Main menu:
Our newsletters
This is the latest edition of our regular newsletter. We’re getting very positive feedback about it and we’re always keen to know what else people want from their NPF rep. If you have any thoughts or suggestions on improving the newsletter, please get in touch.
This edition focuses on Conference and the next steps in policy making.
The first year policy document has now been approved by Conference and sent out to CLP secretaries and PiP co-ordinators. We have until March to send in submissions.
Just a reminder - if you are holding forums, please give us details and we will try to get to them.
CONFERENCE AND THE PROSPERITY AND WORK COMMISSION
BY DEBORAH GARDINER
Conference this year was held in the beautiful and transformed city of Manchester, a city that also has the good sense to have an overwhelmingly Labour Council with not a single Tory Councillor.
Obviously much of the talk around the Conference hall and the fringe was, “What next for the Party?” There seemed to be a very strong desire amongst delegates to move away from damaging Westminster Village backbiting, plotting and endless navel gazing and to think about what we are should do next, how to reconnect with voters, and how we should be telling people what we have done and what we are going to do rather than talking amongst ourselves about who said what about whom.
The Prime Minister’s final speech to Conference was elegant and emotional, and the fact that Conference knew it was his final speech gave delegates and visitors an opportunity to enjoy it, even be swept along by it, without an undercurrent of anxiety which would have been there had we not known what his plans were. As it was we could enjoy his speech, say thanks for the unprecedented three election victories and look forward to what we hope will be an orderly transition….
With regard to the Prosperity and Work Commission, delegates had the chance to put their ideas and points of view to Ministers at a policy seminar. Delegates were keen to put forward their thoughts on protection for migrant workers, rights at work and pension reform. These issues were also widely discussed on the fringe.
Although as a Commission title it doesn’t sound very exciting, so many of the issues which lie at the heart of Party members’ commitment to social justice are covered by this Commission; fairness at work, support for families, ending child poverty, help for pensioners. Do have a look at the document and have your say on these vital areas of policy.
CREATING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
BY BETH BREEZE
The end of summer and start of Autumn have been a busy time for the Creating Sustainable Communities commission, including telephone conference calls, emails and meetings both as a commission and with members.
During Labour Party conference in Manchester we held a series of open meetings that I found extremely impressive both in terms of the quality of contributions from delegates and the attendance and ‘listening mode’ of the many ministers that were present. In the seminar on the environment, transport and energy policy, delegates raised a variety of important questions and made some helpful suggestions, not least that the NPF should put its own house in order and cut down on paper usage to help contribute towards environmental goals. We also learnt that when Tory councils claim to have better recycling figures than Labour councils, that’s usually because their constituents have big gardens and garden waste is so heavy! What’s that saying about lies, damn lies and statistics?
On energy, Malcolm Wicks explained that energy efficiency policy has the dual aim of contributing to climate change targets and also reducing our reliance on imported energy. Malcolm agreed with contributions from the floor that it is frustrating when the public’s general enthusiasm for renewable energy is accompanied by opposition to specific renewable projects, such as wind farms.
On transport, Douglas Alexander noted that many of the problems we face are a result of increased affluence. As more people can now afford to run cars and travel abroad more often, we need to develop responsible transport policies that reflect these changed circumstances. He went on to warmly support measures to increase cycling. His department has doubled the budget of Cycling England and plans to do more to encourage children to cycle safely in hope that they will continue cycling when they are adults.
Finally, David Miliband made it clear that he regards his brief as Environment Minister as a humanitarian issue because so many lives are affected by climate change. David suggested that campaigns along the lines of ‘Make poverty history’ ought to take place to help people appreciate the scale of the issues and to encourage everyone to understand how their own daily lives contribute to climate change.
It has been a busy few months but the upshot of all this activity is a gradual and very real process of improvement to our first year consultation document.
Conference and fees for students – by Liv Bailey
As always I was impressed with the venue, facilities, organisation and the quality of the debates at Conference this year. As always, Tony Blair gave an outstanding speech, which justifiably won him a lengthy standing ovation.
Whatever one might think about his current political status, there is absolutely no doubt that he is in a class of his own when it comes to communication and charisma. Gordon Brown, assuming it is Gordon Brown, will have an almost impossible act to follow.
Bill Clinton also spoke at the conference and, like the Prime Minister, his delivery was excellent. For those of you who have yet to see it, you can download it from the Labour Party website. It was an inspirational speech in which he reminded the delegates of the very significant achievements made by our government, none of which were by accident. He also reminded the audience of just how quickly that could all be reversed by a Tory government. He was incredibly well received and it made me think just how different things might have been had the Democrats remained in power!
