Notes from the 28 Sep – 1 Oct 2025 Labour conference

CAC Report Challenged on Gaza and Housing

Several delegates challenged the Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC) report, including those from Glasgow Kelvin and Hackney South CLPs whose Gaza motions had been ruled out.

Horsham CLP challenged the ruling out of their motion on Housing – again, told that the issues in their motion had been “substantially addressed” in the NPF. Their delegate made the excellent point that if the CAC can’t quote the page in the NPF where the issue is addressed then its claim that it has been is hollow

We are pleased to offer a fantastic prize to the first CAC member who can give us a page number for any reference to homelessness or the ‘right to buy’.

While we are waiting for that, we urge CLPs to get in touch with the Labour Campaign for Council Housing for a speaker.

‘Tommy Robinson’ demo and attacks on asylum hotels – not an emergency?

Oldham East CLP was informed on 27 Sep that its emergency motion had not been accepted by the CAC.

The motion “notes that demonstrations outside asylum hotels culminated in a reported over 100,000 marching in London on September 13th, with further attacks on hotels including in Scotland and the North West”.

It calls for the Government to work with local councils to inform their residents about why asylum seekers are being housed in hotels in their area; where they come from and what is happening in their country of origin, for the Government to stop contracting out to Serco, Clearsprings and Mears the task of accommodating asylum seekers, and for safe legal routes for refugees.

Anyone who has been anywhere near a hotel housing refugees when demonstrators have been screaming at them from outside knows this is an emergency. Anyone who was in London on 13 September knows this is an emergency. Where have they CAC members been?

Contracting out the accommodation of refugees to profiteers rather than funding local authorities means that accommodation is separated from things like safeguarding and education. Refugee children, for example, are left with no school places or pulled out of their school with no notice, to be moved to different temporary accommodation mile away from the friends they have started to make and support they have started to access.

We understand that the CLP is appealing this decision. Meanwhile, they have been told that their motion has been forwarded to the NPF. Does that mean that we can look forward to an end to contracting out in the next NPF report? We are not holding our breath.

In the media, Keir Starmer is citing Oldham as an inspiration for his view of immigration: “Asked when he realised the left had been wrong on illegal immigration, he said this had been his view “for some time”. He said that he had been to Oldham to discuss people’s concerns about immigration soon after being elected as an MP and he suggested that had influenced his views.” Local activists in Oldham remember this differently: “He had a three hour meeting as Shadow Immigration Minister with constituents members and Asylum Seekers in 2016. He was doing a national road show on this. Wasn’t just Oldham. Disappointingly there wasn’t a report. The thing that struck me was the desperate plight of asylum seekers who’d been left often for years without any decisions.” Perhaps he should listen to Oldham and their emergency motion now.

Deputy Leader and the Affiliates

Some affiliates have balloted members to decide their deputy leader nominations. Others – for example Unite – have not. Figures shared by some of the affiliated socialist societies give an interesting indication of how party members are thinking.

Disability Labour, the Socialist Health Association (SHA), and the Socialist Educational Association (SEA) all balloted their members, and have published their figures.

All three have nominated Lucy Powell. The fact that the SEA did not nominate the Secretary of State for Education has been remarked on in the educational press. Not remarked yet is the fact that she did not respond to the SEA’s questions or invitation to hustings.

Perhaps most interesting though are the figures for how many members voted in each for their society to nominate neither of the PLP’s candidates. 15% of respondents in SHA, 17% of in Disability Labour, 19% in the SEA.

Party rules do not say that the MPs go first to sift nominations. The nominations could be run simultaneously among MPs, CLPs, unions, etc., even if the rule of candidates not going to final ballot unless they get 20% of MPs remained.

The NEC’s different procedure explains why so many members did not want to nominate at all if they only had the choice of the PLP’s two. They may vote Powell as the only way in the final ballot to express protest even marginally, but nominating is a different matter.