West Ham Ward welcome to our new Labour Party members

Picture from last Thursday with West Ham ward officers busy filling out names and addresses on welcome letters to new members. We then went out and hand delivered the letters speaking to the new members whenever possible. 

The new members I spoke to were really pleased that we had called. Let us see how many become active.
                 

"West Ham Branch Labour Party

Dear Member

I hope that you are enjoying the summer. I am writing to welcome you very warmly to West Ham Branch Labour party.

This has been a strange time for Labour supporters in Newham: both proud of our Labour MPs who increased their majorities, but also desperately sad and worrying for everyone who cares about protecting the vulnerable, about education, about the NHS, about people in low-paid work, about people who need benefits... and sadly the list goes on.

Here in West Ham we are determined not to take the General Election result lying down. Now more than ever we need to show people that we are a vibrant, passionate and compassionate alternative to the Tories. Our residents, especially those who are suffering under the Tories' policies, need to see us speaking out on their behalf. So we will be getting out and about again, building up our presence and aiming to build our membership.

I am therefore asking you if you could do one or more of the following?

• ·         come to a meeting
• ·         invite your friends
• ·         canvass with us

Come to a meeting

We normally hold monthly ward meetings on the first Thursday of every month. This can be anything from a political discussion, a joint discussion with a neighbouring ward and a speaker, nominating candidates for various offices in the Local Constituency Party, to a social. Information about each meeting is sent out in advance. If you have a topic you would like to discuss, please do email or phone our Branch secretary John Whitworth with your suggestion.

Invite your friends

According to some research most people join a political party because someone asked them to. Think about your friends and family, especially the ones who shared our dismay at the election result. Have they joined the Labour party? Have you asked them to join? Might they be interested in becoming a supporter for only £3 so they can help choose the next Labour leader? All supporters, friends, well-wishers and hangers-on are warmly welcomed.

Campaigning

If you've never been canvassing before, don't be nervous! It's good exercise and great fun, and residents generally are pleased to find someone has made the effort to knock on their door. But if you're interested and want to come along, please email or call our Branch secretary John Whitworth and we can make sure we keep you in the loop.

We really hope to see you soon. Please don't hesitate to drop us a line if you want to get involved, if you have any ideas, or any questions.

Warmest wishes,

Seyi

Cllr Seyi Akiwowo

Chair of West Ham Branch Labour Party

@WestHamWard

www.facebook.com/WestHamWard

"London 2012 – The People’s Olympics"

Hat tip David Christie on Labourlist

"So the curtain has closed on what must surely be celebrated as one of the greatest ever Olympic Games. Lord Coe told the world “we did it right” and even hardened Games-Scrooges and doubters are looking just a little sheepish. But, this has been a Games where people have been centre stage…and not just on the track.

The list of individual and collective achievements is awe-inspiring. The 29 Golds and 65 medals, the partnership between public and private sectors to deliver the amazing setting and the thousands upon thousands of volunteers have created a feeling of euphoria which no one dared anticipate.

The media narrative has completely changed too, celebrating people it was castigating days before. From Mo Farah the Somali asylum seeker turned double Olympic Champion to the thousands of Games Makers and volunteers. Many of those who volunteered are unemployed and using the opportunity to get valued experience and receiving plaudits from across the world.

For the past 2 years the Government have pushed a narrative about social responsibility and the ‘something for something’ culture which at first glance appears to resonate with the idea of a wider vision for community volunteering and activism. But it is not our ability and work ethic that has fundamentally changed in these magical two weeks. It is our attitudes to one another.

In this light it is easy to see why Cameron’s Big Society vision has so far failed. Aside from the cuts to local authority budgets which has decimated funding for local third sector provision it is simply that by castigating and vilifying people and feeding stories in the right wing press on scroungers, layabouts and lazy public servants the Government has hitherto contributed to a national mood of selfishness and individualism. In such a climate it is impossible to garner the good will and commitment to deliver positive change.

The Olympic Games has somehow managed to wipe away that gloom and antipathy. The spotlight has been firmly on the UK and the British people have reflected a warm glow right back.
I hope that we can hold onto that collectivism and sense of community that has been created in the last few weeks.

There is nothing wrong-headed about the Tory Big Society idea. Their mistake has been to over-politicise it and confuse the message and to fail to recognise that the way to achieve a better society is through opportunity and skills and investing in people. Britain is soaring on an Olympic wave right now, bring on the Paralympics.

