National
Executive Committee, 19 July 2005
Ian
McCartney congratulated Angela Eagle MP on her election to
the NEC and welcomed the return of Pete Willsman, replacing
Ruth Turner who now works in Number 10. He expressed
condolences to all those affected by the 7 July bombs.
These were echoed by Tony Blair who said that despite the
dominating global headlines, Labour must not lose sight of
the domestic agenda. In addition the party had to re-energise
and renew itself to sustain the government over the long
term. I asked about reports that energy-saving targets for
homes were being delayed or dropped, and he promised to look
into them. [I have now been assured that they are false.]
He also addressed concerns including Post Office
liberalisation, low levels of electoral registration, and
copyright laws, whereby Cliff Richard and the Rolling Stones
only receive 50 years’ protection compared with 70 years in
the rest of Europe. He was praised for bringing the
Olympics to London, taking a positive lead in Britain’s
presidency of the European Union and, with minor dissent,
for tackling climate change and Africa at the G8 summit.
Under Fire
But the
recent attack was on everyone’s mind. There were questions
about how far official Muslim leaders represented their
community, whether the voices of women and young people were
heard, and if it made sense to refer to “the Muslim
community” as a single entity at all. John Holmes argued
that problems in schools were not confined to one religion,
with some academies teaching creationism as science. Tony
Blair said this was not true, and he did not accept the
parallel between Christianity and Islam. Some suggested
that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq had aimed to end
oppression and injustice in Muslim countries, and this
should be better appreciated. Members supported the search
for political consensus but pointed out that while the
LibDems courted Muslim votes at the general election, they
opposed laws on inciting racial hatred and refused to ban
BNP marches. Dennis Skinner warned against letting other
parties gain any credit and urged Tony Blair not to kowtow
to religious fundamentalists, and others highlighted
alienation and insecurity in deprived communities.
Christine
Shawcroft drew attention to the warnings of the joint
intelligence committee that invading Iraq would heighten the
threat from Al-Qaeda, and the recent Chatham House report
that closeness to US foreign policy has borne this out.
Tony Blair rejected this as dangerous talk, playing into the
terrorists’ own twisted logic and allowing them to claim
justification for their acts. Western policy made no
difference to their goal of an Islamic super-state based on
sharia law, and they were killing their own people for
trying to establish democracy. Their evil ideology, no more
part of genuine Islam than the Spanish inquisition
represented Christianity, had to be tackled head-on, rooted
out and defeated. All of us must defend politics as the
only legitimate way to bring about change.
Back to
Brighton
Against
this background the police briefing on security at annual
conference received close attention. General secretary Matt
Carter is arranging better disabled access through the fence
rather than over the bridge, and has made representations
about the price of refreshments. There will be more women on
the platform. After last year’s complaints the NEC will be
placed in a more prominent position and as our seats will be
in camera shot, he hoped that we would be in the hall. (And
awake.) Late accreditation will only be provided for
emergencies, and the NEC voted by 14 votes to 9 to finish at
Thursday lunchtime. Christine, Pete and I supported the full
day because fringe meetings have been booked and
salami-slicing could lead to further cuts, but others argued
that there was little new policy to discuss, and delegates
needed to leave at midday to get home.
I asked for
more publicity for the policy seminars and for earlier
dispatch of papers. Christine queried the conduct of some
regional briefings, where constituency delegates were told
to vote for the same resolutions as the unions rather than
choose their own topics, and Mike Griffiths agreed with her
that all candidates standing for election to committees
should get equal opportunities to address these meetings.
And while various groups on the left are circulating draft
contemporary motions, Downing Street is promoting texts
which welcome the government’s work on pensions, choice in
schools, and changes to incapacity benefit. I look forward
to reading them.
Partnership
Revisited
Ian
McCartney reported on the national policy forum meeting on
16 July. After nearly three hours of platform speeches,
Hamish Sandison and Lord Falconer introduced a discussion
paper on Lords reform, available on request, which sets out
the parameters for debate and hopefully decision. Draft
policy statements will go to conference setting out what the
government has done and what is in progress, with
suggestions for local campaigning, for instance tackling
fly-tipping, working with anti-poverty groups, and educating
members and the public about the benefits of academy
schools.
I will
circulate a summary of the Partnership in Power review in a
separate mail. One representative said that only two out of
44 constituencies in his region had responded, which may
show either total contentment or total disengagement. In
particular the recommendation that constituencies could send
amendments to the final Warwick-stage meeting of the
national policy forum has attracted little enthusiasm,
despite being intended to empower them. Many of this year’s
rule changes from constituencies propose alternatives, such
as submitting amendments direct to conference, and referring
back parts of papers. The NEC would like these withdrawn in
favour of whatever the review produces, because the work of
the forum would be undermined if all-night negotiations
could be undone on the conference floor, though if
conference is indeed sovereign, it must in the last resort
have such a right. However, contemporary motions seem safe,
and were described as a way of letting off steam without
wrecking the system. There will also be a 21st
Century Party report to conference.
Most other
constituency amendments were opposed. These included
letting councillors pay membership by cheque; weakening the
women’s quota for conference delegates; increasing the
number of constituency members on the NEC to eight; and
allowing anyone recommended by a constituency onto the
national parliamentary panel. However the NEC supported the
Labour Party Disabled Members Group’s amendment which adds a
disability officer for constituencies. The NEC’s own
amendments include my proposal that candidates for internal
party committees should not have to be conference delegates,
a restriction which prevented some men from ever standing.
Elections
Past and Future
The results
of the elections in Cheadle and South Staffordshire were
noted, though Labour had not realistically expected to win
either. The timetable for selecting parliamentary
candidates for the next election is complicated by boundary
changes and the Euro-elections in 2009, but has taken on
board members’ desire to get candidates in place as soon as
possible. The parliamentary panel will be open, so that
candidates can be interviewed by the NEC after selection.
The aim is to attain at least 40% women MPs, but details of
positive action and other procedures are still to be
debated. Fallout from Blaenau Gwent rumbles on, and Matt
Carter will meet officers of Islwyn, where the disputes
panel endorsed the expulsion of a member for her letter to
the press. Although Christine, Pete and Dennis Skinner
raised concerns, the panel has delegated powers and the NEC
cannot overturn its decisions.
Matt Carter
updated the NEC on staffing and finance. Though membership
fell from 214,592 to 201,374 by the end of 2004, the rate of
decline has slowed. In 2005 between 200 and 400 members
joined each week, with a maximum of 1200. Rumours about
selling Old Queen Street are unfounded, but the party
retains a lease on 39 Victoria Street and the NEC voted by
15 in favour (including myself), one against and two
abstentions to support Matt’s proposal to move all the staff
into Victoria Street while seeking professional advice on
long- term plans. In less than five years on the NEC I’ve
been through three general secretaries, three party
chairmen, and three different buildings (or five if you
count the northern outposts), and all these changes must
waste money.
Finally
Diana Holland highlighted the TGWU contract cleaners in the
House of Commons, paid £5 an hour with twelve days’ annual
leave and no sick pay, who are striking to improve their
conditions. We should be ashamed of such practices at the
heart of our democracy, and give them our support.
Questions
and comments are welcome, and I am happy for this to be
circulated to members as a personal account, not an official
record. Past reports are available at
http://www.annblack.com