#ONENHS #SamePaySameJob: UNISON Strike for Fair Pay for Compass Hospital Workers

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

We are hospital support staff working for Compass in St Helens & Knowsley and Blackpool NHS Trusts. We keep hospitals clean, cook for patients and keep them safe.

We are paid over £1000 less per year and have worse terms & conditions than some of our colleagues who do the same jobs. That's why we are standing together for fair pay and fair treatment.

Our fellow UNISON members at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital won their dispute against Compass and we'll stick together until we're treated fairly in St Helens and Blackpool too.

#ONENHS, nobody left out.

WHAT DO WE WANT?

We want Compass to commit to ending the two-tier workforce they've helped to create in St Helens and Blackpool hospitals.

We want Compass to pay the full NHS Agenda for Change (AFC) rate of £9.03 to all staff.

We want Compass to commit to full NHS AFC terms and conditions for all staff, including enhancements and occupational sick pay.

We want Compass to commit to ongoing pay parity with colleagues on AFC contracts.

WHAT ACTION HAVE WE TAKEN SO FAR?

We went on a one day strike on Wednesday 31 July, followed by two days of strike action on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 August, finally we took three days of strike action from Thursday 19 September. We've taken 6 days of strike action in total.

WHAT ACTION DO WE HAVE PLANNED?

We have served notice for a six day strike. We will be striking on 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 October.

If Compass do not offer us what we're owed then we will take further action in future.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Please attend picket lines to support us during the upcoming strike days. Pickets will take place at Whiston Hospital and Blackpool Victoria Hospital on the strike days described above.

Please donate to our strike fund. Email nwdisputesteam@unison.co.uk for further details on how to donate.

Please sign our petition: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/onenhs-fair-pay-for-compass-hospital-workers

Post messages of support on social media: please hashtag #ONENHS and tag @NoMoralCompass1 and @NorthWestUNISON

Is it time for a Progressive Alliance to defeat the Tories? Newham Compass with Neal Lawson & Sian Berry

While a very,very worthy aim I don't think it will work nor is it necessarily the right thing to do. What about a progressive alliance within the Labour Party instead?

But I hope to attend and listen to the arguments.  

British Foreign Policy in the Middle East - Newham Compass

Advance notice of the next Newham Compass event on Tuesday 17th February

"British Foreign Policy in the Middle East"

with Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South.

I have a clash (my UNISON branch AGM) so will not be able to make it. Which is a shame not least since Mike is a former chair of the foreign affairs select committee.

I'll post more details when I get them.

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)

Reminder: What will a future Labour Government do with the NHS? - Tuesday 10 September

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.

Transforming Labour: Newham Compass event 10 March

The Newham branch of Compass are holding another event on Thursday 10 March. 

Starting 8pm at the West Ham Supporters Club in Castle Street, E6 1PP. 

This is also where Newham trade union council use to meet for many years.

Local East Ham MP Stephen Timms and Gavin Hayes (Compass) will lead a debate on "A Charter for Party Renewal? Transforming Labour".

There have been two previous Compass in Newham events here and here.

You can get copies of the Compass pamphlet by contacting one of the organisers Christopher (see flyer - double click to bring up details).  Let him know if you are going so he will know how many to expect.

Newham Compass Launch with Neil Lawson: A Bright Future for Royal Mail?

Last Wednesday there was an inaugural meeting of a borough wide Newham Compass group. The speakers were the Chair of Compass Neil Lawson (right) and Lee Waker (left) who is the East London Political officer of the CWU (and a real Postie) as well as a Labour Councillor in Barking and Dagenham.

The meeting was in the Emmanuel Church Hall in Forest Gate and chaired by local Party activist Christopher Owens. There wasn’t that many of us (nine) but Neil didn’t seem to mind: -

Firstly he complimented the small but perfectly formed meeting. It only takes 5 people to change the world. Quality never mind the quantity matters in politics. Compass is a pressure group not a think tank. Ideas are essential but we need to make things happen. He doesn’t believe in the Labour Party “Leadership betrayal” tradition. It is much better to point out what the Party has achieved but also point out that this is not enough and the party needs to be transformed. A big Parliamentary majority doesn’t mean big changes. The forces of conservatism - the Daily Mail, the CBI etc. blocks change. We have to form alliances. The Greens have many better ideas than Labour or the Liberal Democrats but there are not serious enough about getting power.

New Labour should be criticised for not being new enough and not Labour enough. It is too rooted in bureaucracy and too right wing. They have done many good things but not good enough. Pragmatic politics not revolution however means things should be built slowly and purposefully.

