West Ham Votes for Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson

A little late but last Thursday West Ham CLP narrowly nominated, Jeremy Corbyn, as Labour leader ahead of Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper. Tom Watson, was nominated as Deputy leader beating Caroline Flint, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle and Ben Bradshaw. Local boy Unmesh Desai was also comfortably nominated as the City & East GLA candidate ahead of Murad Qureshi, Howard Dawber, Abdal Ullah, Ashton McGregor & Feryal Demirci.

It was one of the largest West Ham meetings (122 members) I have attended and took place in the Vicarage Lane Community centre in my ward. All members were invited to give speeches and make nominations. I think probably a fifth of those present spoke including young and new members. The speeches were often quite passionate and waiting for the results was tense and rather exciting.  Everyone behaved themselves (even Red Tel) and  I think we did our CLP proud.

As a Party member I nominated Andy Burnham for leader and spoke in favour of Stella Creasy for Deputy. As a UNISON delegate I nominated Murad Qureshi for the GLA seat who has the support of Greater London UNISON.

Afterwards there was food and the traditional Labour Party raffle. When everything was cleared up a few die-hards went down to the Black Lion to further analyse in detail the results and debate the merits (or otherwise) of candidates.

UNISON Selection of Labour's Leader and Deputy Leader Candidates

This survey below has gone out to all UNISON members in Greater London region who pay a voluntary affiliation levy to the Labour Party.  We did a similar survey for the London Mayoral candidate and got an excellent response.

I hope to be able to attend the UNISON National Labour Link leadership nomination meeting as a re-elected NEC Member (NEC will elect the same day - fingers crossed). It will be good to get the views of London on who we should nominate. I will also consult with my branch and Community Service Group colleagues. 


APF MEMBERS
 
 Dear UNISON Member,

Selection of Labour's Leader and Deputy Leader Candidates - UNISON Members Canvassing Survey

Following the recent General Election and the resignation of Ed Miliband the process is now underway to elect a new Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.  UNISON is eligible to make a nomination and is seeking your views so these can be considered by the National Labour Link Committee when they meet next week.  All members are encouraged to participate and have their say. 

We would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to answer a very quick survey (there are only 3 questions and it should take just a moment). Just click here to start: (Survey Monkey link on email only).    The survey will close on 12 noon on Tuesday 28 July.

The four candidates standing for Labour Leader are Andy Burham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corby and Liz Kendall.  In accordance with the agreed process UNISON London Region encourages you to support candidates who have shown a commitment to UNISON values by joining our union.  These are:

"         BURNHAM, Andy
"         COOPER, Yvette
"         CORBYN, Jeremy 

The five candidates standing for Deputy Labour Leader are Ben Bradshaw, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle, Caroline Flint and Tom Watson.  In accordance with the agreed process UNISON London Region encourages you to support candidates who have shown a commitment to UNISON values by joining our union.  This is:

"         EAGLE Angela 

To view opening and closing statements from the candidates at a hustings event at UNISON's National Labour Link Forum please go to
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/labour-contenders-make-their-pitch-to-unison-members

The responses of the survey will be forwarded to the National Labour Link Committee who will make the nomination. 

Unison Labour Link 2015: Day 1. "...We will never walk away from the Labour Party"

The UNISON political fund representing members who have decided to affiliate to the Labour Party began its Annual Forum this morning in Manchester.

The forum was opened by Dave Prentis who promised delegates that as long as he is General Secretary, unison will never walk away from the Labour Party. The unions formed the Labour Party and we need the Party to make a fairer society.

Following the defeat in May and the Party leadership elections it was decided to cancel the usual workshops and hold hustings of leadership candidates at Forum.

The four candidates for leadership were given 4 minutes to speak, then there was a Q&A and finally they were given 2 minutes each to make a closing speech.

Andy Burnham was first and he stood on his past record, opposition to Tory welfare cuts and new anti trade unions laws.  Labour will be more diverse and look, sound and be different if he is the Labour leader.

Next was Liz Kendall who thanked Unison for all the help we gave during the general election and especially for the ethical charter for social care. She made it clear that the Party must elect the best candidate to become a Prime minster.

Former NUPE union official Jeremy Corbyn wanted the Labour Party to be and act differently and challenge the government over austerity.  You cannot cut your way to prosperity.

