First up among constituency representatives with a report on yesterday's Labour Party National Executive Committee was ultra loyalist and Labour First secretary, Luke Akehurst.
OK, forget the niggles about the consultation process. Forget the bits about voting strength where a consensus is still being sought.
Refounding Labour was never supposed to be a bun-fight about voting strengths. It was supposed to be about creating structures that helped Labour win back power at the next election, and addressing members’ desire for more transparent policy making.
I believe that the bulky document agreed by the NEC yesterday, if properly followed through and implemented, could have a transformative effect.
Who do you think you are fooling, Luke?
Ed Miliband at Annual Conference last year expressed ambitions for a mass-membership party. How can the changes listed below help achieve that objective? The whole process has been corrupted by a top-down command and control appoach. At the time of writing, 4-days before Annual Conference 2011, members are still in the dark about the detail that their delegates are being expected to vote on Sunday. This is soviet-style politics, and shameful.
Let's take the highlights reported by Luke one by one:
• Easier recruitment of less-well off members with new membership rates of £15 for local joiners, registered supporters who join, and trade union members; and a £1 join rate for armed forces veterans
Why would anyone join the Labour Party when its Leadership is evidently not interested in members' views and Ed Miliband is proving no exception?
• A new system of funding for CLPs which means that the poorest and smallest constituency parties will move out of a permanent cycle of debt and every CLP will get a basic package of support including access to contact.creator, Euro election leaflets, insurance, and a delegate to Party Conference so they can participate in our internal democracy, and £1.50 per member to cover administration and communication costs. This will transform the ability to campaign of our smaller CLPs. New national funds have been created which CLPs can make bids to - to fund organisers and other aspects of participation in party democracy. There will be losers – the biggest and richest CLPs, like my own – but this is practicing the redistribution and solidarity at the heart of our values.
This is a sop arising from years of central mismanagement of party finances, and fails to address a need to rebuild the party's oganisational capacity including finance from a base in each electoral ward.
• Flexibility for CLPs to organise their local structures the way that best suits their geography and size of membership.
Yet another example of a failure on the part of the NECto recognise the importance of accountability, good governance and quality assurance in its structures. Most other unincorporated voluntary associations in the country from the village hall to the bridge club account for their money, and adhere to giving due notice of business far better than the Labour Party.
• The delayering of a level of bureaucracy with a move from large Local Government Committees sometimes trying to backseat drive councillors to slim-lined and campaigning focused Local Campaign Forums.
Shorthand for removing a layer of accountability from Labour elected representatives
• Affiliate status for Young Labour and the Association of Labour Councillors so they can have a strong, independent voice in our policy-making.
A device for reducing HO interference in the party's youth wing. Still to be tested.
• Reduction of the minimum membership age to 14.
Why 14?
• The enshrinement of community campaigning as a core objective of the Party in a new Clause I of our constitution.
How did a single Labour representative ever win an single election over the last 100 years?
• Every CLP to have a development plan, ending drift from year to year.
Already got one
• A focus on making the union link a living reality at local level with more interaction between CLPs and affiliates.
Ditto
• CLPs encouraged to reach out and engage with local communities and embed community organising in the way they work.
Already done
• Regional parties’ lay Boards to be re-empowered and given responsibility for the health of CLPs in their region.
zzzzzzz
• A registered supporters’ scheme based on the latest campaign technology to enable CLPs to own lists of supporters who do not wish to join, and mobilise them
Wasn't this opposed by most member submissions to Refounding Labour?
• Candidate contracts to ensure all candidates campaign effectively.
Shorthand for more robotic politics
• Major investment in training activists and office holders.
Code for more robotic activism
• Investment in a new online platform to transform membersnet.
Aagh, no - having wasted millions already, can the Labour Party really afford another IT fiasco?
I’m really proud as an NEC member of this package of changes. I hope delegates will enthusiastically support them at conference.
As a former NEC member I'm ashamed of this package of changes. I hope delegates will vote over whelmingly to remit, pending publication of all submissions and an opportunity for further reflection. As set out none of these changes is likely to halt a resumption of a further decline in membership now evident in the latest membership data.