Compass had worked hard with the CWU to stop the part privatisation of Royal Mail. This would have meant that the terms and conditions of Royal Mail workers would have been eroded and their bargaining position weakened. New Labour views everything from the prism that global completion is good thing and it is also an inevitable thing. The job of government is to help this take place. Therefore the best route is for Royal Mail is to be opened up to private sector competition to perform in the long term.

This is very much a monoculture view. One view of society which we think is wrong. There is no rationale or reason for this one view. There is no basis for private sector money in Royal Mail. There are plenty of alternatives. There is an ideological view. Load of angst about the union, its force and power and how it can be broken. We have a more public view of the sector. We looked at the BBC, Network Rail, and Welsh Water. There are loads of different models. The Government is fixated with one model of part privatisation. We put forward alternatives which were rejected out of hand. Eventually the government had to accept they could not get it through.

Why does the Royal Mail matter? It’s about building institutions. Why after 12 years of Labour Government did the economic crisis caused by bankers turn into an attack on public sector? Why are we facing losing a 70 seat majority? If we do, this will be worse than 1979. If we lose where can the unions and local government regroup and survive the Tories? We need institutions such as Royal Mail. When you walk into a NHS hospital you are not just patients. We are not just consumers but citizens. With Royal Mail it doesn’t matter where you live you still get the same services. When you queue in the post office you are treated as equal citizens not consumers. That is why we think they are so important. Thatcher said that “economics was the means; the goal was to change the soul". People had the choice to be greedy and selfish. She set out to destroy collective institution and replace with individual institutions. People did not believe in society. We should have done more to oppose these ideas we need to stop the poor getting poorer and stop the planet from burning (finish).

Lee meanwhile has worked for Royal Mail for 22 years. He had been a member of the Labour Party for 35 years. He had a traditional Labour background. He is also a Labour councillor in Dagenham. The recent dispute is about caring for one another, people standing up for people, an injury to one is an injury to all. He is not just a member of a union he is a trade unionist. His branch is based on real values. They all go out of the way to support others. Even if we lose money. Week in, week out, not at work, not getting paid is an enormous sacrifice. London CWU had been out on strike practically one day a week since June. He thought that the dispute had been planned centrally in the government. It’s not just Mandelson. The CWU are seen as the next Miners.

We had a 63% ballot result in favour of strike action. We had strong public support. It was really touching. People have seen this selfish society we have had since 1979. Good things have been done by Labour such as new Schools and hospitals but it is still dog eat dog. We councillors have to see people deal with loan sharks, this is the real world. People also see its dog eat dog. That is why we get support. The arguments for privatisation came from the Tories when you had British Leyland and Steel. But this has meant that 60% of manufacturing jobs has gone. The idea of New Labour is a Thatcher idea. When Thatcher was asked what was her best achievement? She said it was to change the Labour party. I am a socialist but I now agree with right wing in the Party that I use to argue with in the 1970s. We all believe in public housing and public services. We are now all social democrats, we are all reformers right and left.

The job of changing politics is still down to the Labour Party and trade unions. Trade unions are partly to blame for the current situation. My own union voted 80% to get rid of Clause 4. Which was not of course perfect but - I was known as being far left but I kept my seat and beat the BNP at the last election.

The Privatisation of Royal Mail. Royal Mail is a unique public service. Private companies are sponging off the universal service we provide. We have the best and cheapest post service in Europe. Why are private companies angry about the strike? Surely they should have seen it as a great money making opportunity? No, because it is us that have to deliver “the final mile”. Our productively has increased no end. We have lost loads of jobs. We now have a “clear office” policy. We’ve done what we can but that has left our members so angry. The total post has only fallen by 5%. Mail volumes have increased massively in the last 20 years. It is hardly surprising mail volume have fallen due to recession. Compared to when I started work the volume of post has increased. Direct mail alone has increased rounds and too many people are now threatened with sack if they cannot cope.

The Royal Mail Pension scheme liabilities are a red herring since if the government is prepared to sure up the scheme if it is part privatised then why not do that anyway? Remember Royal Mail took years of pension contribution holidays. The deficit means we now have to work longer and get less money.

Coming back to the Government. New Labour is not capable of learning anything. We have the situation were for example in Housing both the fascists and the Tories are making it a big issue to attack Labour. Housing associations are like businesses. Housing benefit is being used to pay £300 per week for nothing. The Royal Mail should settle with the CWU. Offer to work with people. Out of the 180 people I work with I don’t think anyone but me will vote labour except for those who live in my ward. We paid £3 trillion in bail outs for the Banks. Labour needs to win back those postal workers. What we need is just a regular job - that is all we are after. No short time workers. We have a seniority system that management hates.

The agreement on paper so far looks ok but doesn’t seem to be implemented by management. Labour needs to make its mind up if they are Tory Mark 2 or a social democrat party for working people. Everyone wants the same, a decent job and decent living conditions. I think unions should have done more to change the party and are as guilty as rest of them. We want our members to support a worker friendly Labour Party (finish).

