CfS at The World Transformed

- Report from CfS TU Office, Siobhan McCready

This year's Conference in Liverpool was by far the best I've attended. The atmosphere was electric and there were so many first time delegates, particularly young people.

Our fringe was timetabled to run at the same time John McDonald was speaking, so frankly I didn't expect a turnout. I was therefore surprised to find a full room of people eager to hear our experiences of Scottish politics and ideas for Radical Federalism. It was standing room only for Pauline Bryan, Neil Findlay and Matt Kerr, a fantastic panel. 

The discussions were thoughtful, audience engaged and their initial ideas of a radical Scottish political climate pretty much debunked as the realities of a never ending constitutional debate were laid bare. 

TWT concept worked well and many younger and local people were signed up to attend workshops and fringes without attending Conference itself. This we know can be a little overwhelming for new members so this type of event was a more relaxed way to engage. It will hopefully bring more people into the Party as activists. Certainly worth considering for Scottish Conference albeit on smaller scale, for now! 

Thanks to the Organisers and the Panel who made my job as Chair pretty painless. 

Setting up a Local Group: A Guide

The Fife Campaign for Socialism group was originally formed in the summer of 2017 and is now firmly established.

Since its inception it has managed to recruit members to both CFS and the Labour Party, whilst also being active in a number of campaigns in the local community.

Detailed below are a number of key lessons the co-ordinators of the group have learned which hopefully can be of use to CFS members forming groups in other geographical areas.

1.0 Arranging meetings

1.1 Advertise your meetings as widely as possible. CFS will be able to help you reach fellow CFS/Momentum members in your community. Use social media. Distribute fliers. If you are arranging a public meeting – send a letter to your local paper providing details of the group and the meeting. Using facebook for example “Create events” for meetings – this also helps you have an idea of likely attendances.

1.2 In the beginning especially you may find it helpful to try and get guest speakers who have a degree of profile. This will help gather interest and may attract some press coverage e.g. for our first meeting we had a local Councillor deliver a talk on “Socialism and the Labour Party” and the local paper published an article on this.

1.3 Don’t neglect discussion. Whilst some people will wish to just come along and listen, others will want to speak.

1.4 When picking a date to meet, make sure that it doesn’t clash with any local CLPs. It seems obvious but it has happened to us! Make sure you know when all the CLPs in your area meet and any other groups which attract a similar audience (e.g. Trades council, Peoples Assembly, PROGRESS… (wee joke there!!) etc)

1.5 Find a venue that people can get to. This might not always be the cheapest but if people can’t find you then you are shooting yourself in the foot right away. Pick a venue that is fairly central to the area you are operating in and try to ensure that it has good transport links and is easy to locate.

1.6 Don’t go chopping and changing venues. If you are trying to establish a group you need to have consistency.

1.7 Don’t get hung up on attendances. Of course you want people to turn up and ideally attendances would grow exponentially over time but that isn’t realistic. If you find the secret to that, then please share! More likely, attendances will fluctuate and sometimes be dependent on circumstances out with your control.

1.8 Ask people what they want from meetings. Get their suggestions on guest speakers or discussion themes.

1.9 Don’t be shy at meetings to ask for donations for room hire etc. People expect this. Our group also regularly run raffles too to try and get funds.

1.10 In early public meetings, you may get one or two comrades from other parts of the left come along who are keen to get their viewpoints across. As long as they are respectful you have nothing to worry about (just make sure that you have more CFS members there and that they are in the minority!).

1.11 At public meetings we always begin by giving a brief overview of CFS and its history and details about how to join. Usually we also put fliers on seats etc.

1.12 Normally we have speakers followed by a discussion. Generally ninety minutes is adequate.

1.13 If arranging guest speakers, you may wish to try and get two for the night if you can. This helps reduce the stress if there is a late cancellation. It may happen for one speaker, but less likely two will cancel on the same night. Pretty obvious but if you have two speakers, try and be gender balanced if you can.

2.0 Organising

2.1 Form a steering group early on amongst your more active members. Try and get as many people involved in different tasks as possible.

