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 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) 

Lab12: North & WSPA Fringes

Still catching up from Labour Party Conference. The North Fringe on Monday evening reminded me of a proper traditional Labour Party event. Before Ed came to speak there was an auction and raffle. I didn't win anything, not even the GMB branded Whiskey!

It was also the only event I went to during conference that served bottles of Brown Ale. 

Harriet Harman firstly thanked the region for its massive support for the Labour Party. When Ed came he told us that this was his 10th fringe of the night.
He also said how much he enjoyed the Durham Miners Gala and would return next year. 21 years was too long (since last Labour leader attended). He pledged to build new houses and get young people into work when the next Labour Government is elected.

Next was the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Fringe. They had the World's only Parliamentary band MP4 playing. I must admit that I thought they were very good and didn't realise that they were amaters. Hope they are members of the MU!  There was a number of MP's boogying on down including John Healey, Mike Gapes and Caroline Flint. There were others who declined the spotlight.

Top picture is of my fellow Gog (north walian) John Prescott with UNISON Local organiser Joel Bodmer and UNISON SGE member Mike Davy. Afterwards we went to the Midland Hotel bar to yet again put the world to rights.

Caroline Flint MP “a tough love sort of girl”

Caroline Flint, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government was the guest speaker at the Tower Hamlets Labour Party Housing Policy forum at The Centre in Merchant Street, E3 last month. I was invited as a member of Tower Hamlets TULO. She gave us a presentation followed by a Q&A.

Now, some of the things she said that I thought interesting. “Housing is not just about having a roof over your head. It is linked to your journey through life and what are your aspirations. People still want to buy their own home.  Home ownership may be “the english disease” but this is what people want if they win the lottery. They want a stake in life.  Not only for their children but for help with social care when they are older. How to increase the supply? Look at finance and supply. There are uncompetitive banks and building societies. It is easier to get a mortgage on a £200k new build than get £50k to do up and refurbish a home. There are over a million empty homes in UK. New build is VAT free, with a refurbishment you pay VAT. A very narrow range of builders.  A few big ones and lots of very,very small ones.  

Caroline was brought up in the private rental sector then the family had a council flat.  But with secure tenancies with fair rents. This is nonexistent nowadays.  While the private sector needs to be part of the solution.  This governments unfettered faith in the private sector is wrong. Labour is now engaged in a completely open policy debate. Willing to look at piloting housing policies in Labour Councils. Turn a talking shop into reality. 

In the Q&A I made a comment about despairing about housing in London due to the very high land prices.  Each Social housing unit in London had cost an average £100k in subsidy.  My question was related to her comments about pension funds and housing investment.  The Local Government Pension scheme has £160 billion investments and wants to invest long term secure low risk asset based investments.  What joined up thinking can her Shadow CLG team bring on this matter?  She said they will be looking into such ideas.

Question about Paris having a more successful housing policy since most people rent. Caroline said they may rent in Paris but many own homes elsewhere. Then one on the sub-letting of social

Housing it not only immoral - but should it be made illegal? (No real answer to that one)  

Social housing should not be a refuse of last resort. We need mixed neighbourhoods. So if someone gets a pay rise and they then risk losing their home, what is the incentive to work? Cameron and Shapps have a lack of understanding about what is and what isn’t possible. We need to help people make the journey they want to make.

Caroline says she is a tough love sort of girl. You should respect your environment, your neighbours and pay your rent. There are not only entitlements but responsibilities.

Caroline has three messages to Labour Councils. Show that Labour can get good value for money for services, they can get more people involved and have a say and have a sense of what you want to do.

Finally “aspiration”. Not everyone can own their own home at the end of the day. It is sad that so many people from all walks of life think their children will not do better than them. We should be on the right side of these people. Most people don’t want too much from government. The 1945 victory was broad based coalition who believed that Labour was about offering them a better future”.

Great action picture taken by Dan McCurry (with my camera!). Many thanks to TH Labour Party for the invite (and well done for arranging such good events.  Next one is on Health in July with John Healey MP). 

This post was from the last time I attended a "meeting" with Caroline, also in Tower Hamlets.

BBC Question Time: Behind the scenes

Picture is of me making a point on Thursday’s edition of “Question Time” about the media not being interested in reporting peaceful protests and demonstrations only “punch-ups”.  The actual panel was Theresa May MP, Home Secretary; Caroline Flint MP, Labour; Sherard Cowper-Coles - formerly Foreign Secretary's Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan; Clive James, Broadcaster and Journalist; Douglas Murray, Author and Commentator (& right wing nutjob)

I had registered on the BBC website a week or so ago.  Then on Thursday morning I got an email from the BBC to see if I was available to attend as a member of the audience that same evening.  I rang the contact and after a few questions she agreed to send me an e-ticket. Normally people get more notice so I assume that some had dropped out at the last moment.

The venue was the Library of Queen Mary University in Tower Hamlets, East London (a short walk from work).  We had to report to a university cafe bar with our invite and photo ID.  Security was pretty tight (I had a small UNISON flag “confiscated” for the duration).  We were given cards to write our questions – 30 words maximum but better if only 20 or less.  Most had also been given an opportunity to submit one question already by email.  I was told it had to be about a "live" or “current” story to stand any chance.  Mine were “Why have London inner city Councils such as Tower Hamlets being cut by £75 million while leafy Richmond by only £5 million? (I think you can guess the answer) and “since there are 4.5 million people are on Council housing waiting lists where are all the private tenants who face eviction due to benefit cuts going to live?  With hindsight they were a bit “last week”. 