At noon the hustings stopped for a minutes silence in memory of the victims of the massacre in Tunisia, at least 3 of whom are Unison members.

Final speaker was Yvette Copper who started by stating that "opposition sucks" and described herself as the granddaughter of a miner, daughter of a trade union official and a working Mum.

Following lunch the deputy leadership hustings began. The format was the same as before.

Stella Creasy was first and she told us how proud she had been to work with Unison in successfully challenging loan sharks and support of a living wage.  She wants the Labour Party to be a movement and not a machine.

Former union official, Angela Eagle, argued she loves the Labour Party and that the Party and the trade unions are two sides of the same coin.  If elected she will be a members' deputy and will put you first.

Dave Anderson MP stood in and gave a speech on behalf of Tom Watson, who was attending a memorial service for victims of Tunisia in his consistency. It was Labours fault they lost the election since they lost trust with voters. He would restore it.

Ben Bradshaw wanted to mend not break the link with unions and the Party. He is not from the right nor the left of the Party but he is loyal and would tell the leader privately if they were wrong and not in a right wing tabloid.

Final candidate was Caroline Flint who gave a very personal account of why she joined the Party as the daughter of 17 year old single parent. The Party is not a pressure group but exists to change society by winning elections.

The National Labour Link Committee will meet on July 29th and make a decision about nominations.

After the hustings the forum started debating motions and passed significant policy on the response to the General Election; the crisis in Scotland; devolved power in England; Labour leadership ballot and the Labour Link & Fighting Austerity.

Forum finished at 5.30pm. The Labour Link Political Reception begins at 7pm. Business resumes at 9.15am tomorrow.

Picture of Leadership candidates with London delegates.

(Update: for a more detailed and thoughtful account of the Leadership husting see http://unisondave.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/uk-labour-leadership.html) 

Labour Promise on GP appointment within 48 hours

I was delivering election leaflets this morning while listening on headphones to Labour Health Shadow Secretary of State , Andy Burnham MP, being interviewed on "Today" (Radio 4) about this new policy.

The Tories got rid of the right to see a GP within 48 hours in 2010. Andy made the common sense argument that the failure to see your GP quickly could mean that by the time your condition is diagnosed it will be more expensive for the NHS to deal with it.

Never mind the distress and discomfort of those waiting for an appointment. Particularly men who tend to wait until the last possible moment before seeking an appointment in the first place. 

I am aware from friends and relatives how difficult it is to see your GP (touch wood I haven't needed to see my GP for a while) and as a Union rep I am in constant contact with members who are off on certificated sickness leave who often have awful problems getting an early appointments to see their GP. The problem has got far worse since 2010.

In the interview Andy was accused of wanting to have national targets imposed on GPs. He made in response the perfectly rational argument that there should be national minimum standards on such vital services. You don't want a "postcode lottery" with primary health care.

To me it is clear that the Tories and their allies believe that the "market always knows best" and they think there is nothing wrong with letting conflicted self-employed GPs decide what local services and standards they should be paid to provide. This is clearly nonsense as anyone who has waited for over a week to see their GP knows all too well.

This is yet another Ed Miliband "clear red water" Labour policy that shows we are different than the Tories. Keep up the good work and more of the same please Ed.

London Labour Health Network Launch - Saving our NHS

On Wednesday evening I was at the launch of the London Labour Health Network at the House of Commons. This is a new Labour campaign group to protect NHS services in London.

London CLPs, MPs, AMs, Councillors with health briefs and affiliates were invited to the launch. I was part of the UNISON delegation.

Linda Perks, Vice Chair of London Labour Party and Regional Secretary for UNISON chaired the event with London Shadow minister, Sadiq Khan MP.

See London Labour Party report here while I tweeted on the event here. 

Sadiq opened the launch stressing the key role that the NHS will play in the elections next year in London and 2015. First speaker was Labour Lord, Phil Hunt who reminded everyone that Tory David Cameron was able to neutralise the issue of the NHS in 2010 due to his promise to keep it safe. He has failed to keep this promise and we must remind voters.

Linda Perks spoke about the NHS being the 2nd most important issue in London next to the cost of living crisis. In order to convince voters we need to make sure that the Party manifesto commits to the fair funding that will be necessary.  The London Labour Party will set up a  network of campaigners on health in London.

