Delegate reports from this weekend's Labour Party National Policy Forum are eagerly awaited by those of us who worry as much about how policy is made as the outcomes to win the next Westminster election. My twitter feed is littered with plaudits for both Cruddas and 'newly-elected' NPF chair Angela Eagle. Alon Or-bach a London Region members' directly elected representative tweeted on Sunday:
Alon Or-bach @alonorbach Now being addressed by @JonCruddasMP - a real paradigm shift! :-)#NPF
My own take on Cruddas's appointment is here. I doubt that Or-bach was lauding the method of that appointment either. So what has changed?
Or-bach revealed late Sunday there was a real buzz on opening up Labour policy making and shaping an alternative vision for our next Labour government. That needs explaining, so I asked him to elaborate. He recalled there had been widespread calls for accountable tracking of submissions, adding: "Very hopeful it will actually happen." That prompted Fabian Society Deputy General Secretary, Marcus Roberts to observe: