A report from a meeting of Labour’s National Executive Committee on 8th September by left CLP reps Jess Barnard, Gemma Bolton and Yasmine Dar.

The first major agenda item was the General Secretary’s Report. The challenge of standing against a Party leader in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election was noted but the timeline agreed would mean Labour select a candidate ahead of the Green Party. 

There was a positive story to tell around Labour’s financial position, apparently the most positive since the general election, which was managed with tight constraints despite multiple by-elections. 

It was also noted that with local government changes on hold, there would be more elections to fight. A timetable for the new General Secretary appointment was noted and a question asked about the timetable for Westminster selections for CLPs without a Labour MP. Although the response didn’t give a concrete timeline, it was acknowledged that CLPs are keen for this to progress.

A question was asked about what had been done to try to enable trans women to take part in the democratic elements of Women’s Conference, with the response making clear that despite repeated attempts to raise this, we feel no substantial efforts have been made.

The Treasurer noted that this was his last report before stepping down and finances were stable and positive and the Treasurer was thanked by the committee for his work. Most importantly, membership numbers had improved since Andy Burnham became Party Leader, he said, noting when we deliver policies people like, people join. This has been instrumental in stabilising Party finances. Once again, NEC members asked to see membership numbers or an indication of the growth, but were told this may be available next month but not now.

There was a substantial discussion about changes to how the NEC Development Fund operates, following a discussion at the Business Board which we were also able to attend. CLP reps have been raising concerns for some time about the share of Membership Fees that go to CLPs; that the fund wasn’t well known about and accessed only by minimal numbers of CLPs with no real follow-up. The proposals agreed are designed to stabilise support for CLPs, by adding to the new Minimum Guarantee and restart a “more focused, accessible” fund for CLPs. We welcome any feedback or questions on the new approach. 

Annual Conference was a major agenda item, divided into scheduling, constitutional amendments, Assistant Chairs and a report from the Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC) Chair. One of the proposed rule changes removes the requirement for members of the Independent Complaints Board to not be members of any party. Our view is that this makes a mockery of previous arguments around so-called independence, and opens the door to even more factional appointments. Another rule change was designed to enable socialist societies to fill any vacancies that occur between elections where currently the rule book is silent. Legal advice sought to assure the NEC that no rule change was required, and that there were existing powers the NEC could use to override this. Opposition was raised to the use of this mechanism, which meant that this rule change did not go forward, although an alternative was promised in advance of the Conference. The suggestion was that the NEC could use its powers to fill vacancies without specifying how in the rulebook; however, it was pointed out that it is not generally good practice to rely on unspecified powers, and the acceptance of this opposition hopefully marks an end to its use where possible.

The Treasurer suggested that the NEC consider a further amendment to be looked at before conference to address what happens when a treasurer in a constituency leaves the constituency or for some reason is not able to fulfil their duties, which leaves the CLP with frozen funds. It would be helpful to clarify how the CLP can be assisted from the centre. It was agreed that the Party would look at this for the next meeting.

A key vote was taken on who should be the Assistant Chairs for the Conference. After several years of the left being excluded from these positions, Ellen Morrison was successfully elected – a welcome step forward. Ellen has been a brilliant Disabled Members’ Representative for the past four years, speaking up time and again on relevant policies and democratic engagement; we will miss her greatly but look forward to having her as a Chair for part of the Conference. Other Assistant Chairs will be David Agleby, Sonya Davis, Angie Davies, Gurinder Singh Josan MP and Elsie Greenwood.

Vaughan West reported from the Conference Arrangements Committee. He noted that the Chair, rather than officials, would decide on points of order if delegates were very clear which standing order they were raising, hopefully ensuring an end to the obstruction of points of order last year. Jess Barnard asked about Labour Women’s Declaration being allowed to have fringe meetings in the Conference Centre, having previously been assured that this wouldn’t be agreed without NEC consultation. A further question was asked about the number of youth delegates present, as this would determine the electorates for the youth places on the National Policy Forum. No answer was given at this time.