Labour Shadow Health Minister, Andy Burnham MP, officially launched the campaign. Andy said that Labour must lead the fight to save the NHS that they made and then saved in the last government.

He told us that we have to inspire people and stop agonising on our record in the last government.  Yes, we made mistakes, such as letting in the market but we should be proud of the NHS in 2010. We need to put people before profit, we need a public health service, we need to bring into the NHS  integrated care. Labour will repeal the Tory Health & Social Care Act. Labour needs to get this  message across to voters on their doorstep.

Andy then spent around 30 minutes in a wide ranging Q&A. I asked at the end that firstly we need to defeat the Tories in elections but also that we need to make the wider political case for publicly provided services and the public sector ethos.  This will stop the drift to the "market knows best" that did take place in the Party in recent years.

Andy broadly agreed and answered by saying he is not neutral over who should be the main provider of NHS services.  He compared the unnecessary privatisation of Royal Mail and the Tories intention to do the same with our NHS. Its time to question the mantra: public bad, private good.

March and Lobby of Tory Conference to Save the #NHS299

We are now on our way home in the London UNISON chartered train. Picture of current, past and future members of UNISON Housing Association branch with the regional banner.

Somebody on the march said that God must be a trade unionist, since it was so dry and sunny in Manchester today!

Police estimate that 50,000 people took part and that it is "one of the largest protests they have ever policed".

It was a largely good natured family event with many protesters bringing their children with them.

We went right around the Tory conference but didn't see much of the Tories. A few shadowy figures peering out of windows in the Midlands Hotel.

Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: "David Cameron needs to be forcefully reminded that he has never been given the public's permission to put the NHS up for sale".

There was probably 50 times more people protesting outside the Tory conference centre than inside supporting them.  I suspect that on the future of the NHS that there is nationally a similar ratio of opposition against the Government.   Who have proved once again - that the NHS is not safe in their hands.

#Lab13 Denis Healey and Stand Up for Labour

By Monday evening I needed a break from conference fringes and bought a ticket to see the "Stand Up for Labour". On the publicity for the show I had noticed that it had a "Denis Healey" billed to appear. I assumed that this was someone impersonating the former Labour Chancellor and deputy leader.

I never expected for a moment to see that it was actually the Denis Healey who was the first act. He read out limericks to the audience.

He was looking a little frail but appeared to be enjoying himself while performing. It was his 96th birthday recently so as he went off the stage all the audience sang "happy birthday to you".

The whole show was great fun and I would recommend Stand Up for Labour.  The show finished off with Andy Burham MP, who told a modified version of the classic joke about a man going into a pub with a parrot on his shoulder. I won't reveal the details in case he wants to use it again.

What Will A Future Labour Government Do With the NHS?

A Debate Held by Newham Compass in association with Newham Fabians (Guest Post)

By Susan Masters (Labour Council Candidate in Newham, Compass Member, Founder Member of Newham Save Our NHS) – twitter @newhamsue

"The night could have been so different.

If Debbie Abrahams – Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andy Burnham - hadn’t been held up, delayed by a crucial lobbying bill vote. If she had kicked off rather than arriving to find the course of debate already charted. If the night’s audience hadn’t been such an articulate, well-informed collection of health campaigners, the discussion might have stayed on brief.

As it was, by the time the evening’s concluding speaker arrived, the penny had dropped: Where the NHS is concerned, the question isn’t what a Labour government might be able to do in 2015 (if elected). The sad reality is that if we don’t fight to preserved our NHS services now, if we don’t share ideas and resources, stand together as unionists, activists and local service users, there will not be an NHS to work with when Ed moves in to number ten.

Set against the background of the Barts Trust’s colossal debts, huge planned cost-savings, on-going staff review and rumoured attacks on local A&E services, Unison Regional organiser Jay Williams kicked off the debate in Debbie’s absence and took us to the very heart of the experience of being an NHS worker in the times of the coalition. Starting with the well-worn current strains on the NHS – an aging, growing population; poor public nutrition and a growth in mental health issues – he charted the way our present government have cast such problems as a crisis in the NHS for which the only remedies are private health insurance and privatisation, where to Jay the problem is largely one of poor management. We heard about workers seeing their jobs rebanded and downgraded, while the pay protection policies designed to slow the impact were whittled away and the lure of comparatively lucrative foreign pay deals brought about a skills drain in areas such as midwifery. 10% of vacant posts are left unfilled with temporary staff covering at far greater cost. We learned of the huge cuts to ambulance services and the failure of the 111NHS number.