2.2 Whilst our meetings have generally been open to the public, with the exception of one, we have a private facebook page which allows us to communicate as members of CFS. This is useful for arranging events and campaigns etc.

2.3 It is important to work with local union activists and groups. In Fife, CFS members are regularly involved in events working in partnership with for example: Fife Trades Council and Peoples Assembly.

2.4 We have tied in with various campaigns (e.g supporting Richard Leonard in the leadership election) by getting group photos done with members holding up messages of support/posters etc – all good for sharing on social media etc.

2.5 Getting a local banner(s) early on is useful because you can then start to build up your presence at local demos/protests/campaigns etc (through contacts in a particular union we were able to get banners done very cheaply).

For more information, contact: Liam Thomson E: mrliamthomson@yahoo.co.uk

July Executive Report

Report of the Campaign for Socialism Executive meeting 7th July 2018

Present: Martyn Cook (Dial-in), Lorcan Mullen, Carol Mochan, Jess Galloway, Paul McNally (Chairing), Grant Aitken, Stephen Low, 

Apologies: Mike Williams, Maureen Sharkey, Sean Duffy.

1.    Chair Report
Our current policy officer has stepped down. It was agreed to leave this and any other positions vacant until the next AGM.  UK Conference is scheduled for September, CfS should organise a motions based meeting for CfS in advance of this. 

2. Secretary Report
To follow. 

3. Treasurer Report    
The treasurer reported that the change of signature forms had been sent to the cooperative bank and we are awaiting a response. To add a ‘donate here’ page to the CfS Website.

4. Westminster SelectionsAgreed to hold a review of the process for nominating and supporting candidates. 

5. Supporting Selected Candidates  Agreed to setup a sub-committee to listen to feedback from candidates.

6. Summer Activism
Grant organised a mini-campaign on poverty week in Clackmannanshire. The campaign was Grant had asked for a £250 donation to the campaign.Proposed: Martyn CookSeconded: Carol Mochan.
The campaign was focusing on back-to-school kit as children could not afford this. This was similar to the campaign run in Pollok by by John Beattie.

7. Local Reps Review
It was not always clear what was happening in some areas and specifically who the nominated representative was. The committee asked better feedback from local groups with meeting and activity reports. GDPR training can be supplied by Jess.

8. Next All Members Meeting
The AGM had mandated the meeting to be on the issue of Trans-rights. 
No date or format had been set for this yet.Martyn to contact Mike WilliamsonArrange a policy based all members meeting for Autumn/Winter, the preferred location being Dundee or Stirling.

9. Political Education
Martyn Cook reported that a number of workshops have been designed for local groups to present to members. The first would be ‘the history of labour in Scotland’ Designed by Ewan Gibbs. Budgets would be supplied to local groups for hiring a venue and catering, the first talk is ready and should proceed as quickly as possible in each area.

10. AOB
Date of next meeting: 4th August.
 

Support the #CfS5 and #JC9

Elections are on just now for the National Policy forum and the National Executive Committee. o ensure that we have a party that continues to support the socialist policies of Jeremy Corbyn, it is crucial that members vote for the #CfS5 and the #JC9!

Scottish Executive Committee Report, April 2018

Scottish Executive Committee, April 2018
Report by Cara Hilton, SEC Member for Mid Scotland & Fife/West of Scotland

Following January's SEC Away Day in Stirling (which focused mainly on selections, procedures and the work programme for the year) and the pre-Conference meeting in Dundee, the first regular SEC meeting of 2018 was held on 22 April in Glasgow.

Linda Stewart (Chair) opened the meeting, beginning by welcoming Michael Marra who is replacing Lesley Brennan as representative for North East Scotland/Highlands & Islands. Lesley has been appointed as Richard Leonard's Chief of Staff - thanks extended to Lesley for he work on the SEC over the past year. Linda reflected on the changes since being elected as Chair and in particular Scottish Labour's revival in election fortunes, Kezia's resignation the Richard's election. She thanked Brian Roy and the party staff team for their incredible work and highlighted her pleasure that socialism is rightly back at the forefront of Scottish Labour.  But the constant elections have limited the ability of the SEC to get on with building a better relationship with members across Scotland and implementing change to break down barriers to involvement for members in more remote and rural parts of Scotland. Linda also expressed disappointment at continuing leaks from SEC meetings which are stifling the opportunity for debate and playing into the hands of our opponents. She thanked everyone for their support over the past year in her role as Chair.

