
Outward
The NEC was
unhappy about Tony Blair’s announcement of ministerial
working groups to develop future policies, seen as removing
the figleaf of respectability from the Partnership in Power
process. Tony Blair and others said that ministers had
always developed policy, for instance in the run-up to the
comprehensive spending reviews, and stressed that their
deliberations would feed into the policy commissions. Since
the recent problems started at the top, this was a way to
bind the government together, and he hoped his legacy would
include a united party and a fourth term.
His
over-riding message was that we must not forget the public.
Although NEC members regretted the constant linking of
terrorism, crime, immigration and asylum, these were what
worried voters most. Identity cards were important
strategically in convincing them that Labour would enforce
rules and fairness. The government must demonstrate strong
leadership and big solutions to the big problems which
affected people’s lives, while Cameron’s Tories were fickle
and could not be trusted with power. A 10% increase in
public investment was truly progressive, and though health
service reform was hard, the prize was a maximum 18 weeks
between doctor’s surgery and operating theatre, with waiting
lists ended, and replaced by booked appointments.
Trade union
representatives asked again for paid bank holidays,
protection for agency workers, and ending the two-tier
workforce. Members facing redundancies, financial
mismanagement or privatisation needed convincing of the many
good things the government had done, with half the 144
commitments from the Warwick national policy forum in 2004
already implemented. Pete Willsman quoted polls showing
that only one in 100 voters thought that British foreign
policy had made us safer, with 76% believing the opposite,
but Tony Blair said that polls should not dictate decisions.
However he was praised for his stand on Darfur, and said
that if this was not happening in Africa, the world would
have acted by now. Views on restricting free movement from
Bulgaria and Romania when they join the European Union had
changed after ten times the predicted numbers of eastern
Europeans chose to come here, as such large- scale shifts
had to be managed carefully to maintain social cohesion. And
when a member pointed out that problems with drink and drugs
could affect children of stable two-parent families as well,
he promised that he was not stigmatising all single mothers
as drug addicts and prostitutes, but only providing extra
support where it was needed.
Gary Titley
MEP reported that the 27 Tory MEPs – only one of whom is a
woman - were blocking action against domestic violence and
female genital mutilation. A successful workshop in
Brussels brought together MEPs and Muslims from across
Europe to discuss living together in the post-9/11 world.
Looking at our sister parties, in Hungary he thought the
real issue was not the taped private conversations, but a
right-wing opposition cleverly manoeuvring against decisions
needed to deal with harsh economic realities. In Sweden, a
strong economy had not proved enough to defeat the
“time-for-a-change” mood, and a remodelled opposition with a
youthful image, cloaked in apparent moderation and promising
only modest tax cuts while preserving the popular social
model . . .
Finance
Parts I and II
The NEC
discussed a draft submission to the Hayden Phillips enquiry
on party funding. Plans for all-year caps on expenditure,
greater transparency and modest extension of state funding
are retained, and there are interesting details of shady
Tory-backing organisations. On donations there would be no
one-size-fits-all limit, and instead each party would be
free to develop its own policy, to be notified to the
Electoral Commission. This would accommodate the Tories
with their relatively rich individual members, as well as
Labour, with millions of affiliated trade unionists paying
an average of 8p a week through the political levy and
participating in the party’s democratic processes.
Charitable status or tax-deductible contributions were
rejected. Above all, members were anxious that
respectability should be restored to belonging to, working
for, or contributing to, political parties. The paper would
go on to conference, though Peter Watt emphasised that it
did not constitute party policy and we could not reject
Hayden Phillips’ eventual conclusions if they fell short of
what we wanted.
Later Peter
gave the NEC a full account of the past and current
financial position, followed by brief reports from heads of
departments. The necessary staff reductions had been almost
achieved through voluntary means, the core functions of
campaigning and infrastructure were protected, and there was
every hope of delivering more for less and emerging leaner
and fitter. While high-value donations would still be much
appreciated and needed, day-to-day running costs should be
met out of reliable and predictable income from individual
members, union affiliations and commercial activities. The
NEC agreed that spring conference was not essential, with
some suggestions for demerging the local government and
women’s elements, and that resources would be better put
into local forums involving the wider membership than into
overnight national policy forum meetings. I emphasised that
constituency parties faced their own problems with falling
membership and income, and paying fixed charges for
electoral register downloads and insurance. In conclusion
the NEC unanimously thanked Peter Watt and his colleagues
for an enormous amount of work and worry. He could be
forgiven for starting to feel that “There are two things
that are important in politics, the first is money, and I
can’t remember what the second one is.” (Marcus Hanna, US
Republican fundraiser, 1895).
Forward to
Conference
Hopefully
next week will remind us that money is only the means to an
end, and show members and voters that Labour has got its act
together and deserves their support. Manchester is a new
venue, and a powerful symbol of regeneration. Star guests
would include Bob Geldof, Bill Clinton and the mayor of Los
Angeles, though rumours about Ian Paisley were neither
confirmed nor denied. Jeremy Beecham asked that speakers
who reply to debates should actually reply to points made in
debates. He will be aided by vice-chair Mike Griffiths and
assistant chairs Louise Baldock, Norma Stephenson, Dianne
Hayter and Gary Titley, with a supporting role for Mohammed
Azam. I voiced regret that the only two constituency
representatives to increase their vote in the recent NEC
elections – Christine Shawcroft and Pete Willsman – are
still barred from speaking for the NEC, though the damage
they could do in three minutes at the rostrum is surely
negligible compared to more elevated comrades. I believe
that conference will show a more united party than the press
expect and our enemies hope, but inclusiveness and respect
for members’ democratic choice could and should have been
complete.
Questions
and comments are welcome, and I am happy for this to be
circulated to members – and supporters - as a personal
account, not an official record.