To say the picture was bleak would be an understatement and yet Jay’s speech was no study in fatalism and there were plenty of suggestions of ways to fight back. His ideas of lobbying the CCG or contacting union officials at Newham General, might have raised wry smiles among local health campaigners who’ve hit walls down such routes, while his pleas to lobby our council for changes in public policy might have felt somewhat belated when faced with a local authority that’s delivered everything from free school meals to primary school students and free swims for pensioners, to initiatives like ‘Every Child A Sportsperson’. But where one contact, route or idea was deemed unsatisfactory, another was soon on hand.

Hurrying in on the tail end of Jay William’s opener, you had to feel for Debbie Abrahams. I should stress that to have Andy Burnham’s articulate and committed Parliamentary Private Secretary attend at all was a real coup for Newham Compass. Not just because she’s an MP at the very heart of our Shadow health team, but because you can’t argue with the dedication of someone who entered politics not as a career move but as a response to the privatisation she’d witnessed as chair of Rochdale Primary Health Trust – a post she resigned, giving up on a successful career in health, to fight for the core values of the NHS within the Labour Party.

Her description of Labour’s plans was both clear and comprehensive: A commitment to the World Health Organisation’s definition of health as a holistic mix of the physical, mental and social; a desire to repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012, but to avoid further top-down reorganisations in favour of far greater integration coupled with a bigger role for local authorities; public health initiatives to tackle drinking and nutrition, and the abolition of zero hours contracts…All really good stuff (if we can keep the NHS alive long enough!). The only moment of controversy lay in Debbie’s mention of solutions to paying for social care, whether through a Dilnott style cap or a levy on estates – moves questioned by one attendee as an affront to the original notion of the NHS as providing care free at the point of delivery from cradle to grave.

As the evening drew to a close, however, it felt like the real winners were local health campaign group ‘Newham Save Our NHS’, strongly represented at the debate. If you’d like to join them and help defend East London’s Health Services now, do get in touch and check out their website at newhamsaveournhs.weebly.com or attend one of their monthly meetings at the café in Central Park, East Ham.

(hat tip picture Darren Steer @SirSteer)

#TUC13 Congress Fringe "Whole person care - a future for health & social care?

This fringe took place on Monday evening. TUC Assistant General Secretary Paul Nowak chaired. 

Andy Burham MP was running a little late, so UNISON AGS (and former nurse) Karen Jenning started the event.

She said that the problems between Health and Social Care has been going on for decades. She used as an example the age old dispute of who pays for a health or a social services bath for a client.

If the NHS recommend this then it is free, if  it is social services, then this same bath could be means tested!

While she is explaining this, Andy Burnham comes into the meeting. Karen apologies for starting without him and he says "just carry on". Karen says that is okay since, I have just been very horrible about you! (joke)

Andy spoke about the 2009-2012 - 66% rise in the very elderly A&E admittance via ambulance. Hospitals are becoming warehouses for old people. We need instead to invest in preventive care to also save money.  

The Tories are running down the NHS. According to them "GPs are to blame for A&E waits" while all nurses are "uncaring" and hospitals are just "coasting".

The press and Tories criticised the last Labour Government proposal on this issue as the "death tax".  Yet we now have already the dementia tax,  Which is surely worse? Andy also reaffirmed his pledge to abolish the Tory Health and Social Care Bill and that the NHS will be the preferred provider in any future Labour NHS reforms.

Andy made it clear that markets are not the answer in health and social care. The UK is one of the few countries to spend under 10% of GDP on health care because it has such an efficient national service. 

Justin Bowen from the GMB  (another former Tower Hamlets bod) said that Andy's comments was music to his ears. The problem however is money. Health and social care reforms will not be totally cost neutral. It will cost more. The crisis in social care now is all about money.

Andy countered by saying that there will be huge savings by bring together health and social care but also provided people knew what they would get, they would be willing to pay more for quality services.  

My question to Andy and the panel was about the present decimation of wages in the social care sector (I mentioned the disgrace at the "charity" Future Directions which he was well aware of)  and what are we going to do about future pay in the voluntary care sector?  Much of which is minimum wage.