The SEC then moved to the election of new officer bearers and I was very pleased to be elected as Vice Chair.  The other office bearers are Cathy Peattie (Chair) and Ian Miller (Treasurer). 

Richard Leonard gave his Leader's report, beginning by paying tribute to Linda for being an outstanding Chair during a very difficult year and pledging to  continue Linda's work of campaigning to raise the profile of the party in rural areas. He highlighted the successful Young Labour Conference the day before - a tremendous event - and also the work of Carywn Jones, who had resigned as Leader of Welsh Labour at the weekend.  Richard is keen to develop our links with Welsh Labour. Outside Parliament, it was pleasing to see party members and elected reps across Scotland supporting the UCU strike and the recent Stand up to Racism March in Glasgow. In terms of elections, the Midlothian By Election had been very tough; we need to learn lessons organisationally.  In terms of wider domestic issues, Richard reinforced the need for zero tolerance of Anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia and talked also of his work underway to rebuild and strengthen our links with the STUC.

Internationally, Richard condemned the actions of the UK Government in taking military action against Syria and outlined his support for a War Powers Act as proposed by Jeremy Corbyn. In the Scottish Parliament, he is continuing to expose the SNP Government's refusal to use procurement powers to deliver fair work and tackle both blacklisting and use of umbrella companies.  Richard concluded by noting Dave Watson's imminent retirement plans and the huge loss he will be to the SEC, in particular thanks to his encyclopedic knowledge of party rules!  He also reported briefly on the recent NEC meeting, which had been dominated by the election of the new General Secretary.

Ann Henderson then proposed an Emergency Motion on Syria, condemning the air strikes and supporting Jeremy Corbyn's stance. Scott Arthur proposed an amendment to strengthen the condemnation of all atrocities. The amended motion was agreed by the majority of the SEC.

The SEC the moved on to hear political reports. No-one was present to give a Scottish Parliament report (written report received) but Lesley Laird MP provided a comprehensive update on the Scottish Labour Group's excellent work at Westminster, focusing on the Brexit Bill, relationships building with Welsh Labour and with the press, the Windrush scandal and steps being taken to tackle anti-semitism by the new GS, Jenny Formby. She also highlighted the Unite campaign to stop RBS closures and importance of local parties actively supporting. This message was strongly reinforced by Jackson Cullinane or Unite. David Ross provided an update on Local Government and Catherine Stihler MEP provided a update on the European Parliament. The EPLP will be at Westminster next month to meet with the PLP.

Brian Roy provided a brief General Secretary's Report - outlining new staff appointments made and underway. He is working with Neil Findlay on developing our organising approach and future campaigns. The next Action Saturday will be on 12th May, with a focus on local council cuts. A new Scottish Labour website is in the final stages of development - due to be launched mid/end of May and a candidate development programme is also being developed - will be advertised in the next few months.

Deputy Leadership Election - This had been considered by the Organisation Sub-Committee who had agreed a timetable, running in conjunction with summer internal party elections. This will save the party around £45,000. A discussion took place on the approach and while some felt that ideally a freeze date should be set immediately (this was my view before I became aware of the financial savings of running alongside other elections), it was agreed to support the approach agreed by the Organisation Sub.  The election timetable would commence immediately, with a freeze date set of 22nd June and the hustings period getting underway on Friday 1st June. Balloting to take place late summer, with the result being announced on Friday 31st August or Saturday 1st September. It was agreed however that going forward set rules need to be agreed, rather than chopping and changing with each election. Hopefully there will be no more contests anytime soon!

A brief discussion took place on GDPR and how this could impact on communication with members and supporters. More guidance will be issued shortly.