"An Olympic sized legacy for London 2012"

Hat tip David Christie on Labour List

"Many of you may have been one of the countless thousands straining to glimpse a sight of the Olympic torch pass through Central London last Thursday. It had been the same a week before in the host boroughs as huge crowds greeted the Olympic flame in Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Barking and Dagenham. It is overwhelming how this country has come together to celebrate these games. We must make sure that we use that good will to carry the Olympic spirit into a legacy for people.

When London won the right to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2005 the promise of a tangible legacy was a fundamental reason for the bids success. In 2007 that promise was restated and augmented with a series of promises by Government including to use the Games to “transform the heart of East London.”

There has long been a view in East London that this should be about more than just the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park and a few thousand houses. It has to be about the lasting change for this part of London and a reversal of a century of inequality that has existed between the East and the rest of London.

In 2009 and in response the 6 host boroughs published the ‘Strategic Regeneration Framework’, which sets out their objectives to meet this challenge. It is epitomised by the principle of ‘convergence’: that within 20 years the communities who host the 2012 Olympic Games will have the same social and economic chances as their neighbours across London. Central Government and the Mayor of London are on paper signed up to this.

Last year the host boroughs published their record on convergence and there are signs of success, particularly with excellent schools in East London contributing to a good 5 A*-C GCSE rate. But the notable issues of low skills in the working age population, high unemployment and low median incomes remain. Beyond the report, the issues of poor quality housing and overcrowding are a barrier to success.

This is an issue of severe inequality within one of the richest cities in the world. Billions of pounds of public money has been spent, not only on the Olympics and Paralympics but on trying to resolve the health and skills gaps that exist and in the overlarge benefit cheques which result from the failure of those policies. Yet unlike eradication of inequality between nations there is no mass movement campaigning for ending this scar on London’s face.

In parts of East London convergence may be achieved through natural market forces. Areas such as Bethnal Green, Dalston and parts of Stratford are seeing new developments and young professionals moving in who will change the mix of people, the employment levels and the incomes. But do we want the legacy of the Games to be a replacement of the people who live here? Or do we want it to have been a genuine shift in opportunities for people who have lived here their entire lives and those that choose to make East London their home?

Labour should lead for London in embedding the spirit of convergence in our policies and ensure that the power of the Games is truly used to transform lives. These two weeks and the Paralympics will be an amazing celebration for our country; a country which is comfortable taking a centre stage in the world. Let our political leaders now deliver on that promise of legacy that made all this possible".

Israel Palestine 2012

I've been following the blog here of 9 friends who for the past 10 days have been touring Israel and Palestine. Three of them are from Newham. David & Louise Christie and Ellie Robinson.

David and Ellie are fellow first time Newham Labour Councillors. This was a self funded trip and in a strictly personal capacity only.

The blog records their journey and experiences. They have tried I think to be as fair and open minded as humanly possible.

It must have been fascinating. Pictures are from their blog of the Security Wall and Yad Vashem, the Jewish Memorial centre. I recommend you check out the blog.

"Closer to Home"

Check out this excellent article on housing posted here on "Labour List" by Newham born and bred Labour Party activists, Ellie Robinson and David Christie.

Today being the 200th anniversary of Dickens birth it is very apt to debate the appalling housing conditions that is still found even today in parts of the East End of London.

Newham Council AGM: Growing up in Newham

This speech was given by Cllr Ellie Robinson to the Newham Council AGM on May 19th.

“We grow up fast in Newham. Some children are carers by the time they are teenagers; others face the added responsibility of having to provide for their families, both here and sometimes abroad too.

Too many of our young people have felt the extraordinary pain of losing a friend, or a classmate, to violent crime. Others struggle everyday with growing up in a culture where the violence involves relatively few but where the fear it creates touches many more.

Thirty per cent of our population are under 20. We are the youngest area in the whole country. Their challenges are our challenges, but if we are in this together where are the government?

The Tories have slashed funding to our community. They cut the Building Schools for the Future Programme with which this authority has achieved so much over recent years and they’ve cut the Educational Maintenance Allowance which gave many of my sixth form friends a chance they would not otherwise have had to go to college – a precious, priceless opportunity which has now been snatched away from their younger brothers and sisters.....(read rest of speech and that of the Mayor, Cllr Hussain and Cllr Christie here)

Newham Council AGM: "...the kind of borough and place we want to live in..."

This speech was given by Cllr David Christie to the Newham Council AGM on May 19th.

"I have come to the conclusion that while this speech should extol the benefits of cycling, the starting point of any discussion on the issue should not be the pedal cycle itself but instead about the kind of borough and place we want to live in and create together. Today, I want to present a vision that through cycling, Newham can become London’s most liveable and vibrant borough.

