| Save the Labour Party |
| EXTENDING AND RENEWING PARTY DEMOCRACY
- Resolutions 2007 Motion passed by Leabridge BLP (Hackney North and Stoke Newington CLP) - July 2007 “I want a policy making process that honours the fact that all of us have joined the Labour Party to make a contribution. " “We must be clearer about the importance of party membership, and recognise more explicitly the responsibility it brings for shaping the future direction of our party.” Gordon Brown, Extending and Renewing Party Democracy This branch/GC notes that days after he took over as Labour Party Leader Gordon Brown circulated a consultation document on Extending and Renewing Party Democracy. The lack of meaningful involvement in policy-making in recent years – most notably in the policy forum process and in the restrictions on CLPs putting resolutions to Conference – has contributed to the decline in party membership and activity. We therefore welcome the opportunity for a dialogue with the leadership on democracy and policy-making processes in the Labour Party. This branch/GC resolves to make the following submission to the consultation. 1. Role of Annual Conference 1.1 At present, Conference is a representative body based on individual members and affiliates (trade unions and socialist societies). Conference may establish its own policy on a contemporary issue (via contemporary resolutions) and call on the Government to implement this policy. It can clearly monitor whether the Government adopts this policy. We wish to retain this right. 1.2 It is proposed to remove the right of Conference to establish immediate party policy and to allow it only to send issues to the National Policy Forum for further debate (see below). We do not wish to reduce the role of Conference in this way. 1.3 The Consultation document points out that the NPF is able to develop a “deliberative and consensual platform”, but we believe that the Labour Party cannot always proceed by consensus alone. There will also be occasions when opposing views must be debated democratically in order to establish a majority view, which should then prevail. Where Conference establishes policy, Ministers’ views should be reported back to the Party via the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) (below). Members do not want to see policies which they have agreed at Conference shunted off into a Policy Commission Subgroup for a two-year deliberation which ends only in the promise of a report to a full Commission “soon” and an eventual NPF. 2. Role of National Policy Forum (NPF) 2.1 At present, the NPF is a smaller body than conference, based on individual members and affiliates but also including MPs. The NPF develops consultation documents which form the basis of the Party’s suggestions for the Manifesto. 2.2 We welcome moves to make the NPF more responsive to members, particularly giving members direct access to NPF representatives, and allow the NPF more access to the Leader. However, direct access favours members who are articulate, have ready access to computers and time to formulate their views into submissions. We therefore wish to retain the role of Conference, as the body representative of the whole membership, to scrutinise and agree the work of the NPF before their documents become party policy. 3. Role of the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) 3.1 At present the JPC is where Government Ministers meet representatives of the National Executive and the National Policy Forum. 3.2 We welcome the move to establish more frequent meetings of this body so that Ministers can brief the party representatives on government policy and so that party representatives can brief Ministers on policy discussions in the party. We believe this role should be strengthened by requiring Ministers to report to the JPC on progress in implementing (or reasons for not implementing) Conference policy, these reports to be made available to the party membership. This would strengthen members’ involvement in formulating and monitoring party policy. 4. OMOV Ballot 4.1 We note that it is intended that the final policy documents agreed by the NPF should be subject to an OMOV ballot. We believe that offering a “yes/no” vote to all members on such a wideranging document is a meaningless exercise and therefore not a wise use of our precious financial resources. 4.2 We believe that members should have a greater say in policy making and development of the manifesto by allowing: a) Conference to refer back NPF documents to the NPF; b) the NPF to send minority reports to Conference for voting, such minority reports to have the backing of at least 5% of NPF delegates. 5. Engaging with Communities 5.1 We welcome the proposal that local parties should consult and engage their communities. However, we believe that unless the Labour Party, at any level, adopts policies which have the clear support of the majority of its supporters, such consultation exercises will only provoke public disillusion with our Party. We are concerned about the requirement that local Parties take on the views and priorities of local organisations, when these organisations may be antipathetic to Labour’s values. We also question how this would be measured and what effect a failure to consult would have on the local Party’s policy forum submissions. The best way to reflect local opinion is to build the local membership. We believe that we must be able to show that policy can be decided by a representative Conference and that it will then be adopted by Government if the community with which we wish to engage is to take us seriously. Summary If we are to rebuild the Party and reinvigorate our campaigning activity and electoral fortunes, members must have ownership of the policy-making process and be able to demonstrate to the community that our elected representatives act on party policy. - Our representative annual conference must remain as the sovereign policy making body of the party. - Party units must be able to submit contemporary resolutions to Annual Conference. - Annual Conference must have the final vote on policy documents developed by the NPF. - The National Policy Forum (NPF) and party policy making process to be made more democratic and accountable, and allow much greater involvement of party units and members. - NPF policy documents should be subject to amendment and reference back by party annual conference. - All party units must retain their current rights of involvement in the party’s policy making process. For further information contact: Graham Bash |