"Let’s build on the brilliant Jo Cox women’s programme with leadership schemes for gay, trans and BAME activists"

Excellent article by West Ham CLPer, Rohit K Dasgupta, on LabourList today. 

"This is an exciting time to be a Labour member. The latest Survation polls puts us ahead of the Tories. Members are enthused and confident about the upcoming local elections in May 2018 and, in between all of this, Jeremy Corbyn has announced the democracy review.

The review, launched formally in November, will be a consultation to address how members can be democratically involved in the party and its structure as we prepare to form the next government.

At the very outset this is a mammoth task but its overall goals towards accountability, transparency and representation of all party members is welcome. I was recently at the launch of the BAME Labour consultation in London where I made a plea: the party has made great strides towards equality issues but we need to do much more.

As an openly gay and Asian Labour activist I have often found myself in groups where one or another part of my identity is seen as problematic. Our identities are not mutually exclusive but rather they are inextricably linked. Whilst I have faced racism in mainstream queer spaces, I have often also had to face homophobia in “safe” BAME spaces. I think the current democracy review gives the party an opportunity to shine a lens on these issues.

I propose that this can be done in four ways.

Firstly, the party already has a long established mechanism of all-women’s shortlists to address the issue of female representation in Parliament. Most recently AWS has also been used successfully in the selection of council candidates.

Positive action is useful as an affirmative action to bridging inequalities. If we are able to do this for gender, I would suggest that the party also takes into consideration race and sexuality in selections. It would be useful to point out at that this should not equate to making sure a BAME candidate is included in the longlist of parliamentary selections, as is currently done. That is simply not enough and for many CLPs it is as a tick-box exercise. I was surprised at the recent council selections for Newham in east London, where I belong, when the regional party did not even collect demographics related to sexuality.

Whilst positive action is a good thing and can open the door, the real test would be for actual training and mentorship. Trade unions have come out in support of making sure more working class voices in parliament and providing mentoring. We need similar training and mentorship for LGBT and BAME candidates. The Jo Cox women in leadership program has shown what a good training program can do. It is time for Labour to invest in similar programs. How about a Bernie Grant leadership program or a Chris Smith leadership Program?

The only way we can make our politics and political leaders truly representative is by investing. This is a good time for the party to invest in its socialist societies and liberation groups and ensure they are producing the next generation of leaders from under-represented communities. I would also suggest that this kind of training should involve bursaries and grants for working class and disabled candidates to help them participate.

The third point is to make the change at the grassroots level. The party needs to ensure that liberation groups and officers are given more power. All CLPs now have a women’s officer who is a voting member of the executive. Why are the LGBT and BAME co-ordinators not given the same status within our CLP executive and given equal voting rights?

This would increase accountability and help grow liberation groups. For many of us LGBT and/or BAME young people, we are conditioned to believe that politics is not for us. This must be challenged and it has to come from the very bottom. Socialist societies can also play an important role in this. Through affiliation with CLPs they can make sure that local parties remain progressive, inclusive and committed to equalities. Affiliation will also encourage more members of under-represented groups get involved within.

This brings me to my final point, of how to ensure grassroots engagement is beneficial for liberation groups. Let’s make it easier for people to join them when they join Labour. If members indicate they are BAME, LGBT or disabled they should automatically be made members of these groups. It took me almost five years to understand how to join BAME Labour.

This should be a turning point for us in Labour. The Tory government is in a mess, we have a very large and active membership base whose power we need to harness in the next election. For a truly democratic, progressive and transparent voice; we must embrace intersectionality and give all liberation groups that extra push to make sure our party is representative of the plurality of its membership.

Dr Rohit K Dasgupta is a lecturer at Loughborough University. He was Labour’s candidate for East Hampshire in 2017. 

https://labourlist.org/2017/12/lets-build-on-the-brilliant-jo-cox-programme-with-leadership-schemes-for-gay-trans-and-bame-activists

Great Newham Get Together - In Honour of Jo Cox

This afternoon I went to the Newham Woodcraft Kids Zone and Big Lunch Picnic in Wanstead Flats next to the Golden Fleece pub.