I think it is fair to say that Andy was very supportive about the need to have decent pay in our sector but he and Labour are not yet in power.  So, roll on 2015.  

Lab12: Last post from Peoples Party Conference

Once again I ran out of time during the 2012 Labour Party Conference to write posts on the last two days. So here is a quick summary of some of the highlights during the last few days of Conference.

Clockwise. Due to disorganisation and meanness I stayed in a hotel in Rushholme which had the worse reviews on Booking.com that I have ever seen. It wasn't that bad but one of the things that kept me fairly sane during Conference was a morning run around the fantastic City green lung Platt Fields Park (the Peoples Park).

Picture of Peoples Republic Newham Crew (and guests) in Midland Hotel bar stairs. Below Gerry Sutcliffe MP, speaking at the EU fringe for Azerbaijan (UK is the biggest investor) ; Ed Balls MP speaking to UNISON reception at the "Peoples History Museum". Ed admitted that he would have lost his seat at the last General election if not for the help of UNISON - "no doubt" and he pledged to never ignore anything that UNISON said but we would not always agree.

Then a very good and sharp fringe on ending poverty by Webb Memorial Trust (lost notes), another on pension auto enrollment with Labour Shadow minster Gregg McClymont sponsored by the Peoples Pension (lost notes); then picture of UNISON reception with Andy Burham MP and Rachel Reeves MP and final centre picture of the great leader with UNISON delegates Mike and Mandy. What a great natural relaxed smile Ed? We never knew!

Roll on Brighton 2013.

UNISON Labour Link Forum 2012: Day 1

Picture is of Andy Burnham MP, Shadow Health Secretary and key note speaker at today's UNISON Labour Link Forum which this year
takes place in Cardiff.

Labour Link is the UNISON political fund that is affiliated to the Labour Party. Delegates to the Forum are elected regionally and from our self-organised groups. The Forum began with a welcome from National Chair, Steve Warwick, who was the first to make the point about how good it was to be in a Country with a Labour Government. This was followed by motions on "Constitutional Change" and "The Welsh Approach".

Andy gave a short speech followed by a Q&A. He repeated his promise to appeal the Coalition Health and Social Care bill if a Labour government is elected in 2015. He warned Forum that we must not fall into the Tory trap and fight amongst ourselves. The Party must stop being dominated by elites and encourage more ordinary working people to become Councillors and MP's.

The next key note speaker was Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister of Wales - Prif Weinidog Cymru .  He was proud that the Party was implementing the Labour manifesto commitment to introduce a living wage for Wales. Carwyn said while it was desperately important to re-elect Labour in 2015, you had to give voters reasons why to vote Labour.

After this was more motions on "Public Sector Pay", "A New Direction for the Labour Party" (my branch and London region motion) and "defending the NHS". There were a number of attacks on the shadow Labour team over its shambolic response to pay and spending cuts. 

After lunch there was an address by Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Williams. He stressed the importance of  UNISON using its political influence alongside its industrial strategy. He also made clear that while UNISON does not mind debate, it will not tolerate attacks by Progress on our link with the Party.  An unaccountable organisation that has secretive funding, its own membership and is even a listed private company!

This was followed by seminars and a Parliamentary Q&A with Lillian Greenwood MP (former UNISON National officer), Dave Anderson MP (former UNISON President) and Derek Vaughan MEP.  Lillian defended Councils from Coalition attempts to blame them for cuts. I liked Dave's comment that Lib Dem MP's shamefaced excuses  for voting with the Coalition was "bo****ks". While Derek pointed out that £50 billion could be raised from a Robin Hood Tax (a Tobin or Financial transaction tax). Make the Banks pay to clear up their mess.

First day finished with more motions on "Universal Credit"; "Trade Union Facility time" and "Justice at Work".

You can follow the Forum on #lablink12

Save Our NHS Rally

Below are the tweets (and retweets) I made at last nights "Save Our NHS" rally at Westminster. It was a really impressive display of the wide breath of opposition to the proposed reforms. The first tweets start on the bottom.

