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| Plans to give Labour's NEC more say over policy attacked as 'political and divisive' | Plans to give Labour's NEC more say over policy attacked as 'political and divisive' |
| (7 months later) | |
| A row is brewing before Labour’s national executive committee meets next week after a series of proposals tabled by a leading supporter of Jeremy Corbyn were described as “political and divisive”. | A row is brewing before Labour’s national executive committee meets next week after a series of proposals tabled by a leading supporter of Jeremy Corbyn were described as “political and divisive”. |
| The NEC is to examine calls to give it a greater say over policymaking – at the expense of the national policy forum – and to give the committee a decisive say over the recruitment of Labour party staff. | The NEC is to examine calls to give it a greater say over policymaking – at the expense of the national policy forum – and to give the committee a decisive say over the recruitment of Labour party staff. |
| Critics of Corbyn were alarmed by a set of proposals tabled by Jon Lansman, a veteran supporter of Tony Benn who co-founded the pro-Corybn Momentum group. Lansman, who is not a member of the NEC but is influential, is proposing that an NEC policy and coordination committee should “oversee and coordinate all aspects of the party’s policymaking process”. An NEC staffing committee should “make all senior appointments” in consultation with the Labour leader’s office, Lansman said. | Critics of Corbyn were alarmed by a set of proposals tabled by Jon Lansman, a veteran supporter of Tony Benn who co-founded the pro-Corybn Momentum group. Lansman, who is not a member of the NEC but is influential, is proposing that an NEC policy and coordination committee should “oversee and coordinate all aspects of the party’s policymaking process”. An NEC staffing committee should “make all senior appointments” in consultation with the Labour leader’s office, Lansman said. |
| Bex Bailey, a representative of Young Labour on the NEC, has published her own submission, which challenges Lansman’s proposals. Bailey warned of the dangers of handing the NEC control over staffing. | Bex Bailey, a representative of Young Labour on the NEC, has published her own submission, which challenges Lansman’s proposals. Bailey warned of the dangers of handing the NEC control over staffing. |
| “A new NEC staffing committee, to directly recruit members of staff, would make staff recruitment political and divisive, putting our wish to be a great employer at risk,” Bailey wrote. | “A new NEC staffing committee, to directly recruit members of staff, would make staff recruitment political and divisive, putting our wish to be a great employer at risk,” Bailey wrote. |
| “We should take seriously our commitment to equal opportunities and oppose any attempts to politicise the staff team to work for anything other than winning local and national elections.” | “We should take seriously our commitment to equal opportunities and oppose any attempts to politicise the staff team to work for anything other than winning local and national elections.” |
| The representative of Young Labour also raised concerns about Lansman’s proposals to bolster the NEC’s role over policymaking. “I am completely opposed to any move to centralise policymaking powers to the NEC or to Labour party conference,” she wrote. | The representative of Young Labour also raised concerns about Lansman’s proposals to bolster the NEC’s role over policymaking. “I am completely opposed to any move to centralise policymaking powers to the NEC or to Labour party conference,” she wrote. |
| “Centralising power in this manner will have an adverse effect on engagement with party members and the wider public and limit our decision-making to a smaller and less diverse group of people who, despite their best and most genuine efforts, cannot always effectively represent every single part of our party.” | “Centralising power in this manner will have an adverse effect on engagement with party members and the wider public and limit our decision-making to a smaller and less diverse group of people who, despite their best and most genuine efforts, cannot always effectively represent every single part of our party.” |
| Lansman’s proposed changes could have an immediate impact on the debate within the party over whether to support the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor who supports Corbyn in wanting to scrap Trident, has suggested that party members could be consulted directly in a process that could involve bypassing the Labour conference. | Lansman’s proposed changes could have an immediate impact on the debate within the party over whether to support the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor who supports Corbyn in wanting to scrap Trident, has suggested that party members could be consulted directly in a process that could involve bypassing the Labour conference. |
| Under the current rules the national policy forum, which has representatives from each region and each section of the Labour party, consults party members and draws up policy documents, which are then sent to the Labour conference for the final say. | Under the current rules the national policy forum, which has representatives from each region and each section of the Labour party, consults party members and draws up policy documents, which are then sent to the Labour conference for the final say. |
| The debate between Lansman and Bailey echoes the debate that raged between Benn and his opponents on the soft left and centre of the Labour party in the 1980s. Benn wanted to boost the role of the Labour membership to give them a decisive say over Labour MPs on the grounds that grassroots activists were more representative. | The debate between Lansman and Bailey echoes the debate that raged between Benn and his opponents on the soft left and centre of the Labour party in the 1980s. Benn wanted to boost the role of the Labour membership to give them a decisive say over Labour MPs on the grounds that grassroots activists were more representative. |
| Benn’s opponents say that MPs should be the pre-eminent voices because they are elected by the population at large. These arguments are echoed three decades later by Bailey. | Benn’s opponents say that MPs should be the pre-eminent voices because they are elected by the population at large. These arguments are echoed three decades later by Bailey. |
| Bailey wrote: “We must also respect the mandate of our 232 MPs, elected by 9.3 million voters, to make decisions on matters that affect their constituents. While I like to feel that I would be able to make the right decisions on all policy matters, I am acutely aware that I, along with other NEC members, do not have available to me the same information and intelligence that is provided to MPs [who] … have a far bigger mandate than the few of us who were elected by a relatively small number of Labour party members. | Bailey wrote: “We must also respect the mandate of our 232 MPs, elected by 9.3 million voters, to make decisions on matters that affect their constituents. While I like to feel that I would be able to make the right decisions on all policy matters, I am acutely aware that I, along with other NEC members, do not have available to me the same information and intelligence that is provided to MPs [who] … have a far bigger mandate than the few of us who were elected by a relatively small number of Labour party members. |
| “If we are serious about regaining public trust in the Labour party and politics more widely, we should allow our parliamentarians to get on with the job they are in Westminster for.” | “If we are serious about regaining public trust in the Labour party and politics more widely, we should allow our parliamentarians to get on with the job they are in Westminster for.” |