The meeting then turned to Organisational Priorities including Elections Review and Operation Second Term, followed by the Deputy Leader’s report. Lucy Powell highlighted that the campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras was off to a flying start and would be focusing on positive reasons to vote Labour rather than attacks on the Green Party. She noted the desire for culture change and more inclusion of the Parliamentary Labour Party in decision making. A whole series of questions were asked, including around teachers’ pay, which was acknowledged as needing to improve, issues with Ofsted and the approach to Educational Health and Care Plans and Special Educational Needs (SEN). Few assurances were given. Jess Barnard asked about the need for decent, paid, introductory jobs for young people following announcements of unpaid placements. Powell agreed in principle that the gap between education and employment is too large, but conceded that those jobs are not available and we are yet to see how they will be created. 

The Leader’s Report followed – Andy Burnham’s second time addressing the NEC. It included a brief introduction covering an approach to a ten-year plan for Britain, particularly around housing, and then a series of questions, although once again, not everyone with their hand up was invited to ask a question. Questions were asked about upcoming decisions on new oil and gas development projects; unfortunately the view coming from NEC members was – unbelievably really – supportive despite the evident climate crisis and the record-breaking temperatures this summer.

Ellen Morrison made a powerful request, as part of her final question to the Leader, that the government never again throw disabled people under the bus and propose support for disabled people is cut to appease Reform voters. Burnham noted the need to avoid ‘crude’ cuts to welfare, favouring a ‘Labour way’ to reduce spending, for example by building council homes to reduce the housing benefit bill, bringing young people into work, and referenced his removal of the 9:30 restriction of disabled people’s bus passes as part of his commitment to disabled people.

Jess Barnard welcomed the announcement from Ed Miliband introducing sanctions in relation to illegal settlements in the West Bank, in Palestine, but asked for clarification on some areas of concern. Jess noted that Britain is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, which doesn’t say states should wait years – if not decades – for international courts determine if a genocide has occurred. Instead, it requires states take action to prevent genocide as soon as they become aware of a serious risk of it, noting this threshold was met years ago: from the International Court of Justice ruling that there is a plausible risk of genocide, to the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry concluding this summer that Israel’s genocide against Palestinians is ongoing. Jess asked if Burnham agreed that Britain is obliged to prevent genocide in Gaza and, given the announcement of sanctions, noted that there are companies such as Palantir who are involved in enabling the occupation but still being awarded lucrative contracts with the British government. She asked that these companies be blacklisted and contracts reviewed as such.                   

Burnham noted that the South Africa case has been key and there is support for the court in reaching its determination in that case, pointing to the precedent in relation to Rwanda and Myanmar. No further commitments were made. 

Gemma Bolton also welcomed the government’s change of policy on the West Bank and urged them to go further, as Israel continues to break international law. Gemma also asked a question on whether Burnham’s ‘everyone in’ homelessness policy will also tackle the root causes of homelessness, not just the crisis point. 

Further questions came from trade union representatives about job losses, pay and zero hours contracts. Proportional representation was also covered. Burnham noted that he wants to see what Conference thinks about electoral reform and that he personally agrees with it; he also noted a rail summit in the autumn and would pass on the issues in relation to NHS pay to Yvette Cooper. 

Finally Jonathan Reynolds spoke to the Cabinet Member’s Report with an update on his work. Jess Barnard asked about ‘the social good’ in the oversight of decisions in relation to the number of data centres being proposed and waved through in light of the climate crisis, their negative impact and local opposition. Union reps also asked a series of questions, including around zero hours contracts. The answers unfortunately didn’t address the substantive issues raised and it’s clear we have work to do in this area. 

The NEC will meet again at the Labour Party Conference by which time we expect to have appointed the next General Secretary. We look forward to seeing members at Conference and will be giving a report back at the annual CLPD and Momentum wrap-up on Tuesday 29th September, 7.30pm at Friends Meeting House, School Lane, Liverpool.

Image: https://thebluediamondgallery.com/finger01/c/committee.html License: Creative Commons 3 – CC BY-SA 3.0 Attribution Link: Pix4free.org – link to – https://pix4free.org/ Original Author: Nick Youngson – link to – http://www.nyphotographic.com/