Glasgow Shettleston CLP passed this motion on 19/1/23

Shettleston CLP condemns the Tories’ decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. This is an attack on democracy, and an attack on the rights of transgender people.

We agree to write to the leader of the Scottish Labour Party and to the leader of the national Labour Party calling on them to publicly condemn the Tories’ decision and to campaign against it.

We agree to submit the following motion as an emergency motion to Scottish Labour Party conference:

“Conference condemns the Tories’ decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. This is an attack on democracy, and an attack on the rights of transgender people. The Scottish Labour Party will campaign against that decision and calls on the Party at a national level to do likewise.

Recently-elected Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) member Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi has been expelled from the party. This is yet another attack on party democracy, which Labour and union activists must oppose.

We say this despite our serious differences with Wimborne-Idrissi over the disputed question of antisemitism. She is part of the wing of the left that consistently downplays this serious issue.

She has tweeted details about her expulsion here.

Wimborne-Idrissi’s public activity and publicly expressed views have been consistent over years. Yet she was suspended in September, within weeks of being elected to the NEC. Labour’s HQ allowed her to stand and get elected, then pulled the complaint out of their pockets to deny the left an elected NEC place (and deny the democratic rights of members, again). If the cause merited exclusion, it could and should have been raised before the NEC election. Mish Rahman (whom we would have preferred to see on the NEC anyway) has now gained the NEC seat as next runner-up, but for three months the seat has been vacant.

In addition, Wimborne-Idrissi was expelled on charges of association with proscribed organisations that have not been proved; and the proscriptions themselves, blanket bans on association with organisations in place of specific charges, are unreasonable.

It’s all yet more evidence that Keir Starmer’s leadership and the machine that serves it are less interested in tackling antisemitism (or any political principle), and more in purging opponents and suppressing party democracy.

While Labour democracy is slashed back on every front, large numbers of members have been expelled for being associated with left-wing groups. This includes Workers’ Liberty, part of Labour Left Internationalists, which has for decades been a strong critic of antisemitism in the labour movement and left.

The following text is a draft for the new Solidarity Committee. We’re making it available as a suggestion, and will pass on revised versions approved by the Committee.

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This [branch/committee/other body] notes the ongoing uprising in Iran, sparked by protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, foregrounding issues of women’s rights and opposition to compulsory hijab, but also raising general issues of social freedom and economic inequality.

This [body] further notes that several strikes have taken place during the uprising, including at the Abedan oil refinery, the Haft Tappeh sugar cane factory, and many other workplaces. Despite decades of repression, Iran’s workers have maintained underground organisation and traditions of militant action.

Tihs [body] further notes the recent establishment of the Solidarity with the Iranian Workers’ Movement Committee, chaired by John McDonnell MP.

This [body] believes international solidarity with all working-class and democratic struggles for freedom is a core labour movement principle, and supports the struggles of Iran’s workers, women, and youth against the Islamic Republic.

This [body] therefore resolves:

– To support the work of the Solidarity with the Iranian Workers’ Movement Committee, circulate its materials to members, and invite a speaker from the committee to a future meeting
– To promote local mobilisations in support of the uprising in Iran to members, and organise a distinct, visible trade union presence on such mobilisations
– To submit this motion to [relevant higher/national body within union] to mobilise support at [regional/national] level
– To specifically support workers’ struggles in our sector in Iran, and aim to make direct links with the workers involved if possible
– To request that the national union audits whether we organise workers at companies or in supply chains that have economic interests in Iran or ties to the Islamic Republic, to establish whether action by our members could directly aid workers’ struggles in Iran

https://www.labourfreemovement.org/new-model-motions-for-labour-union-clps-branches-december-2022/

Labour Party HQ is now, at least, publishing statistics on its exclusions and suspensions. The latest, for November 2022, is at https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/202211-Disciplinary-Report.pdf.

