Sexual Harassment A huge part of the discussion at our NEC committees this month was based on the new sexual harassment policy that our safeguarding team have been working on. We are a party of over 500,000 members so it is crucial our party is safe for everyone. The new sexual harassment policy can be found here. Since that meeting we have seen numerous members coming forward including Bex Bailey and Ava Etemadzadeh who have been incredibly brave to share their stories on sexual harassment. In light of this I thought it was important that we reacted quickly to ensure we were taking steps to tackle this huge issue. After receiving many emails from members I sent a letter to the NEC and Jeremy Corbyn to push for an independent investigation into these cases and to relook at how we tackle sexual harassment in our party. I was happy with the response I received from the party and an independent investigation is being launched into Bex Bailey’s case but I believe we must go further. We need an independent body away from the party to ensure members feel able to come forward. I will continue to push for this in the coming months. Since this a hotline has been launched for members to call should they experience sexual harassment: 07595432542 – all incidents will be treated with confidentially or you can contact: [email protected]. As I said in my letter, our party must look like the society which we wish to create and in light of these shocking cases we must take action to protect members. Young Labour Annual Conference We held our Young Labour Annual Conference in Warwick this year with over 200 delegates coming along. The delegates were elected from across the regions and nations, from Labour clubs and our affiliates. We began the conference with policy discussion until the afternoon. Later that day Jeremy Corbyn joined us to do a question and answer session which members really enjoyed. I then chaired the afternoon policy discussion where we had lively debate on a variety of topics from NATO to free movement. After this Cat Smith MP, shadow minister for youth affairs and voter engagement joined us for a question and answer session with members. Cat has been a great supporter of what we do in Young Labour so we were really grateful for her coming to speak to us. Later that evening we had a dinner and a quiz planned which was an inclusive event for all members. On Sunday the Young Labour National Committee met with Katy Clark who is currently leading the party’s democracy review. I was really grateful that Katy came to speak to us as we are currently working hard to ensure members are able to feed into this process and aren’t pushed aside. We continued with policy discussion and fringe sessions before finishing the day. Thanks to everyone that came along and in particular to our party staff who worked through the weekend to ensure it was a success. NEC Equalities Committee Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme We had an update on the Jo Cox programme and how successful it has been with 2 of the women on the last cohort now in parliament as MPs. 9 stood as parliamentary candidates and others are involved in local government. Applications are now open for the second year of the programme and any woman from the party can stand. If you have any questions about this get in touch! Apply here. Young Labour Report
I gave a report back from our Young Labour Annual Conference. We had over 200 delegates from across the regions, nations, affiliates, trade unions and student clubs. As a result of the NEC safeguarding paper we were able to provide a 24 hotline for under 18s should they need it. We could not have run the conference with the huge amount of work from our party staff so we owe them a huge thanks for ensuring the event ran smoothly. Feedback from members was incredibly positive and we look forward to hosting many more events like this in the future. NEC Organisation Committee Party reform We are currently in the process of conducting a democracy review in the Labour party chaired by Katy Clark. This will mean members will be consulted throughout the next few months. The first parts of the review will look at BAME, Women and Young Labour, a paper will then go to NEC on 12th January. I’m really glad young members are taking priority and we are looking at these issues first. You have until the new year to feed into this process and you can do so here: https://action.labour.org.uk/page/s/diversity-and-participation. The paper in January will look at issues such as resources, engagement and democracy based issues such as the electoral system that will elect the YLNC and NEC rep. It is really important that members are listened to here as these issues were due to be decided on in September but they were pushed back to ensure members have their say. The review will also look at the nations, elections and local government. However, these issues will be discussed after the January paper concluding the first phase of the review. Early Selections 79 key seats are to be selected before March 2018 in our most marginal constituencies across the country. Selections for these seats have begun and the NEC reviewed the timetable for this. A key part of the discussion around these seats was ensuring our candidates, especially those from low income backgrounds are supported. A potential 4 years running an expensive campaign is enough to put some off standing and we are currently looking at ways of supporting members from low income backgrounds. If you have any questions about my report please do get in touch: [email protected] Jasmin
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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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