In Newham we are awake to the importance of stimulating high quality urban design. It is about using the development opportunities we have to create well connected and attractive places for people. If you think about your favourite parts of London, I’m sure they will be places that are pleasant to walk around and are of a human scale. Those are places that work for cyclists too and so we can be pro cyclist just by creating places people want to live in.....

(read rest of speech and that of the Mayor, Cllr Hussain and Cllr Robinson here)

Labour Party Conference 2010: West Ham CLP delegates report

The Labour movement usually requires all delegates to write reports on the conferences they have been sent to by their unions or the Labour Party.

Ellie Robinson (right) and David Christie (middle) were the West Ham Labour Party delegates to Conference this year.  (Left is Forhad Hussain, who was there as a ex-officio visitor and is also a UNISON member).  All three of them are newly elected Newham Councillors.

This is Ellie and David's delegation report to the West Ham GC.

"We arrived in Manchester on the Friday night and stayed in apartments just over the border in Salford.

Saturday was the day of the leadership conference where they were to announce the new leader of the Labour Party.  The hall in Manchester Central was buzzing with excitement.  Gordon Brown kicked things off with an emotional speech where he celebrated what the last Government had achieved and thanked many people for supporting him and the Labour Party.  Ann Black, chair of the NEC then took the rostrum and led us through the votes.  It took several minutes to get to the result because of the AV system, and the tension and gasps from the audience mounted until in the final round David Miliband received 49.35% of the vote and we knew that Ed would be the next leader of the Labour Party.  There were cheers and Ed gave a short speech where he paid tribute to the other candidates. In the evening we attended the London Region reception where Ed spoke again.

On Sunday a London region welcome was held introducing delegates to the format of conference and Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North launched a new priority campaign in London on housing reflecting the coalition’s attack on housing benefit claimants.  We attended the young councillor network launch and then went into the hall for conference business. 

Neil Kinnock delivered a moving tribute to Michael Foot who died in the year since the last conference. Merit Awards were presented to members from Hammersmith, Hyndburn and Exeter.  In the priority ballot as West Ham delegates we voted for debates on housing, people trafficking, consumer credit and rights at work as we felt these most reflected the particular needs of people in the West Ham constituency and would not all be prioritised by the Trade Union section. We attended a fringe event on the Gaza siege in the evening and a young Labour event. Labour friends of Bangladesh held a reception which several Newham members came up to Manchester to attend and Rushanara Ali spoke passionately about the Bangladeshi community uniting and having transparent elections and decision making in Tower Hamlets. Mary Honeyball MEP for London held a reception and talked about her ongoing focus in the European parliament.  At the end of the evening there was a Newham drink in a bar net to the Manchester Wheel.

On Monday David Miliband gave a speech as Shadow Foreign Secretary for which he received a standing ovation.  Particular focus was on Burma, Kashmir and Pakistan. Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Dianne Abbott also gave speeches throughout the week that were very well received.

Particular fringe highlights of the rest of the week included the Labour friends of India event hosted by the High Commissioner, again with very good attendance from Newham.   John Gray was on the panel for a fringe on new media and blogging.  Newham Mayor Robin Wales spoke at several fringes, including one on housing where he identified Newham’s plans in that area.

On Tuesday Ed gave his speech, there was tremendous anticipation and he delivered a passionate speech which aimed to draw a line under New Labour. The theme was the ‘New Generation’ and he spoke to the country saying ‘A new generation has taken over Labour- a new generation that understands the call to change’. He called for a mass membership party again with a membership greater than 1997, and talked about winning back votes lost since 1997.  He also promised to work with the coalition when they did the right thing. 

Throughout the rest of the week there was an increasing feeling that David would not run for the shadow cabinet and he announced this on Wednesday.  There was a lot of disappointment at this and generally there were a lot of mixed feelings about Ed’s election. It was inevitable that in so close an election, the losers would feel very disappointed and people did discuss the impact of the union vote on the election and the impression of that in the media.

On the Tuesday night we met our MP Lyn for a drink in the Midland Hotel with other Newham members.

On Wednesday there was a Q and A with our new leader, Ed Miliband, and Eddie Izzard. Two members a minute had joined the Party since Ed was elected leader and a lot of this session focussed on stories from new members.

Harriet Harman, as our Deputy Leader, closed the Conference on Thursday. We came home physically tiered but mentally reenergised to fight for our Party locally and nationally.

An update on rule changes will be provided at the GC".