There was a good Q&A afterwards and a few of us later continued the debate in the time honoured way in the nearby Weatherspoons.

(Please note usual health warning - people were speaking far faster than I can type)

A bright future for Royal Mail

This should be a topical debate. Well done to Newham Compass and the local CWU for organising this event. I’ll circulate it to Newham TULO members and ask the local CLP’s to pass it on.

I was pleased that at today’s UNISON London Regional Finance Team meeting we agreed to make an immediate donation to the London CWU Hardship Fund Payments and at the later Regional Council Officer meeting we made a recommendation that a significant donation should be made to our next Regional Committee.

Details of the Fund:-

CWU London Divisional Committee – Hardship Fund
Unity Trust Account No. 20232065
Sort code: 086001

Or send (non strike days of course)
Hardship Fund
C/O CWU London Divisional Committee
2nd Floor, 33-41 Dallington Street
London
EC1V 0BB
020 7336 8371 or 020 7336 8373

Nice One Lawson!

Was I the only one to have his commute into work ruined this morning by listening to this idiotic interview on Radio 4 Today with Compass’s Neil Lawson and Tribune’s Chris McLoughlin?

The interview was supposed to be about an article by David Miliband (of all people) published in Tribune which was interpreted as supporting the idea of a Totnes style MP selection process.

Now I suspect that many Labour Party activists including myself would have reservations about this but it is an interesting idea – what was simply unforgivable in my view was Lawson using the occasion to grandstand and attack his own Party as “Dying” a Party “that doesn’t believe in anything” where members have “absolutely no rights and no say whatsoever”.

Not only that but it is a Party that apparently “doesn’t believe in a different or better society” or has any vision and suggested it was just being run by careerists and opportunists.

With friends like this? ....What really annoys me about this is that we have less than a year to a general election? Yes, there are things wrong with the Labour Party and its internal democracy which need changing. Did this interview actually contribute to changing things or did this ex-lobbyist self publicist just achieve in getting real activists backs up?

The interviewer Jim Naughtie noted pointedly that Lawson refers to his opponents as “they” as if they are from a different party and that ordinary voters will notice this.

What I also found unforgivable is that these two self professed lefties never even bothered to discuss the only really different and radical suggestion by Miliband (again of all people) about a new possible role in the Party for the 3 million trade union political levy payers.

No, no mention of this at all – rather it was just the usual self-indulgent moans and whines by the excluded wing of the self appointed Party Intelligentsia which no doubt gets a sympathetic hearing at dinner parties and first nights.

These people self-evidently don’t give a real damn about the prospects of the Party if they are not the ones in charge. Frankly following this morning's farrago they have only succeeded in making even Hazel Blears seem an ultra Party loyalist.

Compass Conference – Workshops, Global Question time and Close

This report follows my first post “Navigating the Compass Conference”. After the morning keynote speeches there was a choice of 16 workshops. I decided on the “An Irresistible Force? Managing globalisation” by Unions 21. Just beforehand I sneaked into the debate on Trident and took this quick picture (left) of Labour blogger, Luke Akehurst, who was speaking in favour of Trident(on left with Jon Trickett standing).

Will Hutton, of the Work Foundation was guest speaker at the unions 21 workshop. A lot of international trade unions were represented. This is now the third trade union meeting on globalisation that I have attended in recent weeks. Things are starting to happen. Will made an interesting remark about the Chinese being concerned about goods “being made in china but not made by Chinese” referring to the level of foreign ownership of companies, China retains little “added value”. However, it’s the Asian saving culture and the huge amount of petrol dollars which have fuelled the Private Equity boom in the West. I asked my usual question on the role of workers capital. Which the panel broadly agreed should be important.

After lunch I went to the New Local Government Network workshop on Globalisation and local government. The panel of speakers (see top right photo: left to right) Stella Creasy (former mayor of Waltham Forest), Chair (rudely I have forgotten his name), Lyn Brown MP (West Ham), Cllr Steve Reed (Lambeth Council Leader) and Jane Roberts (former Leader of Camden). It seems that the new bill currently making its way on local government is finally going to decentralise decision making back to local authorities. This went down very well with the audience. Lyn, in her probably unique experience as a local government researcher, senior councillor and now PPS to the Minister for Local government felt that these were an opportunity for a Renaissance in Councils. In the meeting was another blogger, my favourite GMB Councillor from the London Borough of Waltham Forest, Miranda Grell (see pic below). In my response to my question to the panel on the role of unions in this Lyn suggested that we ought to have representation on local strategic partnership boards. While Stella quoted Ed Miliban (I think it was Ed not David) that Council workers should stop being “experts” and start being “navigators” for their communities. A very suitable thing to say at a compass conference!

