WANTED: your experiences of Labour membership

 If you are a Fabian member you should have got an email invite to this survey (with a live link). An "interesting" survey to fill out if you have 5-10 minutes.

"For those of you who are Labour party members, we invite you to complete our new survey of Labour members' experiences of their party.

We've launched a national survey of Labour members to understand their experiences of party membership and ambitions for getting more involved.

We know there are lots of great examples of local parties that really strive to bring members together and help people from all backgrounds to take part. But it’s also true that the way Labour works and local party cultures can sometimes leave members frustrated.

Our survey asks questions about local party culture, activism, meetings, and candidate selections. We want to know how you think Labour is doing as an organisation for its members – and how it can do better.

The experiences of party members revealed in this survey will help inform discussions on how Labour becomes a party that is open, inclusive and reaches out to all those who recognise the change our country needs.

Please respond by 13th August to get your voice heard and make the Labour party better".

Socialism and Patriotism in a time of crisis

Recently the Labour Leader, Keir Starmer has faced some criticism following a leaked report recommending that the Party focuses on "flag and patriotism" to win back voters.

The former chair of the Fabians, Paul Richards has written a topical article (Socialism and Patriotism in a time of crisis" on the 80th anniversary of the war time pamphlet by George Orwell called "The Lion and the Unicorn - Socialism and the English Genius".

The famous opener of the pamphlet by Orwell is “As I write, highly civilised human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.”

While some of Orwell's work is dated and a product of his time, there is some telling points on Socialism and Patriotism

Richards quotes "Fyvel wrote that it ‘caught a patriotic English Socialist moment’. Through this frame, love of country could be commandeered in the service of progressive social change, something which Major Attlee and his ministers well understood after July 1945.

His publisher Fred Warburg said that Orwell’s jargon-free patriotic socialism made many recruits to the Labour party. By disentangling patriotism, a love for one’s country, from nationalism, a hatred for other people’s countries, Orwell showed how it can be a progressive force, and avoid the dead end of xenophobia".

While I don't wholly agree with everything I recommend a read of this article (and "The Lion and the Unicorn" and all of Orwell's works)

Labour Party Conference 2019: Sunday #Lab19 (twitter)

Feeling very smug that managed to go for run this morning. I was/am looking a little rough for some reason. Will I make it tomorrow?

At @thefabians @unions21 #Lab19 fringe on does labour have a progressive plan for the NHS?

Now at @LGAcomms #councilscan fringe on why the Queens speech important for local government #LabourConference2019 #Lab19

My question to the panel was at recent #LGA conference to my surprise both the former & new conservative Chairs were very supportive of council housing? They sounded like speakers at a Defend council housing rally. Does this signal change?

Cllr Nick Forbes said in Tory party their councillors have more power & influence over policy than Labour

Next fringe Newham Mayor @rokhsanafiaz explaining the horror of austerity & the devastation it has caused. Our budget cut by 60%, 27k waiting list, 1:24 residents are homeless, overcrowding. Need #JC4PM. But not just waiting for @UKLabour victory, paying #livingwage, building 1k counci homes ...taking on the banks who caused austerity over toxic #lobo loans, saving us £143 million.

At #communitywealthbuilding Fringe #LabourConference2019 #Lab19. A relaxed social with expert panel. It is fantastic that there so many #CWB projects in councils up and down the country
@MatthewBrownLab

On Sunday had very relaxed pleasant Newham Labour social

"Sir Robin Wales calls for contested mayoral ‘trigger ballot’ outcome to be cancelled"

Hat tip Dave Hill's On London blog 

"Sir Robin Wales has asked the Labour Party to cancel the outcome of the internal selection process that saw him endorsed to seek a fifth term as Mayor of Newham following a campaign by local members for an investigation into its conduct.

An affirmative nomination or “trigger ballot” held in the autumn of 2016, saw Sir Robin prevail by 20 votes to 17, and Labour’s governing National Executive Committee (NEC) has resisted calls by party members in Newham, including ten councillors, to look into what they described as “many failures of process/propriety and procedural irregularities”.

But now Sir Robin has told the Newham Recorder that although the trigger ballot outcome was confirmed by the NEC, legal action against it by some of the complainants had prompted him ask for it to be quashed because “the costs of a court case would be significant and Labour Party members’ money should not be used in this way”.

