The NEC was not due to meet again until January, but dramatic developments on the party funding front saw members summoned for an emergency session. Was it all a storm in a teacup? I was not privy to all the conversations behind the scenes, but when a meeting is called at 24 hours’ notice, ten […]
Mike Griffiths, the newly-elected Chair, welcomed members to the traditional post-conference discussion of objectives and plans for the year ahead. Generally the NEC was judged to have become more effective, though there were still concerns about our independence and the principle of an appointed party Chair. Communication would be further improved, and I asked that […]
The NEC met at noon on Sunday to note resolutions approved by the conference arrangements committee (CAC). Several members were concerned that for the first time, more resolutions had been rejected than accepted, either as not contemporary (Trident, Iraq) or as out of order (the leadership). Some blamed this on the growth of identical “model […]
The Chair Jeremy Beecham welcomed members back after a long hot summer, politically and financially as well as literally. Most of the blame for infighting was laid at the door of ministers and senior MPs, echoing my feedback from ordinary members as well as that from the majority of hardworking backbenchers. Tony Blair agreed this […]
The prime minister described the Middle East situation as the most dangerous for decades, with kidnappings and rocket attacks provoking retaliation and the Lebanese people caught between Hizbollah and Israel. Dialogue could only follow after hostilities had ceased, and with a stabilisation force in south Lebanon. Some members stressed that Tony Blair’s commitment to a […]
The National Policy Forum met in positive mood in the East London docklands, now transformed into a stunning Thames-side riviera, with rallying calls from Ian McCartney, Hazel Blears, Gordon Brown, John Prescott and Tony Blair. Hazel pointed out that the Tories nearly lost the by-election in Bromley and Chislehurst, their 18th safest seat, hardly suggesting […]
The Chair Jeremy Beecham stressed the need for unity and restraint after a difficult few months, though on the whole NEC members felt that the local election results could have been much worse. Tony Blair said that Labour must continue to take decisions on energy and public service reform for the long term, including rebalancing […]
The meeting was dominated by the loans controversy, though much bridge-building had clearly gone on behind the scenes and the atmosphere was more comradely than reported. Jeremy Beecham, the Chair of the NEC, asserted our collective responsibility for the reputation of the party, and presented the recommendations listed at the end of this report. He […]
This was a special meeting, called to follow up the November session on “making the NEC work better”, agree aims and objectives, prepare for the 2006 elections, and consider progress on the party renewal project. Fewer than half the members were able to attend, but this did allow constituency representatives to explore their concerns in […]
The meeting opened with a debate about collecting arrears of subscriptions to the Association of Labour Councillors. Like other constituency secretaries I received a letter in August saying that under an NEC “rule change”, subscriptions owed by my Labour group(s) would be deducted from our membership money. I did not recall this, but discovered that […]