We are supporting the following motions for Constituency Labour Parties to send to Labour conference 2022. The deadline for CLPs to submit is 15 September. To let us know you’ve passed one or for help, email team@momentuminternationalists.org

• Public ownership of energy

• Migrants’ rights and free movement

• Curb the police, defend and extend the right to protest

Please use or adapt this motion for your Labour Party (or union branch or other organisation).Get help or let us know: team@momentuminternationalists.org

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Support the strikes. Cut profits, tax the rich, raise wages

Notes that:
1. Millions face real-terms pay cuts – after a decade of wage stagnation or cuts for most.
2. Over many years, and particularly the last two, profits have soared and the rich got even richer.

Believes that:

1. What people need urgently is not one-off payments, necessary as those may be, but higher incomes, ie higher wages and benefits.
2. Our movement must demand companies cut profits to raise pay; a significantly higher minimum wage; and that the rich and corporations are taxed to fund rebuilt public services, including increased public-sector pay and increased benefits. Failing to demand this means accepting the working class should suffer more.
3. Workers and unions are right to campaign for urgent at-least-inflation pay rises, to defend and improve conditions, and to defend jobs.
4. Strikes are essential to this. As a party of the labour movement, Labour at every level must actively support strikes. Every Labour MP must speak out in support and join picket lines.
5. We must demand repeal of all anti-strike / anti-union laws, in line with our conference policy.

Resolves to:
1. Call for Labour to campaign for: improved pay and conditions for all workers, including urgent at-least-inflation pay rises; reduction of profits to do this; an immediate increase in the minimum wage to at least £11ph, increasing to £15ph by 2024; taxation of the wealth and incomes of the rich and corporate profits to fund a rebuilt public sector, including at-least-inflation and soon restorative pay rises, and greatly increased benefits; and repeal of all anti-union laws.
2. Actively support strikes and mobilise members for picket lines.
3. Call on the whole party, all Labour MPs [including ours…] and the leadership to actively support strikes and attend / encourage attendance at picket lines.
4. Send this motion to the NEC and publish it.

The Observer reports that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves “have concluded that big measures are needed” to deal with the cost-of-living disaster. What measures are big enough to make a real difference?

“[We need] an immediate emergency budget tackling the spiralling cost of living, [former prime minister] Gordon Brown has said… With pressure growing for action, senior Labour sources have confirmed to the Observer that the party is preparing to back a key intervention designed to curb the winter crisis, in addition to the removal of VAT on energy bills that it has already supported.

“Labour leader Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, have not yet finalised the package, but have concluded that big measures are needed. ‘We recognise that this is an emergency situation and that requires a response that matches the moment,’ said a senior Labour source.”

(This is typical of how the Labour Party functions. Policies are not something to be debated and decided by the membership or in fact any of the leadership bodies of the party – or indeed in any meaningful dialogue with “the public”, despite politicians’ demagogy about that. They are decided, hinted at, leaked and declared by the party leader, his closest lieutenants and their staff.

(Labour Party policy should be decided by the representatives of members and affiliated unions. How? At Labour Party conference. Conference policy provides a solid basis for party stances. When urgent decisions are required, the National Executive Committee should decide. Only on that basis can Labour become anything like a real, living political party and movement. But all too often the left and the unions fail to fight for this.)

More immediately: it seems extremely likely Starmer and Reeves’ idea of what constitutes “big measures” does not in fact match the desperate reality of the moment. What should labour movement and socialist activists demand and, so far as we can, push for Labour to advocate?

• Major increases to benefits, the minimum wage and public-sector pay, plus full-throated and active support for union action to beat inflation and drive up pay in the private sector – including strikes – are the minimum necessary for those in Labour at all serious about tackling this emergency.

• One-off payments to help people through the immediate impact as energy bills leap again in autumn are obviously necessary. We should demand they are significantly more generous. However, what people need is not one off-payments but higher incomes. In terms of immediate policy changes in an emergency budget, that demands:

• Raise the minimum wage significantly. A growing range of labour movement organisations – including Labour Party conference last year – have called for a minimum of £15 an hour. To even maintain its value against inflation, the minimum wage needs to go up from £9.50 to about £10.60 immediately; and it was very low before the price-surge began. We need a major jump, the removal of differential rates and exemptions, and a fast timetable to progress to £15.

• Extra funding to provide at-least-inflation pay rises for all public sector workers, plus flat-sum increases at the bottom to raise the lowest-paid most.