Global question time in the great hall followed. Poor old Garth Thomas MP, under secretary of state for international development had a hard time from his fellow panellists (Martin Bright “New Statesman”, Shami Chakrabarti “Liberty”, Martin Sedden “Al jazeera” and Sukvinder Stubbs “Barrow Cadbury Group”). However, thought that he stood his ground well and gave as good as he got especially over the debate about a “British Day”. Heather Wakefield, from UNISON asked a question about how the panel would tackle the continued discrimination in public services regarding equal pay for women. This had Shami unusually, she admitted for a Liberty spokesperson, calling for greater regulations and legal enforcement.

Antonio Miranda a Brazilian campaigner spoke about the successful battle in Brazil against water privatisation.

Jon Tickett MP was the final speaker. Jon Cruddas was in Cardiff with the rest of the deputy leadership candidates. He was billed to give a video message, but it never happened for some reason. I thought that Jon T speech was quite negative and even a little grumpy. Nothing to write home about.

It is interesting that I don’t think any of main Compass speakers mentioned Tony Blair by name even once. Despite this I am not wholly convinced that Compass is really that different from “New Labour”. Compass is certainly associated with distinctive polices such as opposition to Iraq and Trident at which they are at odds with the Labour Government. However, on the basis of what I heard at this conference about Compass supporters “positions” on privatisation, economic policy, globalisation etc then I think there is in reality no fundamental schism. I think that Compass is a “traditional” Labour movement which has ditched Marxism and state socialism for civil liberties and equal opportunities.

Navigating the Compass conference

Sorry, I can’t resist a pun, however, I was in fact recommended to become a “navigator” by one of the workshop speakers, so perhaps it is actually quite apt. The 4th annual conference of “Compass” took place yesterday at Central Hall, Westminster. The web site claims “Compass is the democratic left pressure group, whose goal is to debate and develop the ideas for a more equal and democratic world, then campaign and organise to help ensure they become reality”.

The journey to Westminster was a bit confusing. The district and circle lines where closed due to engineer works (which caused the conference to start very late). A practice of the “Trooping of the Colour” was also taking place close by at Horseguards. The conference went on all day. I will break this up into 2 posts, morning speeches and them post something later on work shops and closing session.

Neal Lawson, chair of Compass, was the first keynote speaker. I think he was trying to attack the current labour government while at the same time saying he was giving Brown the benefit of the doubt. He was “optimistic” over Brown and wanted to move beyond the “politics of betrayal”. However, the left must offer Brown support when he gets things “right” and constructive but friendly criticism when he gets things wrong. I bet Brown can’t wait for the constructive stuff. He ended by reminding people that it was Margaret Thatcher (of all people) who said “socialism is never defeated”.

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of UNISON (who had sponsored the conference) spoke next and gave a well received speech. He spoke about a new political landscape that is taking place “another world is possible”. A “new course for our country”. “Gordon says he is listening, our job is to make sure he is”.

Then Deputy Leader of the TUC Frances O’Grady, who was introduced by the great “hope” of the trade union movement! More good stuff on managing globalisation (see previous posts).

An extra speaker was Mustafa Barghouti, Palestine information minister (a former Presidential candidate and not Hamas – seen as a “moderate”) who gave a tub thumping speech on Palestine. While it went down well with the audience, I don’t think simply blaming Israel for all the ills in the region is going to change things. In fact I think that such rhetoric lets Israel off the hock, since most people would accept that in this complex conflict there is more than one party to blame (including the British) and will dismiss his views as mere propaganda. Which just plays into Israeli’s hands and enable them to successfully paint all their opponents as extremists and terrorists who they can’t do business with? I think that Mustafa knows this.

Final speaker was Ken Livingston. Another Bravo performance. Part “cheeky chappie” part Left intellectual and free thinker. He admitted that in the past the Left has been wrong about how to respond to globalisation. Giving subsidies to London manufacturing industries had completely failed to do anything to protect them. Instead he has now gone on the offensive for social progress by acting globally. London was part of an international consortium made up of the 40 biggest cities in the world. Which had combined to use their purchasing power to arrange multi-billion loans to retro fit for energy efficient, purposes every public building in London? Nothing to do with central government. Ken said “this is globalisation” not just leaders going to international conferences held in nice hotels. He finished by talking about local income taxes which if he could set at 2% in London would solve practically all its social problems. He recognised that you need to set taxes at a point which is a bit painful but not so painful that they (City financial services) would “bugger off”.

Picture of Tower Hamlets Labour Party activists Cllr Anwara Ali (and local GP), Cllr Bill Turner (UNISON member) and Law centre worker Amina Ali (who has been short listed as a PPC in Bristol)

I'll post the report on the workshops and closing sessions later