Since “exclusion panels” began on 22 October 2021, it reports, 408 cases have been adjudged. 94% of them were people charged with “supporting another political organisation”. This is code for exclusion on grounds of association (which may be as slight as sharing a social-media post) from one of the groups now banned, such as Workers’ Liberty and Socialist Appeal. Such “association” may have been entirely Labour-Party-legal at the time, but now becomes cause for exclusion, so it’s a “retrospective” crime.

92% of the allegations were upheld: in other words, if someone accuses you of association with a banned group, you are almost sure to be excluded, and that is done without a hearing.

We already knew of a spate of such exclusions, directed against delegates to the Labour Party conference in September. Overall, however, September was not a high-exclusion month. The high point was April 2022 (after the banning of Workers’ Liberty and other groups at the March meeting of the National Executive), with 73 exclusions. There were 49 in July 2022, and an average of 14 per month in August-November.

Of 42 charges of misconduct between July and November 2022, 45% involved allegations of antisemitism, and smaller percentages (largest category 7%) allegations of other categories of prejudiced or out-of-order behaviour. Only 7 of those 42 cases resulted in exclusion; the others going to other bodies than the NEC or (mostly) leading to Reminders of Conduct, Reminders of Values, or Warnings.

The current Byzantine system needs to be replaced by one complying with criteria of natural justice and transparency, where members facing allegations get precise charges and a proper hearing and are able to raise an alarm in the membership about perceived injustices.

Five suggestions for text for motions.

See also:

Suggested text for motions on the Sunak-Hunt cuts

https://momentuminternationalists.org/2022/10/07/model-motion-from-india-labour-solidarity/ (if you’re running out of motion-putting capacity for the time being, you may also consider asking your CLP or branch to invite a speaker from India Labour Solidarity

The monarchy

We welcome the vote by Labour Party conference for abolition of the House of Lords.

Political authority should be with elected representatives, not depend on hereditary status or appointment from above.

We resolve to campaign for, and call on the Labour Party leadership to campaign for, the replacement of the monarchy by a democratic republic, with any post of president limited to ceremonial and formal functions.

Public ownership of energy

[Simplified version of motion promoted by LLI in the run-up to Labour conference 2022]

We welcome the vote by Labour Party conference for the public ownership of all essential services and utilities.

We resolve to campaign for, and call on the Labour leadership to campaign for, full public ownership of the energy industry, including the National Grid and regional distribution, on the lines of the 2021 and 2019 Conferences’ policies.

Strikes

We welcome the vote by Labour Party conference calling on all Labour MPs to support picket lines in the current wave of strikes for pay rises to keep up with inflation.

We urge our members to support upcoming picket lines, and call on our councillors [and MP if relevant] to join us.

Exclusions and bans

[Simplified version of motion passed by Islington South and Finsbury CLP 21/9/22]

We call on the National Executive to reverse the ban imposed on Workers’ Liberty by the Labour Party National Executive on 29 March 2022, and to reverse all suspensions or expulsions of members under the ban.

The Labour Party will be better able to defeat the Tories if we organise as a broad party with a range of views, with disciplinary action only after due process and for specific harmful actions.

[It may be useful in moving such a motion to refer to the recent attempts by the leadership to “ban” front-benchers from joining picket lines, and to “ban” MPs for criticising monarchism during the “period of mourning”. The leadership has had to retreat, tacitly, from both attempted “bans”. Following the expulsions of Andrea Egan and Martin Mayer, you may adapt it like this, pushing the envelope of the March 2019 policy barring motions on individual disciplinary cases]

We regret the March 2019 ruling which debars CLP motions on individual disciplinary cases, such as the recent exclusions from the Labour Party of Andrea Egan, president of Unison, and Martin Mayer, a former representative of Unite on the Labour NEC, and so make the following general points:

We:
• state that we believe that exclusions for actions that were entirely within Labour Party rules at the time they were carried out (e.g. “shares” on social media for items from groups later banned) to be contrary to natural justice
• call on the National Executive to rescind the bans imposed on Workers’ Liberty and Socialist Appeal.

The Labour Party will be better able to defeat the Tories if we organise as a broad party with a range of views, with disciplinary action only after due process and for specific harmful actions.

