This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26381922

The article has changed 15 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Labour set to vote on Ed Miliband's membership reforms Miliband: Labour's union reforms will change politics
(35 minutes later)
Labour leader Ed Miliband has opened a special party conference hoping to approve plans to reform historic links between the party and trade unions. Historic changes to Labour's links with the unions will lead to the voices of working people being heard "louder than ever before," Ed Miliband has said.
Party members will vote on ending the automatic affiliation of trade union members and introducing "one member, one vote" in leadership elections. The Labour leader wants to end the automatic affiliation of union members and introduce "one member, one vote" for leadership elections.
Mr Miliband said the change, with union members able to opt-in to join the party, would transform politics. He has urged a special conference of party members to back the changes.
Unite boss Len McCluskey said the union now has "difficult choices" to make. Unite boss Len McCluskey said the union would "rise to the challenge" of making the reforms work.
The union was at the heart of controversy surrounding the selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk last year, which prompted Mr Miliband to propose the changes. But he also fired a broadside at Mr Miliband, who called the police in to investigate the alleged rigging of a Labour candidate selection by Unite in Falkirk, which sparked the reforms being debated today.
Mr Miliband won the last leadership election largely thanks to support from unions, but Mr McCluskey said he suspected only 10% of its one million members affiliated to Labour would opt to stay in if they were asked now. Mr McCluskey said the police should never have been called in and repeated his assertion that "my union has done nothing wrong" - other than what it was supposed to be doing, "encouraging our members to join the Labour Party".
To loud cheers from the crowd, he declared: "This is our party and we are going nowhere!"
Mr Miliband said the moves would not just change Labour, but transform British politics.
He received a standing ovation from union members, constituency MPs and members of local parties from around the country at London's ExCel centre, as he told them to "seize" the chance to change Labour.
Members are now voting on the proposals, which Mr Miliband said would attract thousands of new supporters to the party.
Millions of union members are automatically affiliated with Labour, but few take part in campaigning activities or even vote in general elections, Mr Miliband said.
By being allowed to actively opt in to be a supporter, for a £3 fee, Mr Miliband said Labour would be transformed into a genuine "mass movement" again - in contrast to the Conservatives.
"Today, we won't just be voting to open our doors. We'll be voting for the biggest transfer of power in the history of our party to our members and supporters," he said.
Mr Miliband won the last leadership election largely thanks to support from unions, but Unite boss Mr McCluskey said he suspected only 10% of its one million members affiliated to Labour would opt to stay in if they were asked now.
An estimated 400,000 Unite members do not vote Labour - a situation Mr McCluskey said was untenable.An estimated 400,000 Unite members do not vote Labour - a situation Mr McCluskey said was untenable.
He said: "We want to get more of our members engaged with Labour at grassroots level. We see this as an opportunity and a challenge to actively talk to our members and try to persuade them to give a commitment to Labour."
Union members who "opt-in" to join the party will be asked to pay a £3 fee.
The BBC's Brian Wheeler, who is at the conference, says the mood in the queues for voting cards has been so far upbeat.
"But inside the hall, the feeling is these changes are long overdue and they are there merely to 'rubber stamp' them," he says.
A Labour Party veteran told him: "It's been coming for as long as I remember, and that's an awful long time."
Members from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is not affiliated with Labour, have been holding a demonstration against the changes outside the centre.Members from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is not affiliated with Labour, have been holding a demonstration against the changes outside the centre.
At the moment, Labour leadership elections are decided by a complex electoral college system, with equal weight given to the votes of three groups - one third to MPs and MEPs, one third to ordinary party members and one third to trade unionists. Labour leadership elections are decided by a complex electoral college system, with equal weight given to the votes of three groups - one third to MPs and MEPs, one third to ordinary party members and one third to trade unionists.
Mr Miliband wants a "one-member, one-vote" system - something Labour leaders since John Smith in the early 1990s have tried and failed to bring about. Mr Miliband said a "one-member, one-vote" system would breathe new life into the party and complete a process started by former leader John Smith more than 30 years ago.
'Party of equality''Party of equality'
Addressing Labour activists at the conference, the party leader pointed out that in leadership elections, an MP's vote was worth 1,000 times more than each party member's.Addressing Labour activists at the conference, the party leader pointed out that in leadership elections, an MP's vote was worth 1,000 times more than each party member's.
"Let's make ourselves the party of equality. Not just in the policies we propose. But in the politics we practice," he said."Let's make ourselves the party of equality. Not just in the policies we propose. But in the politics we practice," he said.
He said he wanted to hear the voices of working people "louder than ever before", but added: "In the 21st century, not everyone wants to be a member of a political party. And you shouldn't have to pay £45 to have a voice in the Labour Party." Mr Miliband said not everyone wanted to be a member of a political party and that people should not have to pay £45 to have a voice in Labour.
Mr Miliband's proposals have already led to the GMB union reducing its affiliation funding. Unite, Labour's biggest backer, is to discuss its funding arrangements next week. He added: "I don't want to break the link with working people. I want to hear the voices of working people louder than ever before."
Mr Miliband's proposals have already led to the GMB union reducing its affiliation funding. Unite is to discuss its funding arrangements next week.
GMB leader Paul Kenny and Unison's Dave Prentis said the changes were long overdue and the party needed to get them out of the way to focus on winning the next election.
But some delegates have warned about diluting Labour's links with the unions.
One local party member - a retired postal worker - said the changes were being foisted on the party to appease the right wing media and the Conservatives.
'Long overdue'
But, with Labour ministers, the party's ruling National Executive Committee and the big trade unions already signed up to them, Mr Miliband is expected to win the vote.But, with Labour ministers, the party's ruling National Executive Committee and the big trade unions already signed up to them, Mr Miliband is expected to win the vote.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is among those supporting the proposed reforms.Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is among those supporting the proposed reforms.
He said Mr Miliband had shown "real courage" on the issue, which was "long overdue" and a reform he should have made himself.He said Mr Miliband had shown "real courage" on the issue, which was "long overdue" and a reform he should have made himself.
The party leader said: "Today, we won't just be voting to open our doors. We'll be voting for the biggest transfer of power in the history of our party to our members and supporters. Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps dismissed the proposals as a "white flag" to union bosses, that allows them to tighten their "stranglehold" of the party.
"Today if you vote for these reforms you will be voting for Labour to be a movement again. Arguing our case house by house, village by village, town by town. But movements are only as strong as the people within them. The depth, the diversity, the reach of a movement is the true measure of its strength and its ability to make change.
"That's why we have to change, that's why we have to bring people in."
Mr Miliband has argued that if even a fraction of union members sign up to be affiliated supporters it could more than double the number of activists the party can draw on and open politics up to a wider cross-section of people.
But Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps dismissed the proposals as a "white flag" to union bosses, that allows them to tighten their "stranglehold" of the party.
"It's the same old Labour - union bosses still pick the leader, buy the policies and rig the selections," Mr Shapps said."It's the same old Labour - union bosses still pick the leader, buy the policies and rig the selections," Mr Shapps said.
"Ed Miliband has shown he is too weak to stand up to the union bosses, and too weak to stand up for hardworking people.""Ed Miliband has shown he is too weak to stand up to the union bosses, and too weak to stand up for hardworking people."
Meanwhile, John Smith's widow, Baroness Elizabeth Smith, writing in the Guardian, said her husband would have backed Mr Miliband's plan for one member, one vote.
Of Mr Miliband, she said: "He has a capacity to bring people together and a determination to change our party so that we can change Britain."