• The value of unemployment benefit in its various forms has steadily declined over decades, from well over 30% in the 1960s to under 15% today. Without that fall the value of Universal Credit at the standard rate would be close to £700 a month, rather than £334.91. The TUC has called for UC to be raised to 80% of the real living wage; when they first raised this in 2020 that was £260 a week, over £1100 a month. Yet Labour has not even committed to restoring the £20 a week the Tories gouged out this year. Without that UC payments too will lose value against inflation. All benefits need significant increases.

Those kinds of measures, which of course will be stigmatised as unrealistic, hard left, etc, are really the bare minimum to defend and start to improve living standards in this crisis.

Additionally, a Labour Party serious about fighting poverty and inequality would announce proposals to:

• Repeal all the laws hindering trade unions and strikes.

• Take the energy companies into public ownership, with a plan to slash bills.

• Launch a major council house building programme.

• Restore all the funding taken from local government.

Contrary to Keir Starmer’s absurd comments about there being no “magic money tree”, corporate profits and the personal wealth of the rich have soared. Closing tax loopholes and levy windfall taxes is fine, but – again as a bare minimum – we need much higher taxes on business profits and the income and wealth of the rich (combined with tax reductions for workers and the poor), to fund an assault on poverty and slash undemocratic and socially destructive inequality.

We urge Labour members to support Dave Levy, who is standing for the National Policy Forum in London.

Dave, who is secretary of Lewisham Deptford CLP in SE London, is a militant internationalist, a trade unionist (GMB) and a longstanding campaigner for democracy in the party. (Read his blog here.) He told us:

“No Labour Government has been more left-wing than its manifesto; that’s why Labour’s programme and manifesto matter! All this ‘without power we can make no change’ hides the other side of the coin: ‘without ambition we will make no change’! I will work to ensure that the membership voice makes policy. I will work hard and report back. I’m proud to be supported by the CLGA and Momentum.”

Dave is part of the left-wing slate backed by the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance Coalition and Momentum.

The National Policy Forum is typically used to muddy Labour policy, allowing the leadership to water-down or ignore decisions made by conference. It is important to have pro-democracy left-wingers on it who will fight for conference policy to be carried out and developed.

The following motion was passed with all votes for except two abstentions at Sheffield Heeley Constituency Labour Party on 28 July.

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1. This CLP condemns the Labour Leadership’s position in choosing not to attend picket lines. We particularly condemn the order to the Shadow Frontbench Members not to attend the picket lines of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
2. This CLP supports the actions of many Labour MPs, Labour Councillors and Labour Party Members in attending the RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) picket lines on 27th July 2022.
3. The CLP strongly condemns the decision of the Labour Leader to sack Sam Tarry, a Shadow Minister for Transport after he joined an RMT and TSSA picket line on 27 July 2022. We do not accept the Labour Leader’s comments in the print and broadcast media on 27th and 28th July 2022 that Sam Tarry was making up party policy “on the hoof”, especially considering the confused and contradictory statements made by the Labour Leadership in the media regarding our Party’s policy on nationalising of the railways made on Monday 25th July 2022.
4. This CLP further believes that the actions of the Labour Leadership in respect of the above has damaged both Members and public’s confidence that our Party is a government in waiting.
5. This CLP affirms our previous Resolution of 26th May 2022,
   overwhelmingly passed, regarding the announcement of the RMT ballot result to take industrial action and our resolution to :
   – to send a message of support to the RMT, including inviting a speaker to address a future CLP meeting and asking the union what support we can offer.
   – to actively support any strike action through attending picket lines with our banner, discussing donating to a strike/ hardship fund if the RMT establishes this and by encouraging solidarity from our member
   – to call on our MP to show solidarity including attending picket lines.
   – to call on our party nationally to support this struggle including any strike action
6. This CLP demands that the whole party rallies around the rail workers – and other workers in struggle – by supporting strikes, not hiding away from them and punishing people for supporting them.
7. This CLP Resolves:
   a) To call on all Labour MPs, including our MP, Louise Haigh, to support the RMT and other striking unions in rail and other industries, and join future picket lines;
   b) To send and publish a message to the rail unions supporting their struggles and their strikes;
   c) To send a copy of this motion to the Labour NEC General Secretary and NEC CLP Representatives.