Sir Robin’s initiative came after those pursuing the legal action secured the funds they required to move to the “statement of claim” stage, setting out the grounds for their case that their party has “behaved improperly” over the trigger ballot, both locally and nationally.

A letter to the NEC sent in January signed by 47 Labour members, including 10 councillors, argued that seven of the votes cast in favour of Sir Robin going forward automatically as Labour candidate for next year’s mayoral election rather than facing potential challenges from other hopefuls had been dubious and that there had been inconsistencies in the way unions affiliated to the party locally had been enfranchised.

Each of Newham’s 20 ward branches had a single vote in an electoral college, which also included 11 affiliates, seven of which were trade unions. The branches voted by 11 to nine against Sir Robin progressing without a further contest, but the balance of affiliates’ votes gave the incumbent the majority he needed.

A review by the Fabian Society of the approach taken by its Newham branch to deciding which way to vote found that it had “breached the society’s rules” in coming to its decision to back Sir Robin’s automatic candidacy.

It has been established by On London that the headquarters of Bectu, one of the unions with a local affiliated branch at the time of the ballot, cannot confirm that an affiliation fee was paid for the relevant year. (For unrelated reasons, Bectu is no longer affiliated to Labour).

On London has also learned that the ballot paper for an affiliated branch of the TSSA union was conveyed directly to an officer of that branch by a councillor who is a member of Sir Robin’s mayoral team rather than being sent initially to a more senior figure in the organisation, as appears to have been the case with other unions. The TSSA vote was eventually cast in favour of Sir Robin.

One key point of the dispute has been whether Labour party rules entitle each affiliated union branch to vote separately in mayoral trigger ballots or whether just a single vote per union should be accepted, regardless of how many different branches are affiliated locally.

Not all the unions involved interpreted the rules in the same way, resulting in Unison casting just one vote – against Sir Robin going forward automatically – despite having six branches affiliated, whereas the GMB – which supported Sir Robin – cast four votes, the CWU cast three and Unite cast two.

It is understood that an audio recording, heard by On London, which those who have been seeking an investigation believe reveal an ally of Sir Robin disclosing questionable conduct concerning the trigger ballot process, has been sent to a senior Labour Party official.

In his comments to the Newham Recorder Sir Robin says he is “supporting a new process to be undertaken under the auspices of the national or regional Labour Party”. The complainants have criticised the involvement of at least one member of Sir Robin’s mayoral team in the running of the process.

Any decision by the party to instigate a fresh trigger ballot or to hold an open selection contest will entail settling on a “freeze date” in advance of which members and affiliates will have to had have had their documentation in order to be eligible to vote.

Since the completion of the original ballot, the GMB has affiliated 26 branches to West Ham constituency Labour Party in Newham, each of which would have a separate vote if a freeze date subsequent to their affiliation were set and multiple votes per union again accepted.

Read all of On London’s coverage of the Newham mayor trigger ballot dispute via here.

Grenfell Tower: The anatomy of a disaster & the future of social housing in London - Newham Fabians 20 Sept 2017

This looks like a really good event. Well done to the new Newham Fabians Officers for organising this. Thankfully we now have a local Fabian society that  actually does stuff! Tom will be a great speaker. 

Newham mayor ‘trigger ballot’: union confirms that affiliation fee not paid

Check out Guardian Journalist, Dave Hill's blog.

A second organisation whose vote helped Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales go forward unopposed as Labour candidate for next year’s mayoral election in the borough has effectively substantiated a complaint by local party members about an aspect of the candidate selection process.

Inquiries by national officers of Bectu, the media and entertainment union, have concluded that a branch affiliated to Labour locally had not paid the required fee for 2016, the year the vote took place. In a letter to Labour’s governing National Executive Committee (NEC) sent in January, 47 Newham members had argued that the Bectu vote be declared void partly on those grounds.

Last month the national Fabian Society informed its Newham branch, which also voted “yes” to Sir Robin automatically becoming the candidate for 2018, had breached the society’s own rules for determining how votes in Labour affirmative nomination or “trigger ballots” should be cast.

Sir Robin won the trigger ballot by 20 votes to 17 in a process held in the latter months of last year, in which ward branches of Newham’s two constituency Labour parties (CLPs) and local branches of national organisations affiliated to Labour participated. Bectu, which says its head office had no involvement with the Newham ballot, has since become a sector of another union, Prospect, and disaffiliated from Labour. The union has informed On London that no local affiliation fee was paid by the Newham branch delegate and that it was not invoiced for it.