• "Just congratulated Mary Locke (see picture) for making great speech. She is making her way home by train to brum
• Good to see the LRC trots showing their true colours and heckling those who are trying to do something about the bill
• "If I become the next S of S for health I will repeal this Bill" Andy Burnham MP
• Last but not least Andy Burnham MP labour Shadow Sec of State for Health. "No longer one NHS"
• Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, public health physician: The NHS is in danger of becoming nothing but "a logo, a budget & a few quangos"
• "Non cooperation with evil is a duty as much as cooperating with good" MG
• Another public health professional against the bill. Dr Alex Scott-Samuel. "There will be more deaths under this new system".
• So, why are people yelling at an MP who has voted the right way every time?
• RT Lots of heckles for George. Bravo him for not giving up. A Lib Dem that gives a shit is more useful than some1 outside the party

  Dorothy Matebeni President SA nurses union DENOSA Viva NHS Viva!!!!
• "We are being ruled by a Dickensian mob who know the price of everything and the value of nothing." John Ashton

  Andrew George MP liberal democrat "better reception than I get in the Leadership office... NHS more private profit than care
• Prof. John Ashton director of public health and country medical officer, cumbria. Have big society pickle picnic in gate head
• Don't let r NHS slide into a USA model. Video of US health worker talking of their privatised health service. Steel worker union?
• Mary Locke houskeeper in a hospital has adopted over 350 peers to drop the bill. "We don't want spaghetti junction nhs"
• Michael Edwards Barts Unison contracted out patient transfer driver describes the future for many NHS staff if bill goes ahead
• Top unison hospital house keeper Mary Locke tells it as it is!
• Dr Clive Peedell who ran 190 miles to publise Save our NHS. He will be running 42 miles on Friday to Newcastle to lib cons
• epetition is at 170,000 sigs. Please sign the petition: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670 #

  Lyn Ward, occupational therapist from UNISON and @BAOTCOT: The NHS is about teamwork, not competition
• Rehana Azam GMB National officer and head of NHS "if we had the Royal College of Surgeons we would have a full house"
• Why r people heckling speakers who are doing their best to defeat the bill? Hmmm
• Blast from the past. Lord Dr David Owen. "I have never been a Liberal" response to heckle
• David Skidmore Paramedic. People comes before profit. 10 years and I have never been political I have never talked to an audience
• Cecilia Anim clinical nurse. Fight to save r beloved NHS. Kill the bill not the NHS
• Dr Peter Carter GS RCN NHS reform "we will have people competing with each other rather than cooperating with other"

  Jo Brand - "I do have a soft spot for Nick Clegg, it's face down in a bowl of custard"
• 169k signatures for NHS risk regsiter debate but Gov still refusing to hold one Dr Kailash Chand
• Jo Brand NHS could mean "Not here soon"

  Circle vultures. The same people who left patients to look after themselves with faulty breast implants

  Dr john Lister "keep r NHS public" attack Circle owned by investment bankers and the theives who rip people off at Wonga.com
• More selfish wreckers and splitters leave with via a helping hand. One dressed as a cat? Was it george galloway?
• BMA Dr Hamish Meldrum supports his fellow health workers. A unusually dapper trade union leader
• Patient Vikki Mills pregnant with twins does not want anyone to jump que if they have money. 
• Cathy warwick GS RCM "kill the bill"
• Bunch of Monty python idiots "demanding" national strike thrown out of hall. :)

  "Its about what health service we leave our children...our NHS is not for sale"
• Dave Prentis next speaker "tories say nhs liberated"... What liberated to go bust
• In a packed Westminster Hall for the #SaveOurNHS rally- Woman who gave Lansley a piece of her mind rightly gets a standing ovation

  At packed Save our NHS rally at Westminster Central Hall. Brendan Barber speaking.
• John's Labour blog: Rally to Save Our NHS Tonight at Central Hall,
• UPDATE: Check youtube of speeches here

West Ham Labour Party National Leadership Hustings

Many thanks to our MP Lyn Brown and her staff for helping to organise Sunday’s Hustings at the East London University lecture theatre in Stratford, Newham London.

There was about 170 Labour Party members and trade union affiliates there - not only from West Ham but also from all over East London. East Ham MP Stephan Timms was also present.

We did not have the usual “Question Time” panel format (admittedly due to candidate availability problems) but instead gave each candidate a 2 minute space for an opening address followed by 20 minute Q&A then a short minutes finishing address.

