5th May – Polling day I spent polling day doing a tour of North West key seats with Theresa Griffin MEP. I’m used to staying in one seat on polling day so it was a nice change to be able to travel the region. We set off early in the morning and drove to West Lancashire from Liverpool to knock doors in Rossendale which we were told was at risk of being lost. After this we drove back across to Manchester to campaign in a key marginal seat where I met loads of activists who had been out since the early hours. Finally, we made out way back towards Merseyside to the Wirral to campaign in Pensby for Mike Sullivan. I stayed in Pensby until around 10pm when the polls closed before finishing for the day. Another successful polling day operation!
survey young members can take part in before the NEC suggest recommendations. The event in Birmingham was a great success, many young members came along and we had some really great discussion about various issues such as cheaper events, the need for OMOV for Young Labour and how we can better engage with our young members in the trade unions. These young consultation events and the survey are the most important part of the youth review as young member’s views must be at the forefront of the changes made, it’s your young Labour so ensure you have your say. 13th May – Launched Labour Students In for Britain with Jeremy Corbyn I was excited to launch the Labour Students In for Britain campaign with Jeremy Corbyn and Glenis Willmott on 13th May. We had hundreds of young people turn up at the Casa in Liverpool for the launch to hear our guests speak and I put forward the case as to why remaining in the EU is so important for students and young people. Less than half of young people said they would go to the ballot box in a recent poll so we must be a part of ensuring they are motived to do so! 17th May – Full NEC meeting On 17th May we had a full NEC meeting. I brought up the concerns young members had raised with me with Tom Watson about the time period of the youth review being during the May elections, the EU campaign and during exams for young members. Tom fully agreed with these concerns and promised everything will be done to ensure young members can fully take part in the youth review. Jeremy Corbyn gave his leader’s report in which he spoke about our performance during the recent May elections. Jeremy also talked about the Labour Students In for Britain launch which myself, Glenis Wilmott and Jeremy launched in April, it was a great event where we engaged with students on Liverpool campus to encourage them to register to vote. Jeremy stressed that young people will be crucial in deciding the outcome of the EU referendum as polls show young people overwhelmingly want to remain. We as a party must ensure they get out and vote on June 23rd. He also stressed the importance of young people in the run up to 2020 and how we must ensure we engage with young people over the next few years. Andy Kerr, CWU representative on the NEC talked about Jeremy attending the CWU’s recent conference and said how grateful delegates were that he spent time talking to them on conference floor rather than just giving a speech. Jeremy said he attends all union conferences he is invited to and is grateful for the opportunity to talk to members. Jeremy also spoke about turning young members into activists, something I believe is incredibly important and want to put at the forefront of my time on the NEC. I was really proud to announce last month that we would be holding a Young Activists Academy at the end of July, for which I helped secure funding from the NEC development fund in March. This will be a fantastic opportunity to bring young members together, fully funded and give them the skills to become activists and go on to share these skills with members. Our General Secretary Iain McNicol gave his report. He talked about the fantastic work that has been done fighting the Trade Union Bill in parliament which has allowed us to get concessions from the government. Rosie Winterton (Chief Whip) has worked particularly hard on this and we all agree the work she has done has been invaluable. The General Secretary also talked about a training pack that would be released in relation to EU campaigning. I asked about concerns young BAME members had raised with me about their experiences on the doorstep when campaigning with the remain team, in particular racist abuse on the doorstep making them feel unsafe. Iain completely agreed that this must be a priority for the party and he will ensure there is a section dedicated to this in the training pack. Angela Eagle spoke about the National Policy Forum (NPF)’s new online initiative called ‘Labour is Listening’ which has had positive reactions so far. This is a more modern and updated version of ‘Your Britain’ which was used to get policy ideas during the 2015 general election. Angela has worked hard with the policy team to develop this and it encompasses all varieties of social media to bring it up to date. Finally, Baroness Jan Royall came to NEC to present her report on Youth Conference and the Oxford University Labour Club anti-Semitism inquiry. The NEC decided that the report will remain confidential, however, I can say that the Royall report gave many suggestions as to how the party can improve how our youth movement operates which will feed into the youth review. The report also upheld the result of the election in which I was chosen as NEC youth rep, standing by both the accuracy of the count and my behaviour as a candidate. 28th May – Spoke at an EU event on behalf of Labour Myself and Ed Miliband were representing The Labour Party on 28th May at a cross-party remain event. There was a young person from the Tories, the Greens and the Lib Dems also speaking at the event. It was great to introduce Ed and answer questions from the audience with him. I spoke about how important remaining in the EU will be for me, my country and our future, my home city of Liverpool has benefited hugely from EU membership and the city which has struggled in the past has been completely regenerated as part of the EU which had a huge impact on my life growing up in a less than well off area. It was great to hear why the EU is so important to young people across the parties too.