The Bectu and Fabian trigger ballot votes were among seven of the 20 “yes” votes cast which the 47 Newham party members, who include ten Labour councillors, asked the NEC to either hold in abeyance or declare void. Their 13-page letter further claimed that there were “many failures of process/propriety and procedural irregularities” in the trigger ballot process as a whole and that these had made “a material difference to the result”.

At a meeting held last month the NEC did not take up the 47 members’ request that it hold in inquiry into the overall process. Labour general secretary Iain McNicol told one Newham member in an email that the issue had been “raised very briefly” but that there was “no discussion about pausing or changing the result” and that two NEC members had agreed to visit Newham and speak to party members there about what lessons could be learned for the future.

A date for the visit is understood to have been set for 21 February, but no meeting has taken place, apparently due to a difference of view over whether party members who were satisfied with the process and its outcome should be present along with those who are unhappy about them. Labour’s London region has previously stated that “the process in Newham was carried out in line with established rules and procedures”. Signatories of the letter to the NEC are considering their options for further action.

Newham is exceptional in that all 60 of its borough councillors are Labour. Sir Robin is now set to seek a fifth consecutive term as mayor, having won the inaugural mayoral context in 2002. Some councillors and other members believe his incumbency has been too long and that his command of the Town Hall’s workings make it difficult to scrutinise or place appropriate checks and balances on him. However, the signatories to the NEC letter said they would support him his candidacy for 2018 if they regarded it as obtained “as a result of an open and fair re-selection process”.

Contact On London via davehillonlondon@gmail.com.

"Labour members and councillors call for Newham mayoral trigger ballot enquiry" Newham Recorder

Check this report by our local Newham weekly newspaper. 

"Nearly 50 Labour party members have called for their governing body to launch a “full enquiry” into the results of the Newham mayoral trigger ballot.

A 13-page letter signed by 47 members of the East Ham and West Ham Constituency Labour Parties, including ten councillors, was sent to the National Executive Committee (NEC) ahead of its meeting this afternoon.

It raises concerns about “failures of process/propriety and procedural irregularities” in the affirmative nomination process which resulted in Sir Robin Wales being reselected as the Labour candidate for the 2018 Mayor of Newham elections on December 5.

An extract from the letter states: “We are Labour Party members who are appalled and concerned by the breaches of the rules and conflicts of interest that have characterised the process so far.”

Sir Robin’s win was determined by the support of affiliated organisations which voted 11 to 6 in favour of keeping him, despite 11 out of 20 wards voting for an open selection process which would have allowed other candidates to stand.

Dissatisfied Labour party members have highlighted issues which “could potentially change the outcome of the process”, focusing on “three major failings” of the trigger ballot nomination process.

The first of these is that “some trade unions have voted more than once for each one of their affiliated branches. Other trade unions have voted only once” therefore resulting in a “different interpretation” of the rules.

Accusations of “significant breaches of the rules in individual ballots” and a “serious conflict of interest between the different roles of those charged with the management of the process” are also outlined in the letter.

Rohit K Dasgupta, the newly-appointed Newham Fabians Secretary – one of the affiliated organisations to vote “yes” for Sir Robin’s automatic re-selection – recently told the Recorder that “Andrew Harrop [general secretary of the Fabian society] advised members at a Newham Fabians meeting [Jan 11] that the Fabian Society’s General Purposes Committee is presently looking into the issues raised by the recent trigger ballot process in Newham”.

Further questions have also been raised about the voting procedures of the other participating socialist societies and unions with calls for several of the ballots cast to “be declared void” or “held in abeyance and not counted”.

The letter’s signatories further state that if the alleged breaches “are allowed to stand unchanged by the national party, it will turn off our membership and stifle the ongoing community renewal that Newham so desperately needs, leading to widespread disillusionment about the way the local party operates”.

A London Labour Party spokesman said: “The Labour Party does not comment on internal selections but the process in Newham was carried out in line with established rules and procedures.

“The NEC is responsible for ensuring that Labour Party processes are fair, and procedures are constantly kept under review.”

He would not comment on whether NEC has received the letter or whether it will address the accusations made.