A comrade has sent us this model motion they are putting forward in their Labour Party. Please consider using or adapting for your Labour Party ward or CLP (or union branch). To let us know you have, or for help, email team@momentuminternationalists.org

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We condemn Keir Starmer’s order not to attend picket lines and his sacking of Sam Tarry as one of the party’s transport spokespeople after he joined an RMT / TSSA picket line on 27 July. The whole party should be rallying round the rail workers and other workers in struggle: supporting demands for pay rises at least matching inflation and to defend and improve conditions and jobs, and supporting strikes – not hiding away from them and punishing people for supporting them. We call on all Labour MPs [including ours] to support the striking unions in rail and other industries, and join their picket lines. We will send and publish a message to the rail unions supporting their struggles and their strikes.

By Mohan Sen

In 2020, the Forward Momentum grouping won every member-elected seat on the National Coordinating Group of Labour left organisation Momentum. It defeated the Momentum Renewal slate linked to the office faction that destroyed Momentum’s democracy in 2017.

In July 2022, Forward Momentum-rebranding Your Momentum won 14 seats to 15 for Momentum Renewal-successor Momentum Organisers (for a briefing on the two, see here). Momentum Organisers got over 50% of first preference votes, to just over 45% for Your Momentum.

Labour Left Internationalists ran three candidates in the London and Eastern region (Abel Harvie-Clark, Maisie Sanders and Andy Warren), who got 74 first-preference votes between them, behind the 111 of the last successful candidate. (For some of our campaigning and materials, see our Twitter.) The turnout and the score for the left were low because Momentum’s numbers and activity have declined, and in part also because of the rushed and undemocratic way the election was run.

The LLI candidates raised class-struggle, internationalist socialist ideas and proposals that no other candidates did.

Forward Momentum came to office in 2020 by criticising the conservative, undemocratic and destructively unpleasant politics and culture institutionalised after the office-coup of January 2017. But it operated its own exclusions; Momentum remained office-dominated, and intervened only weakly at the 2021 Labour conference. In this election the Your Momentum candidates gave the impression of not knowing what to advocate.

Momentum Organisers advocated a focus on defending the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs and leftish councillors. Some better initiatives that Momentum has pursued half-heartedly, like promoting policy for Labour Party conference and deciding to hold a conference of its its own, may get downgraded.

Right up to their defeat in 2020, the office-linked faction that later became Momentum Organisers engaged in witch-hunting and slandering of critical-minded leftist opponents. This time they had quite a few new people involved, and refrained from such behaviour. Nonetheless, it seems unlikely they will make Momentum more open, let alone democratic.

The ideas Labour Left Internationalists promoted in the election, including mobilising the organisation’s members and resources in support of strikes and replacing bluster about “community wealth building” with campaigning to stop and reverse council cuts, will only become more important.

The last two Labour Party conferences, in 2019 and 2021, passed policy for public ownership of energy (in motions calling for a “Socialist Green New Deal”).

This year a motion specifically on public ownership of energy is going to conference. It has already been passed by Eastleigh Constituency Labour Party in Hampshire, and is being proposed to a number of others. See the model motion here. Considering proposing a version of it in your Labour Party.

Christian Brookes from Eastleigh CLP explained:

“The cost of living crisis is driving millions of working families into poverty and energy companies are raking in profits from the British people’s hiked energy bills. Meanwhile, our planet is facing a 1.5°C rise in temperatures compared to pre-industrial levels, while Britain experiences it’s first ever 40°C temperature.

“Our CLP strongly supported this motion to control these companies by putting energy back into public ownership. At our meeting members passionately expressed their disgust at energy companies’ greed and ignorance of people’s issues; the motion was passed with a huge majority.”

This initiative comes at a crucial time, immediately after the heatwave reminded us yet again of the urgency of serious action to tackle climate change – and as energy companies’ profits soar and fuel bills are set to leap again. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has just violated conference policy by rejecting public ownership of energy (and water, and even the railways…) On the other hand the TUC has just come out for public ownership, reflecting the hard work activists have done pushing this issue over several years.

We must insist the Labour leadership respects and implements party conference policy, and fights for serious policies to defend the living standards and interests of, and shift wealth and power towards, the working class. That must include public ownership of the energy sector.

You can help build the fight:
• Get your CLP to send the motion to conference (deadline for submission, Thursday 15 September, 5pm).
• Mandate your delegates to vote in favour at conference.
• Whether or not it’s your CLP’s motion to conference, pass a motion in favour of public ownership modelled on this one.

Get in touch to let us know if you’ve passed the motion, or to get help, or to get a speaker on these issues: team@momentuminternationalists.org