Everyone was very friendly, quite chatty and a little excited.  David Dimbleby came in and gave us a charming and relaxed briefing.  It turned out only one person present had ever been on the show before.  We were then trooped into the studio which had been set up in the historic Library.  Firstly, there was a rehearsal.  Members of the audience were invited to sit on the panel and we had a mock debate and questions. This was to check camera angles and microphones.  I was one of those picked and sat in “Clive James” chair  and I had great fun nominating Nick Clegg to the person I would most theoretically like to see have a custard pie thrown in his face.  For his breath taking hypocrisy over student tuition fees.  We also had a short “knockabout” about causes and solutions for child obesity.  Afterwards the “panel” went back to our seats. 

I wasn’t picked to ask a question (those who were did ask snappy and short questions on very contemporary issues). However there was a (inevitable) question on the previous day’s massive march in London by students protesting against cuts and the rise in tuition fees.  A tiny number of demonstrators had done their best to wreck the demo by cowardly attacking the Conservative Party HQ. 

The response from the panel was largely sympathetic to the main student march and dismissive of the morons outside 30 Milbank. 

I put my hand up and David pointed at me (they said beforehand that you would know if he had picked you by his stare – and it was very true) and I brought up the role of the media and that they fail to report on peaceful protests and rallies unless there is a punch-up.  David argued back that yesterday’s violence was not a “trivial” matter since a Police officer could have been killed by a fire extinguisher that was thrown from the roof that day (which we have all seen on video). 

I responded by saying that I wasn’t trivialising the issue but pointing out that if the media fail to report anything about  peaceful protests but publishes 7 or 8 pages on such “punch-ups” then the ”idiots” will just be encouraged to be violent on future protests.  Which got a little bit of a clap.

You can see the whole programme for the next 12 months (lucky you) by clicking on IPlayer here.  My only contribution was about 8.30 minutes in.

I did try to make other points but I wasn’t picked.  I was even trying to volunteer to administrative “water boarding” to Neo-con panellist, Douglas Murray, (purely voluntary of course) in order to try and help him realise whether this disgusting and barbaric practice was torture or not. 

The “hour” passed really quickly and I did enjoy the debates that followed. Once it finished we all clapped in appreciation then filed out (and I retrieved my UNISON flag) and went home I think rather "happy" and "content". 

I would totally recommend that anyone who has any interest in politics should apply to be a member of the Question Time audience.  It was a really good night out.

Labour Party rejects “Homes for Courses”

Another Social Housing and Labour Party issue from this weeks “Inside Housing”. The final draft of the Party housing policy brief rejects any suggestion that social housing tenants should be made to sign “commitment contracts” to either work or seek employment training in order to retain their tenancies. This will be voted upon at the Party conference next month.

This policy regarding “commitment contracts” was “floated” by housing minister, Caroline Flint, in a speech at the very beginning of her appointment and caused understandably quite a lot of fuss.

I can understand Caroline’s motives for bring this subject up, but I think it was unworkable and unwise to even suggest that tenants will lose their homes if they do not apply for jobs or training courses.

The policy forum concluded that access to housing should be emphasised on need and they were concerned that if social housing was too highly regulated, then less fortunate tenants could end up in the private sector. Fair points I suppose.

I always understood that Caroline really wanted to float ideas in order to start a debate. We have to think long and hard on how we can incentivise the overwhelming majority of unemployed tenants who are desperate for help on how to work or train their way out of poverty.

The minority who are not interested in bettering themselves are part of a wider problem that is not only a “social housing” issue and it is wrong to label it as so.

Housing Officers: Robocop or Social Worker?

“Housing officers must become more like support workers”. This is from “Inside Housing” the leading weekly “sector” magazine for those of us who work in Social Housing. On its front page this week it reveals that a summit was held with Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, Welfare reform minister (and Newham MP) Stephen Timms, “and key housing association and council chiefs”. Housing Corporation Chair, Peter Dixon presided. So all the “big guns” in social housing were present. No mention mind of any resident associations or trade union representatives being present I notice?

The wholly laudable aim of the summit was the need to tackle the “Spiralling unemployment levels in social housing”. Research was found during the course of the recent Professor John Hills review of social housing that found that more than half of all social tenants of working age were without paid work- twice the national average. The proportion of employed social tenant households fell from 47% to 32% between 1981 and 2006.

While I am certain that many housing officers would be really pleased to do anything to reduce unemployment in the estates they help manage (and in fact this would be a welcome step back towards traditional social housing values). I am rather cynical about how this idea would actually pan out in practice. This is not just simply trade unions whinging about yet another responsibility being given to already overstretched and under resourced front line housing officers (even though this is of course true). It also seemed to be somewhat contradictory to other recent announcements and government policy decisions. Some housing associations are currently considering whether or not to seek accreditation powers from the Police for housing officers to be able issue fixed penalty notices for Public Order offences and other anti-social behaviour offences. Is it possible for housing officers to have a quasi-police officer and social worker role at the same time?

The accusation is that it is too easy in such “summits” to come up with fine sounding solutions and delegate responsibility for carrying out grand announcements to already stressed out front line staff. I suspect that there needs to be a little more “joined up thinking” on this problem?