A spokesman for Sir Robin Wales has not yet replied to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, a campaign website called democracytriggered.org has been set up to “advance democracy and accountability in the Labour Party in Newham”.

It is inspired by the Trigger Democracy campaign which ran during the mayoral ballot process from October 26 to December 4".

Newham Fabians - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I posted here on the AGM meeting of Newham Fabians due to be held tomorrow Wednesday 11 January 2017.

A previous "relaunch" meeting with Newham Mayor, Robin Wales, as speaker, had already been cancelled I understood because of a planned lobby by members of Newham Fabians and the local Labour Party about alleged forgery and malfeasance regarding voting irregularities in the recent Newham Labour Mayoral 2018 selection.

This morning I was forwarded this email

From: ###### #####
To:
Cc: #### ##### ##### ####
Sent: Tuesday, 10 January 2017,
Subject: Re: Newham Fabian Society - AGM Notice *postponed to 30th Jan 8pm*

 Dear all,

Hope you are well.

Please note: unfortunately we are having to postpone our AGM to Monday 30th January at 8pm in Trinity Centre. We apologise for the short notice and for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Agenda will be tabled, membership form to join Newham Fabians will also be available prior to the meeting for anyone who wishes to join/renew their membership and it is £7 per year. I look forward to seeing you on the 30th January 2017 8pm at Trinity Community Centre, East Avenue London E12 6SG.

Best wishes,

####

I never received this email despite being a long standing member of the Newham and National Fabians nor did some other members. I contacted the Membership secretary and General Secretary of the Fabans to enquire why? 

It is also the date and time of the Newham Full Council meeting when many members of the Fabians who are Councillors will be expected to be there. 

However, a number of comrades have now been phoned up today by the Chair? of Newham Fabians to say that the AGM is still on tomorrow after all. I have just received this email 

Sent: 10 January 2017 23:13

"Dear Fabian member,

This is to remind you about the Newham Fabians AGM taking place on Wednesday 11^th January. It is open to all members of Newham Fabians and of the national Fabian Society in the Newham area.

The AGM is confirmed to take place (note: earlier today a small number of members received a cancellation note - this was sent in error).

I look forward to meeting you at the AGM.

#####"

wtf is going on? I think this is as good excuse as any to play this favourite song from my long lost youth.

I will be going tomorrow even though I had rearranged things in light of the previous email.

Newham Fabians Annual General Meeting 11 January & the National Fabians Society New Year Conference 14 Jan 2017

On Wednesday I am looking forward to the Newham Fabian AGM. See picture right from the last one I attended in 2011 (I think there was one in 2013 but none since).

Hat tip photos Dan McCurry. 

I think you can still join for £7 and attend.

"Newham Fabians Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 11 January 2017 at 7PM

Trinity Community Centre, East Avenue, London, E12 6SG.

Guest speaker: Andrew Harrop, General Secretary of the Fabian Society

Andrew will also officiate over the AGM and committee elections

All members of the Fabian Society living in the Newham area are warmly invited to the AGM of Newham Fabian Society. The meeting is open to members of both the national Fabian Society and of Newham Fabians. To take part in votes you need to join Newham Fabians.

The Secretary of Newham Fabians is Tahmina Rahman,

tahmina_rahman_1@hotmail.com"

(also on Saturday as a member of the National Fabians I am going to their New Year conference. Must remember to take my #LOVEUNIONS placards and leaflets :-)

"Fabian Society New Year conference 2017

This time next Saturday the Fabian Society will welcome Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn MP onto the stage to open our 2017 New Year Conference. We are delighted Jeremy is joining us at our biggest and best event of the year, and we hope that you will too.

Alongside Jeremy Corbyn will be speakers from across the left and beyond, including MPs, policy experts and commentators. They will come together to have the fundamental debates the left needs on its purpose, organisation and ideas. Speakers include:

Jon Ashworth MP (shadow health secretary), Dawn Butler MP (shadow minister for diverse communities), Nia Griffith MP (shadow defence secretary), Keir Starmer MP (shadow secretary of state for exiting the European Union), Emily Thornberry MP (shadow foreign secretary), Rushanara Ali MP, Stella Creasy MP, Wayne David MP, Maria Eagle MP, Kate Green MP (Fabian Society chair), Caroline Flint MP, Margaret Hodge MP, Stephen Kinnock MP, Alison McGovern MP, Bridget Phillipson MP, Emma Reynolds MP, Seb Dance MEP, Luke Akehurst (Labour First), Richard Angell (Progress), Jonathan Bartley (Green party), Stephen Bush (New Statesman), Claire Fox (Institute of Ideas), Katie Ghose (Electoral Reform Society), Stephany Griffith-Jones (economist), Dr Jan Halper Hayes (Trump Transition Team), Ayesha Hazarika (commentator), Ruth Hunt (Stonewall), Paul Hunter (Smith Institute), Owen Jones (the Guardian), Neal Lawson (Compass), Helen Lewis (New Statesman), Hywel Lloyd (Labour Coast and Country), Cllr Sue MacMillan (Hammersmith and Fulham), Paul Mason (writer & broadcaster), Deborah Mattinson (Britain Thinks), Cllr Reema Patel (Barnet), Trevor Phillips (former chair, Equality & Human Rights Commission), Vicky Pryce (economist), Elizabeth Quintana (RUSI), Ania Skrzypek (FEPS), Ernst Stetter (FEPS), Jo Swinson (former LibDem MP), Leslie Vinjamuri (Chatham House & SOAS) and many more.

New Year Conference is always a highlight of the Fabian calendar, and I hope you can join us to hear Jeremy and all of our other speakers. Tickets are selling fast, and if you haven't booked yours already, head over to our website now - they're just £32 for Fabian members".

"Fabians to look into Newham Mayoral Nomination Vote"

 Check out report below in Newham Recorder.
"The Fabian Society is “seeking further information” after its Newham members alleged they had not participated in a trigger ballot vote to support Sir Robin after the results were announced yesterday.

The incumbent mayor’s victory came from the affiliated organisations – comprising trade unions and socialist societies – which voted 11 to six in favour of keeping him, despite 11 out of 20 Labour wards voting for an open selection process,

The Fabian Society, which has not met in four years, voted to re-select Sir Robin Wales but Newham member Dianne Walls said no invitation was sent to members and if a vote did happen “it was a secret from us”.

She said: “I do not know how it can stand if we were not given the opportunity to vote.”

Representatives believed the society to be defunct after Giles Wright, Membership Officer for the Fabian Society, said it was “no longer active” in an email sent in August 7, 2015.

But Mr Wright announced two new social meetings by email last Tuesday (Nov 29), as seen by the Recorder.

In response to a recipient he said: “Newham Fabian Society is being revived, after a break partly caused by the urgency of national and mayoral elections, etc.”

General Secretary of the Fabian Society, Andrew Harrop, said: “The Fabian Society’s rules require a vote of eligible members before a local Fabian Society makes a nomination in Labour Party selection processes.

“The national Fabian Society has received a number of complaints that correct procedure was not followed in the Newham mayoral trigger ballot and we are now seeking further information from Newham Fabians.”

A representative for Sir Robin Wales declined to comment".

I have also made a complaint to the Fabians.

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)

What will a future Labour Government do with the NHS?

Newham Compass and Fabians will be holding this important debate on Tuesday 10 September 2013 at 7.30pm at West Ham Supporters Club. I will be at TUC congress and will miss it - which is a shame.

"Trident: What its for?" Newham Compass and Fabian Debate

This picture is from the debate organised on Trident by Newham Compass and Fabians last week.

Kate Hudson from CND and Labour Party Councillor (and NEC member) Luke Akehurst debated the proposed Trident Nuclear submarine and missile programme.

Former Newham Cllr (and budding author) Graham Lane (middle of photo) chaired the meeting.

Luke went first and started by arguing that he is not here to argue for the use of nuclear weapons rather it's role in deterring such war. While there is no current threat Trident is an insurance policy for the next 40 years, since who knows what threats we will face during this time interval.

He agrees that the world would be a much better place if there was no nuclear weapons but believes that this is more likely to happen if there was multilateral rather than unilateral disarmament. Since no one would care if we disarmed by ourselves. If you have a deterrence you can negotiate it away but if you haven't got it & then find you need it to face a threat then it will be too late.

Trident lite nuclear solutions make pre-emptive strikes more likely & more dangerous than not having nukes. The total cost of Trident should be viewed over its entire lifetime - 0.3% of total government budget.