Labour policies for campaigning and government: implementing conference decisions

This CLP notes
1. That party conference 2022 voted for:
• Support for pay rises at least matching inflation
• “Unequivocal support to all UK workers taking strike action” and for joining picket lines, including “all Labour MPs” doing so
And:
• A £15 minimum wage
• Opposing privatisation, academisation and outsourcing; bringing services back in house; public ownership of the railways and Royal Mail specifically and of “essential services and utilities” generally
• A free, publicly funded and publicly provided social care system
• “Proper needs-based funding for local government”, i.e. reversing the cuts
• “To return all privatised portions of the NHS to public control”
• Proportional representation and abolition of the House of Lords
2. That the 2021 conference voted for public ownership of the energy industry and repealing all anti-union laws including those introduced in the 80s and 90s.

This CLP believes
1. That in line with the rule book – “The work of the Party shall be under the direction and control of Party conference” – conference should be Labour’s sovereign decision-making body.
2. That the party should campaign for these policies now and include them in the manifesto.

This CLP resolves
1. To work with others in the party and unions for the policies passed at conference to be campaigned for and carried out, with conference becoming Labour’s sovereign policy-making body.

We resolve to combat the cuts planned by the Tory government, including the stealth cuts which come from the increased costs of items which public services have to buy in, etc.

We support NHS and other public sector workers’ demands for better pay, and call for public sector budgets to be raised to accommodate the increased wage costs.

We call on Labour to commit to:
• a wealth tax
• increased taxation of capital gains, corporate profits, and ultra-high incomes
to raise resources to repair the NHS and other public services, to fund public-service pay rises, and for green transformation.

We call on Labour explicitly to reject the authority of the Office for Budgetary projections as an iron frame for economic policy. Those projections are based on approximate estimates of future growth, world conditions, etc., which will almost surely be inaccurate. They codify half a million unemployed as an inevitability, which it isn’t if public services and green transformation are expanded.

There is a danger of a “flight of capital” hitting even Labour spending plans well funded by tax rises. We call on Labour to commit to public ownership of high finance, in line with TUC policy 2012, in order to gain the levers for economic policy to be controlled by elected representatives rather than unelected global profiteers.

We call on Labour to commit to rewinding Brexit, and immediately to rejoining the Single Market, free movement, and Customs Union. That will resolve the clashes around the Northern Ireland Protocol in a constructive way and free extra economic resources for public services and green transformation.

Quite a few comrades have told us that they have moved house and “haven’t yet sorted out” getting into their new CLP.

You have to do this online. It’s not a matter of tracking down your new CLP secretary and asking them to do the sorting-out, because they can’t. They get their lists of addresses for messages about meetings and so on from LP HQ. So:

1. Log in at https://hub.labour.org.uk/
2. To log in, you need the e-address used for your LP membership.
3. If you can’t remember which one of your various e-addresses you used, then check emails you get from the LP to see what address they’re sent to. Or try your different e-addresses.
4. If you get no emails from the LP (not even at addresses now disused), then your LP membership may just have lapsed. Rejoin at https://jdr.labour.org.uk/join-journey
5. If you can’t remember your password, click on “Forgot Password” to retrieve it
6. Then you will see the ward branch and CLP to which your membership is linked, and your membership number
7. If that shows that the LP still records you at your old address, click on the “contact us” button and send a message with your new address.

This may not sort it out, because LP membership administration is poor and some CLP secretaries are inefficient. But for sure you can’t sort it out without doing the above.

If your record at https://hub.labour.org.uk/ shows the correct branch and constituency, but you’re not getting communications from the CLP, and e.g. doesn’t have your CLP secretary contact details, ask us and we may be able to help.

Pretty much all CLPs, however sluggish, have a website (Google search for it, e.g. https://chippingbarnetlabour.org.uk/ for Chipping Barnet) with a “contact us” link, and/or Facebook pages through which you can contact them (e.g. https://www.facebook.com/BirkenheadLabour/ for Birkenhead CLP).