This seemed to work pretty well. There were a few scares on the way but all the candidates turned up in time to take their place, speak and go.

Since I was helping out with the stewarding I didn’t see all the speeches or Q&A’s but my impression was: - local MP Diane Abbott got the loudest applause for her ideas; David Miliband’s “who do you think will be the leader who will win the next general election for Labour” did hit home; Andy Burnham came over as a passionate contender with genuine working class roots even though I’m not sure that admitting that the he only usually comes to West Ham to watch “Everton win 3 points at Upton Park” was particularly wise (I declare a past youthful and present day interest in this matter); Ed Miliband was of course in my completely and utterly unbiased view - the clear winner (Nuf said) while Ed Balls in his contribution proved once again to be a cracking attack dog on the CON-DEMS.

It was a good night. Many thanks to UNISON Greater London Labour Link and local CWU for help and sponsorship. The Labour Movement family in our part of East London is alive and kicking.

Wednesday morning: £, rules change, equalities and health

The day started off with an upbeat Jack Dromey giving a finance report. The Party is in a much better financial shape than I thought. There was a welcome commitment that “give to win” donations during the next several months will only be used for the General election campaign and not to pay off existing debts.

Next there was a bit of excitement and even almost a bun fight over proposed rule changes.

Followed by a very good debate on Equalities. Harriet Harman gave a cracking speech rightly promoting Labour as the Party of Equality and bashing both Tories and the Sun (which has typically come out with some silly and negative coverage of the conference).

The Health debate had a number of positive CLP and trade union contributions. Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced the removal of parking costs at hospitals for inpatients. Great news - this is the Party doing the right thing both morally and politically.

Labour blogger Luke Akehurst (on the left for a change – of the picture I mean) who has been seriously ill spoke movingly of his NHS treatment and his thanks not only for the doctors and nurses but also the hospital cleaners, the cooks and the drivers. He pointed out that he and his fellow patients got their treatment “because they needed it not because they could afford it”

1st Labour Landslide Victory of 2009

I am just back from a great meeting at the House of Commons of young Newham people from West and East Ham. They had been invited by local MPs Lyn Brown and Stephen Timms.

New electors whose date of birth was on the Newham electoral register were invited. The meeting was about participation in the electoral process and about 120 turned up.

Newham Young Labour provided volunteers to help out and ran a mock election with a ballot box and voting papers. There were stalls on the work of the House of Commons; what major political issues are important to young people and how the political process works.

UNISON sponsored the cost of snacks and soft drinks. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown sent his apologies with a message of support and best wishes. The event was also well supported by many Parliamentary guest speakers who turned up to address the gathering – John Denham MP, Yvette Cooper MP, Andy Burnham MP, Iain Wright MP, Dawn Primarolo MP, Sion Simon MP and Mike Grapes MP. Also in attendance was Deputy Leader of the Commons, Chris Bryant, and Lord Young (former deputy GS of the CWU).

All of them did address the audience about the problems over expenses and allowances but I think still successfully encouraged everyone to still get involved in politics because politics really matters. Politics is about health services, about jobs, about education and about life chances. Many mentioned that they first got involved in politics as young people themselves because they wanted to “change the world” and how they still want change it.

UNISON Regional Convenor Gloria Hanson (and Newham resident) spoke about the importance of trade unions in the democratic civic process and about her own experiences growing up in Newham. How she is also a mother whose own children were educated in Newham who have now gone on to gain first class honours degrees and how she is also proud to be the first black female regional convenor in UNISON.

Group tours were arranged around the House of Commons.

Afterwards the volunteers were invited by Lyn and Stephen to Strangers Bar for a sherbet.

I was pleased that Housing Minister Iain Wright accepted my invitation to address Labour Link members of UNISON Housing Association Branch on Public Housing in the near future (subject to diary commitments).

I went to a similar event organised by Barking MP Margret Hodge. UNISON NEC member and Barking CLP Louise Couling helped out in both. Many thanks also to Lyn and Stephens Parliamentary staff for all the hard graft in organising the event.

LABOUR LANDSLIDE – as they came into the room the young voters were given a ballot paper to complete secretly and place in ballot box. Of those who voted the result was an absolute landslide for Labour. Labour 48; Tories 6; Lib Dem 5; Green 2; Respect 5; Spoilt 2.