Kate was not having any of this and costed Trident at £3 billion per year for 30 years. The equivalent of 30,000 new homes being built each year which could provide 60,000 jobs.

She believes that even the UK Military top brass are worried about opportunity cost of Trident and that the UK cannot have Trident and be an useful military ally. Former Labour minister Des Brown thinks we cannot afford Trident. She points out that even Tony Blair admitted that that having Trident is not about defense but about national status.

Having any nuclear weapons is just too dangerous. If we think we need them then so will other countries.

The debate and Q&A that followed was civilised and courteous unlike similar debates I remember from my youth. As an aside I pointed out in the Q&A that myself and Terry Paul (a Newham Councillor who was also present) were "cold war warriors" who had spent part of our misspent youth in the 1980s as members of the British Territorial Army. Who at the time were trained to defend the German plains and stop the possible advance of hordes of Soviet tanks.

At the time I didn't think we would have much success in this role nor the reassurance we were given that don't worry if nuclear weapons were being used in the battlefield because as long as we had 18 inches of earth above our trenches, we were perfectly safe from anything apart from a direct hit! ...Yeah.

"An Economy for One Nation: How Progressive can a Future Labour Government be"?

Picture of East Ham MP Stephen Timms and UNISON Head of Local Government Heather Wakefield (Chair Christopher Owens on right) at the Newham Compass & Fabians debate on how radical the next Labour Government should be.  This was held last month at West Ham FC supporter’s club.

Stephen spoke first on the central policy of the next Labour Government must be to cut unemployment. The Tory cuts had failed and resulted in no growth. Many people now beginning to realise that the cuts are not working.

The deficit had not been caused by overspending but by the collapse in the economy due to the financial crisis. He enjoyed seeing even Tories criticising government policies. If Labour are elected then there are limits to what we can do. Employment is key to fighting poverty. Labour will offer a guaranteed job for 6 months.

Heather introduced herself as a Chelsea FC season ticket holder who was pleased to be at West Ham! She was going to be more idealistic and talk about values. Privatisation of public services had led to reduced wages and badly run, inefficient services and greater income inequality.

We need gender equality as well as satisfying and socially useful work. Real workplace democracy. We need a partnership at work, a new deal with unions.

There needs to be a new attitude to taxes, ask what the economy is for and who benefits from it? A Green investment bank to make Government offices and homes energy efficient. Deal with tax havens. Raise a Robin Hood (or rather Maid Marian) Tobin Tax. Reform Council tax. Make sure that there is a minimum income for all.

We have the most expensive child care in Europe apart from Switzerland. Women suffer the most in terms of jobs and pay from Austerity. There has to be a Keynesian economic programme, we could invest in new homes. Ask should we have low pay or a living wage. Why do we subsidise Tesco with tax credits?

Worse privatisation was in social care. Dominated by big companies making massive profits out of poor quality care and also schools meals.

In the Q&A I asked the question that in line with Heather’s remarks about rethinking our attitude to taxes, we ought to be pointing out that getting the unemployed into work will cost money and that we have to accept that all of us will have to pay more tax in return for quality public services. 

Heather was very positive in her reply while Stephen was a little more circumspect.

"The Future of London Government" Newham Compass & Fabians

 

Tonight in West Ham FC Supporters club, Green Street (which is actually in East Ham) there was a debate led by London Assembly member, Val Shawcross with Emma Sweeney and Ted Flanagan from the new Queen's Park Parish Council in the London Borough Westminster.

 

The topic was "The Future of London Government" Chaired by Unmesh Desai, organised jointly by Newham Compass and Fabians. Follow my twitter feed at lbncompass. 

 

Val spoke first about how do we sustain and revitalise democracy in London? The Liberal Democrats have been discredited by dropping their core social beliefs in the unsuccessful pursuit of changes that would have benefited them politically (PR and reform of Lords), While the Tories pursue a culture of secrecy especially in the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade.

 

We need to start a dialogue in the Labour Party about democratising and self government, look at the voluntary sector, social enterprises, mutuals and real local control of the NHS. Tories are about privatisation while we should be driving our democratic tentacles into private sector and promoting "responsible capitalism". This change should not be at the expense of workers terms and conditions.

