Rule changes
SUPPORT:
Islington North and Luton South on restricting Labour's organisation in Northern Ireland.
Bringing peace to Northern Ireland through the Good Friday Agreement has been one of Labour's finest achievements. But organisationally in Northern Ireland, the Party has got itself into a mess. It has accepted expensive legal settlements in order to appease questionable challenges on equalities grounds. By defining the legal territory in which Labour operates as Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), this simple rule change will solve the problem and ensure the government's peace programme is not undermined.
SUPPORT:
CLPs' Democratic Rights
OPPOSE:
Gagging by the CAC.
In recent years the Conference Arrangements committee (CAC) has been taking a much harder line in relation to rule changes submitted by CLPs. For example, a considerable number submitted to this year's Conference have been ruled out of order on very dubious grounds. Aggrieved delegates may go to the rostrum and seek redress by challenging the Chair of CAC. Every delegate in the hall should do their best to support these challenges and oppose the gagging. It could be your CLP next!
SUPPORT:
Lancaster & Fleetwood and Westminster North on democracy in Young Labour.
This rule change would introduce much needed democratic reforms into the hitherto Byzantine structures of Young Labour. It should be given maximum support.
SUPPORT:
Calder Valley, Horsham, Newport West and Peterborough on wider
choice of candidates for Party Leader and Deputy.
This rule change lowers the threshold for a valid nomination for standing for election for Party Leader or Deputy, when there is a vacancy, from 12.5% of Labour MPs to 7.5% (ie. from 45 to 27 MPs in the current Parliament). This rule change could benefit potential candidates from all wings of the Party. It is designed to ensure that a candidate, who might win an eventual majority, is not prevented from even standing. For example, in the 2007 Deputy Leadership election, Hilary Benn only just managed to get the 12.5%, and yet he attracted a larger number of CLP nominations than any other candidate. And by the third round of voting, Benn had the support of 61 MPs, had more trade union support than Harriet Harman and had more votes from Party members than either Cruddas or Johnson. Under the existing threshold it is not possible to have more than 7 candidates, and even 5 or 6 are only possible when the number of nominations is fairly evenly distributed. The proposed change allows for a wider choice and makes it very unlikely that a possible winner would be debarred from standing because he or she could not obtain enough initial nominations from MPs.
RULE CHANGES REJECTED BY THE CAC
The following CLPs have rule changes that were thrown in the bin by the CAC and their delegates may be seeking a fair hearing - Twickenham, Hampstead and Kilburn, East Devon, Orpington, Meridan, Islington South & Finsbury, Beckenham, Ilford South, Gloucester, Lewisham Deptford.
OPPOSE:
NEC's rule change to alter the composition of the CAC by adding an NPF rep.
At present the CAC consists of 5 trade union reps and 2 CLP reps. At Annual Conference the CAC acts as the Standing Orders Committee (SOC). Like all SOCs, it is accountable for its actions to the Conference. Annual Conference is made up, solely, of delegates from affiliated organisations (unions) and CLPs. As a courtesy, members of the National Policy Forum (NPF) are allowed to attend Conference as observers. It is both inappropriate, and out of line with all existing practice, to give a seat on a SOC to an outside body that is not represented at the relevant Conference. This bizarre proposal, which popped up out of the blue at the NEC, should be firmly opposed.