It was simply a fantastic community event. Loads of people from all over Forest Gate and Manor Park had come to participate, share food, meet their neighbours and also honour Jo Cox and all what she stood for.

Many, many thanks to Newham Woodcraft folk for doing all the hard work putting up the tents and organising the entertainment for the kids.

There is indeed more that we have in common that divides us.

Never forget. 

The Great Get Together Newham

All the events on one poster! Please share widely

Pause to remember Jo Cox MP - Westhammers at "Arc in the Park"

A lot has happened since Sunday, when UK political parties suspended General Election campaigning for one hour in order to remember murdered young mum and MP, Jo Cox, and to visit community projects. In West Ham we stopped campaigning and visited the "Arc in the Park" project in Canning Town with our Labour Parliamentary candidate, Lyn Brown. This is now run by the charity called AAA (Ambition, Aspire, Achieve).

AAA supports disabled children and young people as well as their families. Despite cuts in Council funding the charity still provides much needed respite and support. We were given a guided tour of the sensory garden and play area by staff who were so, so proud of what they do.

After the visit many of us went back to campaign for Labour in Forest Gate.

Little did we know that while we were remembering the terrible murder by a British born fascist last year of a young woman in Yorkshire that another British born fascist was planning to murder even more girls and women in Manchester.

I am so proud to live in a country that despite significant problems of inequality and unfairness, unites against fascism in all its forms and has so many people, like Jo Cox, the staff at AAA, the emergency workers in Manchester, who have dedicated their lives to the public service of others. 

We are Londoners: We are One

I was supposed to have gone to the House of Commons this morning for a pension briefing but had to cancel due to a last minute clash. I also had a long telephone conversation at lunchtime with an MP who was driving into Parliament to vote. Many of my friends and colleagues were at work today inside or visiting Parliament.

While we don't know the full facts on what happened this afternoon it seems that some brainwashed moron had decided to deliberately murder innocent tourists and unarmed public servants.

Why this cretin thought that such cowardly murders would advance any cause is beyond belief.

To me there is no difference between the fascist who murdered Jo Cox MP or the one who tried to kill MPs today.

I think our first response to such vile acts is to state that while we are proud and passionate about our religious or secular beliefs, we are also all Londoners.We are democratic, tolerant and proud of our diversity and the rule of law.

I love the Facebook friend who lives in Newcastle who said today's outrage also "felt like her own family had been attacked".

The best response is that such an attack on London is actually an attack on all of us - and we should all respond accordingly by not only condemning but doing something practical and real against all such hate and bigotry.
(hat tip photo Dave Hill).

Forest Gate Vigil for Jo Cox

Picture collage is from the vigil held yesterday morning (I was out of London this weekend) in Forest Gate for Jo Cox MP, who was murdered by an apparently mentally disturbed but committed Nazi and Fascist. 

It was organised by West Ham Labour Women's Forum and our local MP, Lyn Brown, was the main speaker. 

It was I understand a very moving and emotional meeting.

I did not know Jo at all and while I am outraged at her horrible death I also note how many people were equally shocked and disturbed at her killing. 

At the Forest Gate North Labour Party candidate selection meeting on Thursday which I chaired, I was genuinely surprised how many members beforehand came up to me to insist that we had a minute's silence to honour her. 

Since then I have spoken to other friends and family members and I was struck by how they understood the connection with the massacre in Orlando a few days beforehand and the disgusting campaign by some Brixit right wing media and campaigners to demonise anyone who supports remaining in the European Union. See the vile collection of Daily Express front pages in the collage. 

Did they encourage Mr. "Death to Traitors"? If so they have innocent blood on their hands. 

Hat tip photos Seyi, Rok and Veronica