A lengthy discussion took place on the new Aberdeen Power Sharing Proposal that had been considered by the Organisation Sub Committee.  I personally feel there still hasn't been enough guarantees that a similar decision in breech of an SEC ruling would not occur in the future and account needs to be taken of the wider political implications. While the consensus was that the situation needed resolved, there were many outstanding concerns. It was agreed that several SEC reps be identified to take forward negotiations with the Aberdeen Labour Group to achieve an outcome satisfactory to all.

Selections - Brian Roy reported that these were now underway in 15 of the 20 most marginal Westminster seats.  In the remaining 5 it was agreed that action needs to be taken to ensure selections happen without much further delay. A complaint had been received regarding the process in Glasgow South West - it was agreed to refer to the SEC officers to enable a speedy resolution. I raised a question of behalf of North East Fife CLP about selections in the remaining constituencies - a commitment was given that this would be discussed at the first meeting after the new Deputy Leader is in place.

Scottish Policy Forum - elections will take place over the summer, with nominations opening on 1st June (closing 25th June) and running in conjunction with the other summer ballots. 

The next meeting of the SEC will be on Saturday 16th June.  Please let me have details of any issues you would like me to raise on behalf of your CLP. You can email me at cara.hilton@btinternet.com

CfS January Executive Report

Campaign for Socialism Executive Meeting – 30th January 2018

In attendance – P = on the phone/video call

Grant Aitken, Lesley Brennan (P), Linda Clarke, Martyn Cook, Seán Duffy, Jess Galloway, Stephen Low, Siobhan McCready, Paul McNally, Lorcan Mullen (P) Maureen Sharkey

Apologies

Nathaniel Butler Blondel

1. Update on selections

15 of Scottish Labour’s 20 key target seats have been chosen as all women’s shortlists by the SEC. The vote for following an AWS model was 14/7.

Agreed by the SEC that everyone who previously stood should be automatically on the panel, the executive agreed.

Panels will consist of 8-12 people, 4 of whom must be representative of the trade unions, and must reside within the boundaries of the Westminster constituency. Must be gender balanced.

Anyone who received 50% or more of the trade unions support will automatically be shortlisted.

Executive agreed a process to endorse candidates and this will be taken forward. 

2. Update on deputy leadership

Decision has been pushed to the Summer or afterwards by the SEC. Consensus that it would be an unnecessary distraction at this time.

3. SEC representative reports

Agreed to increase the number of SEC reports that are being circulated to members. 

4. Membership drive

Moved to next meeting

5. Roles and responsibilities on the executive and local groups

Long overdue setting up sub-committees which the Ordinary Members are largely responsible for. Agreement that this structure will have to be revisited if it is not functioning.

6. Disciplinary proceedings

It was decided that a code of conduct and disciplinary procedure should be written and moved at the AGM to which all members are signed up to.

7. Update on Aberdeen councillors

Situation ongoing, new leadership has begun to discuss with councillors. Further moves will be dependent on the councillors approach to the local budget.

8. Fringe meeting for Scottish conference

Suggestion that we should hold a drinks event at conference to attract new members. Grant Aitken to look into feasibility. Joint session with Unite is going ahead.

9. Democracy review

Review ongoing. CfS members to be encouraged to meet and submit proposals. 

10. AOB

AGM will be 25th March in Kirkcaldy

Report from LRC Special General Meeting

The Labour Representation Committee recently held a Special General Meeting to relaunch the organisation and determine their political direction. CfS was invited to send a delegate to the meeting, and the below is a report from Grant Aitken who attended on behalf of CfS.

The conference started off with a speech from Mick Brookes who largely spoke of the successes of the last year and praised the resilience of the left. Brookes went on to highlight both the positives and negatives of Momentum, highlighting they done an extraordinary job in mobilising activists and bringing people in to labour with use of new methods. He then went on speak the democracy deficit in momentum, claiming LRC are a democratic organisation and that they (LRC) are not a fan club for the Leadership. Thus seeing LRC’s role as one being where they keep John and Jeremy to left in the inevitability of the pressures that they will face from the establishment.

