NEC Equalities Committee – 7th March Report from Women’s Conference working group We had a report back from the Women’s Conference Working Group which all women NEC members are invited to attend. This NEC working group was set up after 2016 annual conference voted to give women’s conference a formal role in policy-making. To ensure Young Labour women were at the forefront of this process I set up a survey asking young Labour women how we can make women’s conference more accessible to them, I was really pleased over 100 young women filled in the survey. Prior to the meeting I summed up the responses and circulated this around the NEC I will use these suggestions to ensure young women’s opinions are taken into account. The Equalities committee approved the interim Women’s Conference Arrangements Committee (WCAC) which I have been appointed to sit on: Shabana Mahmood – NPF Vice Chair and NEC representative Cath Speight – NEC Trade Union representative Diana Holland – NEC Trade Union Representative Alice Perry – NEC Representative Ann Black – NEC Representative Jasmin Beckett – NEC Representative Report on Young Labour events I gave the committee an update on youth events including the success of our recent Equalities Academy in Bristol. This was an event aimed at self defining BAME, disabled, women and LGBT young members and I stressed how proud I was that we in Young Labour are leading the way on events like this. Our Young Labour Political School which will be on 18th March in Birmingham. It sold out in half a day which shows the popularity of such events. Young Labour Report I then gave the stakeholders report for Young Labour in which I talked about the successful London and Scotland youth conferences. I spoke about the vital contribution our young members made to the by-elections in Stoke and Copeland last month and thanked them for their work. Finally, I spoke about the meetings I have had with our new safeguarding team to ensure young members are protected in the party general but also at national events. I will continue to work with the team to push for this. NEC Organisation Committee – 7th March Disciplinary Process Paper We were updated on the drafts of the party’s new complaints and disciplinary process which involves a new comprehensive sexual harassment policy, I’m glad we are finally taking these issues seriously. We are also in the middle of implementing the recommendations from the Royall and Chakrabarti reports. The NEC is taking steps to tackle the rise of anti-semitism and we are ensuring this is reflected in the disciplinary and complaints procedure. The complaints procedure is also being improved with the aim to have this streamlined to ensure it is more open and transparent. This will include a central contact for all complaints, a new safeguarding unit and more information to those who are involved in cases. Standing Candidates in Northern Ireland Labour is currently in the process of conducting a review into whether we should stand candidates in Northern Ireland. The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, General Secretary and Labour Party officials have been in discussion and are working to establish a timetable that will allow the review to take place as soon as practicably possible this year. However, the announcement of elections for the Assembly means we could not conduct that work until they were complete on March 2nd. The NEC panel intend to visit Northern Ireland now that these elections are complete to consult with relevant stakeholders and Party members on the question of whether the Labour Party should stand candidates in Northern Ireland. Young Labour Political School – 18th March We were really excited to hold our Young Labour Political School on 18th March after months of planning. We were able to welcome Jeremy Corbyn and socialist societies from across our movement. I chaired the Workplace 2020 panel with Jack Dromey MP and representatives from the GMB, Unison and the CWU. This was an engaging discussion based around young workers and looking at creating the workplace of the future. I’m currently working with the party to ensure this campaign is relevant to young workers, if you want to get involved get in touch. We had fringe sessions ran by our brilliant socialist societies. If you want to find out more about these check them out here: http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/affiliated-organisations As a result of my youth paper to the NEC last year we are able to ensure Young Labour puts on at least 4 national events per year, this was the first Political School we have held and it was a huge success. Any feedback do get in touch. Massive thanks to our party staff who work tirelessly to ensure Young Labour is able to put on such engaging events! Full NEC Meeting – 21st March
Leaders report Jeremy gave an update on his work as party leader. Jeremy talked about the recent PES conference in London which he spoke at. We discussed the recent shocking loss of Copeland and success in keeping Stoke Labour, Jeremy thanked members for their contribution to the campaign. I asked Jeremy if he could clarify his position on a second Scottish referendum and he assured the NEC that he was not pro a second referendum but if the Scottish Parliament voted for it Labour would not block it. He also maintained that he is in constant contact with Scottish Labour which is crucial to ensure no confusion. Deputy Leader’s report Tom Watson gave an update on his work as deputy leader. Tom updated the NEC on the Scottish Labour conference he attended and also discussed work he is doing with USDAW on looking at technology in the workplaces. Tom spoke about the Local Government conference and the good work we did last year to give first time councillors a free pass to the conference which has seen an increase in new councillors going along. Report by John McDonnell John McDonnell MP then came to talk about Labour’s response to the budget. The discussion was based around social care, schools and the NHS. We also talked about the importance of gaining confidence on economy based issues and costing of policies, John assured the NEC that this is a priority. At the moment we are doing a lot of work looking at education policy with reports of parents being asked by teachers to help fund schools which we agreed is outrageous. Sarah Champion MP was also praised for her work looking into how the cuts are disproportionately affecting women, this is vital. Elections 2017 Ian Lavery MP and Andrew Gwynne MP came to NEC to update us on preparations for the 2017 elections campaigns, strategy and how we are preparing for an early general election. This year there are crucial elections in Scotland, England and Wales as well as mayoral elections. The new election coordinators discussed the party’s local election campaign ‘Standing Up For You’ – which is to be launched in the coming weeks. Mobilising our members is at the centre of our campaign and ensuring they get the training and are welcomed is key. I voiced the importance of looking at how to juggle a potential Scottish referendum, a general election and Brexit so we can fight on all fronts. Both Ian and Andrew agreed with this and assured us they are working hard with party staff to prepare. There are a number of timetables in place in the case of an early general election, the NEC would have an emergency meeting if one were to be called to agree this. General Secretary Report Iain McNicol then gave the NEC an update on staffing and one issue which was raised was that of stories in the press which have turned out to be a completely falsified rumour that Jeremy Corbyn’s office was not staffed properly. Jeremy intervened and made clear that this is completely untrue. Jeremy actually has more staff than Ed Miliband had during his time in the last Parliament, Ed had 28 staff members in 2014 whilst Jeremy has 32 staff members in 2017. Iain also spoke of CLPs and their need for more funds with the huge increase in new members, this was welcomed. I voiced my concern at the shock loss of Copeland and suggested we look into an investigation for this. Although we were reminded that this is reflected in the polls at the moment. European PLP report Glenis Willmott gave us an update on the EPLP and also spoke about what she and colleagues are doing in Brussels to ensure we get the best deal for the UK out of Brexit. Concern at the moment is in looking at job losses and the effect this will have on the UK if we leave the single market. Jeremy and Glenis both reiterated their opposition of the far right and racism. International Report We heard from the international team who spoke about the successful PES (Party of European Socialists) conference held in London in February. I mentioned that myself, Iain McNicol and our Young Labour chair met with Young European Socialists at PES conference to agree to lift the cap on the amount of members Young Labour sends to their events under various safeguarding rules. This is an important step forward, especially during the uncertainty for us and our European sister parties during Brexit. We need solidarity not separation. As always, any questions with anything in my report or just general queries about Young Labour or the NEC, get in touch: [email protected] Jasmin Labour NEC Youth Rep
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AuthorHere are my Monthly NEC Youth Rep reports and my full NEC meeting reports, starting from March 2016 I'll keep this updated so you know what's going on. Archives
January 2018
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