Since conference one in issue in particular has come to my attention. After the implementation of top up fees discussion has already, worryingly, turned to the cap - and to whether and when it will be lifted. At my university the Vice Chancellor has already been talking about charging up front fees of up to 15,000 pounds. If the cap was lifted on top up fees then what we would see would be a multi- tiered education system in which the elite universities can charge so much money that no working class kid would ever have a chance of going there. Inevitably the less prestigious universities will charge less and we would see poorer people getting a poorer class of education.
I marched yesterday in London with the NUS to urge the government to ensure that the cap isn't removed. I'm sure you'll all agree that without the cap University would once again become an opportunity for the privileged few. I urge you all to press your local MP to see the dangers that are fast approaching.
Using Let’s Talk – by Simon Burgess Vice Chair of the NPF
This year’s conference will of course be particularly remembered for the Prime Ministers farewell conference speech and the alleged comment by Cherie. There has been plenty of commentary on those events so I will skip past them onto more organisational issues. I don't think it should be overlooked how relatively well the party is coping with very difficult financial challenges - senior party officers normally look exhausted at conference but this year it was even worse. Can you imagine how stressful it feels for them when the party, that they are so deeply committed to, faces such financial challenges?
This all comes at a time when we want every part of the party working better than ever before - we want first class campaigning support, we want a real say, and good feedback, on our future policies through Partnership in Power (PiP), we want the best possible rebuttal service to deal with any media onslaughts, we want a party that doesn't fight with itself publicly - and much else besides. In spite of circumstances in many ways I feel the party is continuing to push itself even harder to rise to those challenges. We should play our part fully though if we are to achieve those goals.
I chaired a workshop at conference on making PiP work locally - we talked about best practise, how we as local activists can make it happen. Taking the best elements from our Big Conversation and PiP experiences can make Let's Talk events a great way of involving members and the public. Anne Begg MP, one of my fellow vice-chairs of the National Policy Forum, explained how she uses such events to keep a constant dialogue going in her constituency - feeding into her parliamentary work and the party's policy making process. Here in Brighton & Hove, in my City Council Leader role, I'm going to use the Let's Talk tools to help communities of interest feed into our local election manifesto process.
At the conference workshop some participants expressed understandable concern that such events could be 'hijacked'. In my experience, and Laura Moffat MP has done this particularly successfully, you can bring a diverse range of participants to produce constructive conclusions if you use some of the following techniques; hand out information/ policy sheets as people arrive - it tends to reduce any aggression if they have something to hold and read, move into small workshops where 'groups' are split up and ensure you have good people to chair those workshops, make sure the questions being worked on aren't patronising but bring enough focus for the work to be productive and above all show that you do want to listen, not lecture (though an info sheet on what the Labour Government or Council has already done on the issue should not be forgotten).
Don't hesitate to contact your south-east reps if you want us to help with a local Let's Talk event or a policy forum.
HEALTH DEBATE
BY MARTIN PHILLIPS
Health issues are always prominent at Party Conference, and arouse some of the most passionate debates. Health certainly dominated the fringe this year, with so many different meetings that one of the two Conference hotels became “The Health Hotel”. There were fringe meetings on every subject, with 36 different organisations coming together to sponsor them.
However, the main focus was obviously the health debate in the main Conference hall. The debate discussed a contemporary resolution and an NEC statement. The contemporary resolution from Unison called for more time for NHS trusts to get their finances back into balance, and for the party and unions to be consulted before any further private sector involvement. The NEC issued their own statement, pointing out that the 2005 manifesto called for different types of provision and asking that ministers discuss with the Health Policy Commission the balance between public and private provision, as well as reviewing the results so far and involving patients in the development of our policies.
The debate itself was heated – Dave Prentis, the Unison General Secretary, spoke over time and the microphones were switched off (it wasn’t clear in the hall, but on TV he did appear to have been asked to wind up). This led to protests from the conference floor. The NEC asked Unison to remit their motion, so that there could be further discussions in private, but Unison asked for a vote. The Unison motion was carried on a show of hands, whilst the NEC statement was supported by most CLP votes.
On the Health Commission, our next meeting will discuss these votes and find a way forward. There are obviously concerns over the involvement of private sector organisations in the NHS, and I would welcome any views or comments from party members.