It’s worth noting that whilst democracy was highlighted as a strength of LRC, I hardly think a SGM where anyone that can afford to attend can get a vote is a great model. (Not a particularly shining example considering this was a delegated conference but everyone’s vote counted the same.)

Maria Exall on the role of trade unions

Exall made points that the Tus are often the vehicle in which best allows working-class representation in parliament (and in the Labour Party). Generally reiterated the need for the strong links with the TU’s.

Discussion that followed and also moving of resolutions

What was shining in this discussion was that the age of LRC members in the room was on average 40+ this was pointed out by many speakers. 

Points were made of LRC’s stagnation and growing irrelevance.

Members on several occasions hinted that LRC should not count on the trade unions and expressed discontent at left bureaucrats.

There was also debate on whether print was effective as online media, some members were clinging onto the idea that Labour Briefing magazines were effective in reaching out to the masses. Others suggest that there LRC creates a Labour Briefing website.

 Resolutions moved

• Grassroots left- motion to support Ian Allinson financially in campaign against Victimisation in Fujitsu
• Unite retired member’s branch- LRC to campaign in the TU movement behind the call of Mcdonnell to end the 7 year pay reduction. Also to campaign to end labour councils implementing cuts.
• Brent Trades Council- asking lrc to campaign behind; local gov, TU rights, economic policy, foreign policy (imperialist warand Israel/Palestine), party democracy and the party machine and freedom of movement (open border policy)
• New communist party- campaign for solution to Housing crisis
• Emergency motion from Grassroots Black Alliance- condemn momentums actions ignoring the clga and running a slate
• Emergency motion CND- standard nuclear disarmament

John Mcdonnell

Mcdonnell briefly spoke (as it was a Q+A, also had other arrangements)said that he wanted LRC to operate like a think-tank, developing and analysing policy to aid in combatting regressive tory economic policy.

Further discussion in latter stages of the day

Grassroots Black Alliance were largely sceptical of momentum and pinned most of their criticism largely on Jon Lansman. Thus the reason they submitted their emergency motion (which didn’t fully explain the scenario of the CLGA)

Context- The CLGA had met, in which CLPD wanted Anne Black to remain on the slate despite objections from all other organisations. So momentum decided to go forth with the slate with all of the other members of the group. 

The grassroots black alliance demanded Lansman included them otherwise they would split and run their own slate with others.

All other motions were generally agreed across the room.

A lot of discussion regarding witch hunts and getting people unsuspended from the labour party, where people were calling on members to include (people to get a fair hearing ect) it in submissions to the democracy review.

The democracy review was spoke of as something welcome but speakers reminded members to be critical of the end results.

Election results unopposed

President- John Mcdonnell        

Chair- Matt Wreck

Vice-Chair- Suzanne Gannon

Treasurer- Alison Mcgarry

Memb secretary- Keith Henderson

Web manager- Norette Moore

Admin secretary- Pete Firmin

Nec equalities seat- BME – Jackie Walker

Nec equalities seat- LGBT- Patrick Hall

Nec ord membs women- Maria Exall, Janet Johnson, Manciya Uddin and Patricia Jackson

Labour briefing editorial board females- Jackie Walker and Norette Moore

All resolutions passed.

All Member EGM and Executive Reports

In the lead up to the Scottish Labour leadership election, the CfS executive met to discuss the best possible approaches for CfS to, firstly, decide on whether to endorse a leadership campaign, and then, secondly, debate the most efficient approaches to intervene in support of Richard Leonard once this had been agreed.

After the result was announced, an all-members meeting was called for Edinburgh, where the result was reflected upon, and then discussion was held about the best approach for CfS to take forward under the new leadership and for 2018.

The following are brief reports back on the Executive meetings (which were delayed in being sent  as a result of the leadership contest being the main priority) and then a longer report back on the main points agreed at the all member EGM. 

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Campaign for Socialism Executive Meeting – 3rd September 2017

1. Leadership 

- The recently announced leadership campaign and candidates was discussed. The executive formalised their full and unanimous support for Richard Leonard.

