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Labour Left Internationalists fringe meeting

Fight poverty – tax the rich
With Maria Exall (former TUC President), Carol Hayton (Labour Campaign for Council Housing), Avery Greatorex (Pride in Labour), LLI speaker, and plenty of time for discussion
6:30 Monday, Quaker Meeting House Liverpool, 22 School Lane L1 3BT

Organising can win: Two child cap back on the agenda? But housing, environment and Palestine still ruled out

There were around 70 motions ruled out last year. Whilst we don’t yet know the total for this year, we do know of dozens including Horsham CLP’s on housing, Stretford & Urmston’s on the environment, Hackney North’s on support for resistance within Israel, the SEA’s on Palestine, and many many CLPs on ending the two child cap.
None of these are on points ‘substantially (or even at all, in some cases!) covered by the NPF report. In fact, around the country, CLP members are looking at the NPF report and asking “where’s everything we discussed and sent in?”
The CAC has been on a ruling-out binge again. The rules saying that motions must refer to events after 8 August, must not address matters covered by the NPF, and must be “on one topic” only, are notoriously slippery, in fact loose enough to allow the CAC to rule out almost anything.
Some years the CAC has ruled out relatively few. Other times, especially in the Ed Miliband years, it has ruled out wholesale, as now.
We can beat this back though – the petition to the CAC circulated by Mainstream on the two-child cap ruling was picked up by many others and led to a climb-down at appeal. We now need to get it through the priorities ballot – under the subject ‘Supporting Families’ – and to support appeals on the other ruled out motions. Appeals refused by the CAC can be challenged right at the start of conference, but this can be fast, before delegates know what is happening, with minimal debate. Be ready for CAC Report 11:20 Sunday.

What sort of Deputy Leader? What sort of election?

Nominations are closed, and the ballot will open a week after conference ends. It has been rushed, with the ‘20% of the PLP’ rule manipulated to reduce the scope of debate in the party. Unlike the process described in chapter four of party rules, the PLP nominations went first making an additional preliminary stage to the process (Clause II.2.iii allows CLPs to nominate any member of the PLP, without the PLP sifting nominations first). This also left very little time in this extra stage for MPs to discuss with CLPs, and most didn’t.
In CLP after CLP, nominating meetings have been discussing the fact that the party needs a change of direction – and this vote is being seen as a poll on exactly that (and for many, the need for Starmer to go). We know what side we are on for that. Whilst some CLPs and affiliates have chosen not to nominate, in many, Lucy Powell has been seen as the candidate more consistent with that aim, despite the fact that she has said nothing more on two child cap, for example, than Bridget Phillipson, and worked in government to get such bad legislation through. She has not even supported the policy pronouncements of Mainstream. She does now say that she wants to be a Deputy outside the cabinet, with the freedoms that brings, and with a focus on the party. She wouldn’t have been our first choice, but with the choice we have, we urge a Powell vote.
Whoever wins, we need to build an active and serious Labour left. We welcome – and are taking part in – the newly launched Mainstream, and urge our readers to do the same – find out more on the Mainstream website http://www.mainstreamlabour.org. Labour Left Internationalists supporters are working to build the party at the grassroots to create the pressure on the PLP – from welfare to wealth tax – to counter all those pressures from above. We want to see a deputy leader who will be voice of members and ‘speak truth to power’. We should pressure Powell to give her support to the policy platform of Mainstream and the widespread desire for change – from where most of her vote will no doubt come.

Brexit has failed: Support Lewisham North reference back

Also early in conference: Conference calls on the NPF to look beyond the ’24 manifesto commitments with respect to the EU relationship and to press for faster re-alignment with the EU single market within this parliament and to examine the possibility of rejoining  the European Union being a manifesto promise for the next general election.
The NPF report talks of much progress but draws little conclusions. It makes much of the UK-EU summit in May, which itself was inconclusive. No agreements were made. Not even on the softest of targets, Defence.
This reference back calls for the NPF to consider looking beyond the ’24 manifesto commitments with respect to the EU relationship and to press for faster re-alignment with the EU single market, within this parliament, and to examine the possibility of rejoining the European Union being a manifesto promise for the next general election.
In addition to its lack of ambition, the report fails to mention the reset meetings requirements that the UK must fully implement its commitments under the “withdrawal agreement”, the Windsor framework and the “Trade and cooperation agreement” and that, as said, it failed to conclude any improvement in the formal relationships between the United Kingdom and the European Union, including on youth mobility.
The referendum decision was taken three elections and 9 years ago. It is a dead and failed mandate. For those that fear giving Farage space, you can’t fight him by agreeing with him. He’s wrong on Europe and wrong on immigration and we need to say so.

Priorities Ballot

It is (deliberately) poor organising that no-one knows the motions till we get to conference, nor the ‘subject groups’ that we actually vote on in the ballot. Bearing in mind that CLP delegates do not need to prioritise anything already prioritised by unions, we’d urge delegates to include Support for Families and whichever groups include EHRC, Asylum, and Water. Ballots are issued at regional briefings 9am Sunday, voting 10 till 2.

Conference diary

These are the things on the fringe that look most interesting to us:

Saturday
3:30 – Protest organised by Pride in Labour and others about indefinite postponement of women’s conference, at the wheel.
6:30 – CLPD rally, Friends’ Meeting House
Sunday
11am – Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS protest, Lime Street
12:30 – Arise Poverty event, Racket Club
5pm – Labour List Rally, Revolucion de Cuba
Monday
6pm – Socialist Health Association ‘Restore NHS’,  Friends’ Meeting House
6:30 – Labour Left Internationalists fringe meeting, Friends’ Meeting House
7pm – Open Labour rally, Black Lodge Brewery
8.45 – Mainstream social, Kabannas
Tuesday
12.30 – Labour for Trans Rights rally, ACC 3A
4:30 – Pride in Labour fringe meeting, Central Library
5pm – Socialist Campaign Group, Quayside Suite, Crowne Plaza Hotel
5:30 – Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, the Liverpool Pub, 14 James St L2 7PQ (sponsored by LLI with Chartist and Open Labour)
6pm – Socialist Health Association ‘Child Poverty & Health’,  Friends’ Meeting House
6:30 – CLPD-Momentum rally, Friends’ Meeting House, followed by Momentum social at the Denbigh Castle