 

Ted and Emma spoke about their experiences in Queens Park setting up a Parish Council in a mixed income ward in Westminster with houses worth a £million + and a 1960s Council estate with the worse child poverty rate in Europe. They got the idea from a journalist when their local forum had its funding cut in 2010. 68% of the ward voted to set up the Parish, which will receive around £45 per year from each household in the ward (collected by Westminster on top of Council tax). This will raise £180k per year which will be spent on extra community services and events as decided by the local elected parish councillors. Not replace existing borough services.

 

Like I think nearly everyone present I think this is a really interesting idea and needs following. I'm a little sceptical to be honest since I have seen all sorts of centralised then decentralised then recentralised community governance models in my time, come and go. Yet Ted and Emma seem very confident that this time it should be different.

 

In the Q&A I warned Val that while the Voluntary sector does many good things there are also appalling governance in many such organisations which needs addressing. I pointed out the Metropolitan Housing Robbery.  She accepted that far more needs to be done to improve the way that these organisations conduct themselves and we need to start a debate in the Labour Party on how to do this.

Newham Fabians AGM 2011

Picture is from Newham Fabians AGM which took place at the Town Hall in East Ham on Monday evening. The Fabians are an independent socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party. 

The Guest speaker was local MP Stephen Timms (main picture).  He spoke about the role of the Fabians in the current climate.

I missed most of the meeting due to a clash.  When I came in there was a robust but comradely debate going on about possible past mistakes and the future direction of the Party.  Very Fabian!  Stephen then had to leave in order to go to the House of Commons to vote against the Tories (to loud cheers from one and all).

It had been a very positive and constructive Labour Movement meeting.  A local MP, Councillors, trade unionists, (a former MEP) and Party activists meeting up together to exchange views and progress Labour politics.

Many thanks to Tower Hamlets Labour Party activist and photographer, Dan MCCurry, for the excellent photos.  They really bring the event to life. Check out his "Newham Fabians" FaceBook album here.

It's Grim Down Sarf: SERTUC Cuts Watch

SERTUC (South Eastern Region Trade Union Congress) are publishing a monthly guide to the cuts facing our region.  There has been concern that some people think that the "cuts" will only impact on "the North".  When in reality:-

- "The highest change in long-term youth unemployment in UK is in Medway in the South East - up 158% compared to next highest West Lothian up 120%, with Wandsworth in London the 6th highest increase, and Peterborough in the East of England in 13th place (out of 231 authorities)

- Lewisham and Hackney in London have the highest claimant to jobs ratios in the UK, with 7 other London boroughs in the top 20 (out of 206) Many of the authorities with the highest percentage of public sector jobs are in the SERTUC region, including Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury and Hastings at over 40%, and 45 others above the national average of 26.9%

- 20 of the 62 authorities to already receive a larger than average cut to their grant allocation for 2010 were in the SERTUC region

- 500,000 people in the South East sub-region live in areas that rank within the 20% most deprived in the country

- the South East England Development Agency estimated (in August 2010) 100,000 job losses following the public sector cuts (74,000 public sector, 26,000 consequent private sector losses)-

- London has the second highest unemployment rate at 9.3% (North East 9.4%)".

By coincidence I got an email from the Fabians (I am a member) inviting me to a Policy Network meeting on Monday called "Southern Discomfort Again" about the failure of Labour to attract support in the South of England during the last election.

Promoting UNISON in Labour: Vote Ed Miliband for Leader

This evening I received an automated telephone message from UNISON Labour Link. The message encouraged me to vote for Ed Miliband to be the next Labour Party leader as the person best to save services and protect jobs.

It also asked my current voting intentions and asked if I was a member of the Labour Party (and if not do I want to join).

I think this is a very constructive way for a union's political fund to engage with member's and also let them know who their democratically elected lay leadership think is best for the job.

Yesterday I received by post ballot papers via UNISON and the Fabians - today I got another ballot paper from the Labour Housing Group (LHG).  This makes 4 ballot paper's for the national Party leadership(Labour Party, Fabians, UNISON and LHG) and 5 for London Mayor (London Labour Party member; Co-operative Party, Fabians and UNISON Labour Link).  I think this is it?

The LHG ballot paper makes me remember to do something about contacting Labour "housing people" locally about seeing if we can form a London branch of the Labour Housing Group.  We need a stronger Labour Party voice on all forms of housing in London.  We cannot let the hardline right win the battle of ideas on this core progressive issue.