- It was felt that CfS should remain independent of the official campaign in order to effectively put across the views of the grassroots

- It was agreed that CfS should run a positive and complimentary campaign, focusing on the distinct and radical policies of Richard Leonard and Jeremy Corbyn

- It was announced that Seán Duffy and Lesley Brennan will both be working on Richard’s campaign team.

2. Motions for consideration

None submitted

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Campaign for Socialism Executive Meeting – 4th November 2017

1. Leadership (and meeting post result)

- An all members meeting was organised for 2nd December in Wester Hailes. Motions will be accepted in the week prior.

- Seán Duffy gave a report of the leadership situation and the expected results. It was noted that there is a great deal more campaigning to be done in order to secure victory.

2. Motions to conference (including rule change regarding the NEC)

-  Options explored for a motion and rule change, and present to the next executive.

3. Youth SEC election

- Nathaniel Butler Blondel and Mhairi Sharkey have been confirmed as CfS/SLYS endorsed candidates.

4. Momentum NCG representative

- The ballot for this position will go out shortly. There are 3 confirmed candidates. Lorcan Mullen, Grant Aitken, and Stan Crooke. They will all be given an opportunity to contact the CfS facebook group members.

5. Finalising AGM

- AGM expected to be in March 2017, likely the 3rd Saturday of the month. 

6. Local groups

- A number of members stressed the importance of maintaining and building up local groups. Progress on this has been mixed.

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Campaign for Socialism All Members Meeting –  2017

1. Report back on leadership campaign and discussion. 

- A broad range of submissions were made from the floor about the campaign. The victory of Richard Leonard was welcomed, but there was a recognition that there is still significant work to do within the Scottish Labour Party as well as the wider UK Party and labour movement to rebuild our base of support and ensure that we are in a position to win elections again. 

- The growth of CfS and significant role it played in mobilising the grassroots of the party in support of the main campaign was recognised, and this needs to be built on for the coming years, as well as reflecting on areas of weakness and ensuring that we address them.

2.Report on CfS Executive work and proposals post-election 

A variety of papers and reports were presented to the meeting to provide an update on work that has been ongoing and planned for the new year. Below is a summary of those. 

A. Political Education 

Lorcan Mullen, the recently elected CfS rep to the Momentum NCG provided a paper on political education. The main point was that: "Momentum (nationwide) and CFS (in Scotland) have made remarkable progress in the past few years. We now have socialist leadership at Westminster and Holyrood, have scored a string of victories in internal elections and have strengthened our position in selection battles. We can't get complacent about any of this, but we must also divert some thought and energy to longer-term development work designed to build a party and culture that carries our politics well beyond the current leadership." This work will be taken forward in the new year. 

B. CfS Sub-Committees

At our AGM we agreed that there should be various sub-committees set up to help increase the scope of work that CfS undertakes as well as being a forum for our membership to become more involved in the organisation. Certain Executive members would effectively be the chair of these sub-committees and invite members to get involved and arrange events, produce policy, etc. Constitutionally, the agreed committees were:

• Women's Sub-Committee (chaired by the Women’s Officer)

• Policy Sub-Committee (chaired by the Policy Officer)

• Campaign Sub-Committee (chaired by the Vice-Chair)

Other sub-committees could be set up as required to meet other demands.

However, due to the General Election and then the Scottish leadership contests, we have not had the time or resources to launch these sub-committees. The proposal is to formally launch these in the new year, and begin building the relevant networks and forums to progress them.

We should have these established and initial meetings or discussions taking place in advance of the 2018 AGM where the relevant Executive officers will report back on their initial progress.

C. Trade Unions

We have started to encourage trade unions and branches to affiliate to CfS. This is with the joint view of increasing our connections with the wider labour movement and, eventually, encouraging trade unionists to join and become more active in both CfS and the Labour Party.  We have already undertaken some initial leafleting and organised protests in support of the the Boycott Picturehouse/Cineworld campaign, and have been approached about supporting the McDonalds strikes for £10/hour in the new year.