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My report from the full meeting of the NEC that took place on 17th May 2016. Prior to this meeting I crowdsourced young members views and questions to put to the party's leadership. On 17th May we had a full NEC meeting. I brought up the concerns young members had raised with me with Tom Watson about the time period of the youth review being during the May elections, the EU campaign and during exams for young members. Tom fully agreed with these concerns and promised everything will be done to ensure young members can fully take part in the youth review. Jeremy Corbyn gave his leader’s report in which he spoke about our performance during the recent May elections. Jeremy also talked about the Labour Students In for Britain launch which myself, Glenis Wilmott and Jeremy launched in April, it was a great event where we engaged with students on Liverpool campus to encourage them to register to vote. Jeremy stressed that young people will be crucial in deciding the outcome of the EU referendum as polls show young people overwhelmingly want to remain. We as a party must ensure they get out and vote on June 23rd. He also stressed the importance of young people in the run up to 2020 and how we must ensure we engage with young people over the next few years. Andy Kerr, CWU representative on the NEC talked about Jeremy attending the CWU’s recent conference and said how grateful delegates were that he spent time talking to them on conference floor rather than just giving a speech. Jeremy said he attends all union conferences he is invited to and is grateful for the opportunity to talk to members. Jeremy also spoke about turning young members into activists, something I believe is incredibly important and want to put at the forefront of my time on the NEC. I was really proud to announce last month that we would be holding a Young Activists Academy at the end of July, for which I helped secure funding from the NEC development fund in March. This will be a fantastic opportunity to bring young members together, fully funded and give them the skills to become activists and go on to share these skills with members. Our General Secretary Iain McNicol gave his report. He talked about the fantastic work that has been done fighting the Trade Union Bill in parliament which has allowed us to get concessions from the government. Rosie Winterton (Chief Whip) has worked particularly hard on this and we all agree the work she has done has been invaluable. The General Secretary also talked about a training pack that would be released in relation to EU campaigning. I asked about concerns young BAME members had raised with me about their experiences on the doorstep when campaigning with the remain team, in particular racist abuse on the doorstep making them feel unsafe. Iain completely agreed that this must be a priority for the party and he will ensure there is a section dedicated to this in the training pack. Angela Eagle spoke about the National Policy Forum (NPF)’s new online initiative called ‘Labour is Listening’ which has had positive reactions so far. This is a more modern and updated version of ‘Your Britain’ which was used to get policy ideas during the 2015 general election. Angela has worked hard with the policy team to develop this and it encompasses all varieties of social media to bring it up to date. Finally, Baroness Jan Royall came to NEC to present her report on Youth Conference and the Oxford University Labour Club anti-Semitism inquiry. The NEC decided that the report will remain confidential, however, I can say that the Royall report gave many suggestions as to how the party can improve how our youth movement operates which will feed into the youth review. The report also upheld the result of the election in which I was chosen as NEC youth rep, standing by both the accuracy of the count and my behaviour as a candidate. |
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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