D. Candidate Selections  

Due to the leadership election, the process for selecting Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for the 20 most marginal Scottish seats was delayed until January. It is likely that the Scottish Executive Committee will put forward a timetable for this in January. CfS will be actively encouraging members to stand for selections across Scotland.

E. SALC

There will shortly be an election for the 8 Executive positions of the Scottish Association of Labour Councillors (SALC).

The SALC Executive is there to represent Scottish Labour Councillors, ensure their voice is heard at all levels of the party and that they are given the support they need to best represent their communities. The Chair of SALC, elected by the 8 Executive Members, will also occupy one of the 2 Local Government positions on the Scottish Executive Committee (SEC).

The SALC Executive will consist of eight representatives, with two elected per twinned region. Within each twinned regional ballot the male and female with the highest number votes will both be elected – ensuring a gender balanced Executive.

If you would like to stand for election please email campaignforsocialism@gmail.com

F. Democracy Review

The UK Labour Party has launched a Democracy Review regarding the party’s structures and mechanisms for engaging with our membership. The deadline for submissions to this can be done individually or via CLPs, the latter of which will carry more weight. Due to the size and scope of the review there are three ‘phases’ which will allow for staggered submissions. They are:

Phase one (deadline 12th January)

• The role of BAME Labour

• The role of Young Labour

• The role of Labour Party Women’s Conference.

Phase two (deadline 23rd March)

• The governance of CLPs

• The role of socialist societies

• Improving diversity and gender representation

• Strengthening the involvement and participation of members

• The recruitment of members and harnessing the potential of social media.

Phase three (29 June)

• The method of electing the Party Leader

• The composition of the NEC

• Regional structures

• Freeze dates

• The policy process including CLP motions

• Local government

• Local and national links with Trade Unions.

It is proposed that local CfS and Momentum groups should meet early in the new year to discuss their priorities and organise submissions to be passed through CLPs. The CfS Executive will provide information packs to local groups to facilitate discussion.  Local group reps will coordinate the responses via the CfS Executive.

G. Campaign Days

The Labour Party is changing the way it does campaign days - moving away from lots of small events, to four or five mass canvass sessions.  The first of these will take place on 20th January and likely to be in Edinburgh N&L, Glasgow SW, Dunfermline & West Fife, Inverclyde and Motherwell & Wishaw.

Constitution Amendments

- One amendment was passed, asking for quarterly all member meetings to be held. This will take effect from the 2018 AGM. 

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If there are any queries or issues you would like more information about from these reports, please email campaignforsocialism@gmail.com 

National Policy Forum Update: 'For the Many', onwards

- Martyn Cook, NPF representative 

The snap General Election caught almost everyone by surprise. Just as surprising to many – though not all – was the final result: Labour coming from way behind in the polls to make historic gains and putting us within touching distance of government.

Most activists and commentators agreed that one of the main contributing factors to Labour’s bold advance was the ‘For The Many’ manifesto.

Although the final draft was written at short notice, much of the groundwork and political direction that it pointed towards was base on work undertaken by the National Policy Forum and ordinary members who have been making submissions and discussing policy motions at CLPs and Conference.

There is an acceptance that there is still further work that is required to further improve the manifesto we stood on earlier this year. As such, the Joint Policy Committee (the sort-of executive committee of the NPF) has put out a timetable for the coming year.

Below is an edited version of the notice that NPF reps have received and also contains information on how you can get involved:

Using the manifesto as a launching pad for the next stage of policy development, the JPC has agreed eight priority policy areas for consideration this year — one for each of the policy commissions (Early Years, Education and Skills; Economy, Business & Trade; Environment, Energy & Culture; Health & Social Care; Housing, Local Government & Transport; International; Justice & Home Affairs; Work, Pensions & Equality).

Commissions are asked to work up policy in these priority areas, taking evidence and listening to the views of the Party. The programme of activity will see Commissions drawing up initial consultation documents for consideration at a spring NPF meeting. Party members will be asked for their views on these with Commissions asked to consider evidence received before reporting on their work this year in the NPF Annual Report to Conference 2018.

As well as the eight areas identified as a priority, Commissions will also continue to consider all submissions received from members and supporters as well as considering topical issues throughout the year.

Members will shortly receive details of how they can get involved with the work of the NPF. Details of the NPF activity, consultation papers and resources will be made available via mailings and on the policy forum website.

Policy Commission meetings
The first policy commission meetings of this cycle begin next week. Policy Development staff have been in touch with commissions members. Meetings will look at activity for the year ahead, discuss consultation areas and review submissions made to Labour Policy Forum and conference reports.

National Policy Forum meeting
I am pleased to inform you that the JPC has agreed that the next meeting of the NPF will be held on the weekend of 17-18 February 2018.

Labour Policy Forum: www.policyforum.labour.org.uk
We have recently made a number of improvements to the Labour Policy Forum to improve data capture, including: a new submissions page, easier navigation, and category tag.

Along with your submissions reports, we will provide a short overview of the submissions received to each policy commission to help you find the most popular discussion topics on the website.

You can also follow news from the NPF on Twitter @labpolicyforum.

If you have any questions about anything covered in this email, or would like help using Labour Policy Forum, please do email the policy development team at policydevelopment@labour.org.uk

Momentum NCG Report - December 2017

Report – Momentum National Coordinating Group, December 2nd 2017

- Lorcan Mullen (CfS NCG rep)

This is a brief report outlining what I thought were the most relevant issues discussed at the NCG. As this meeting was my first, the note will probably lack some detail where I'm just getting up to speed with who's who etc. If any points discussed below require further explanation, be sure to get in touch. 

Jon Lansman convened the meeting, welcoming me and delegates from the now-affiliated CWU and the BFAWU. A vote of thanks was moved for CFS's work on the Richard Leonard campaign. 

The new National Coordinator Laura Parker was introduced. Laura will manage staff, operations and resources and will report to the NCG. Laura was previously an aide to Jeremy Corbyn and a lay Momentum activist in London. 

Laura discussed her first report as NC, which outlined impressive work and feedback on Momentum's role at conference, its digital communications and analytics operation and the establishment of a successful training network based around practical campaigning skills. There were positive discussions around maximising left attendance at next year's conference (noting some issues left CLPs had with registration, travel and accommodation) and bringing the energy and thinking of The World Transformed to all parts of the country. 

Current priorities are: success in electing left delegates in the NEC elections, winning the NEC Youth Rep seat, getting the most out of the Democracy Review and consolidating the organisation for the long term. As a digital platform for collating Momentum activists' proposals for the democracy review will be launched in the new year, local groups should already be getting together to discuss their priorities and drafting submissions. CFS may wish to generate its own papers to feed in to this process. 

The finances are currently sound, but the organising and digital staff are working on recruitment, member retention, chasing lapsed memberships, increased revenue generation, etc. 

As per the Momentum constitution, NCG elections were agreed for early 2018 on the following timetable:

Nominations – midday 09.02.18 – midday 02.03.18

Voting – 07.03.18 – 23.03.18

As per the constitution, there will be a Momentum conference in 2018. With NCG support, the NC suggested this could usefully take place alongside some other left / labour movement event like the Durham Miners' Gala. More detailed plans will be brought to the next NCG. 

With regard to Labour Party elections, the NCG approved verbal reports on plans for Young Labour elections and National Policy Forum elections, with Momentum officers / organisers set to take a lead in coordinating slate formation and election campaigns. A motion from Rida Vaquas on an alternative, OMOV-based method for slate formation in Young Labour elections was withdrawn on the day. 

Under AOCB, attendees agreed to tighten up communication between officers / staff and NCG delegates about organisational developments, noted ongoing work on recruiting BAME members and black history and agreed further support and promotion for workers' struggles like McStrike and the Picturehouse dispute. 

It was agreed that Momentum communications should encourage activism and initiative within trade unions, not simply “join a union!”

The next meeting was set for Saturday February 24th 2018, with a London venue TBC.