Most of us joined the Labour Party for two main reasons: we passionately believed in its principles, and we wanted to be part of a democratic political movement where the collective voice of its members counted. Yet we find today that the Labour Party has become a leadership party rather than a membership party, whose role is to keep the incumbent leader (currently unelected by the party membership) in office, whoever it might be, Tweedledum of Tweedledee. To reverse this centralisation of power within the party, I have tabled the following Emergency Motion to next week’s conference:

“This conference notes that when it agreed in 2007 to the constitutional changes proposed in the document ‘Extending and Renewing Party Democracy’, its agreement was based on an understanding that Conference would be able to review the changes in 2009. Conference notes that the narrow limits imposed on the consultation have prevented party members from giving full consideration to the effects of the 2007 changes. In fact the NEC itself failed to review properly these proposals. As a result of the NEC decision this week to defer the debate, Conference is unlikely to be presented this year with the option to return to debating and voting on contemporary motions.
In order to avoid delaying the possibility of implementing changes next year, this Conference calls on the NEC to accept that the 2010 Conference will have the opportunity:
1 to express its view on matters of major political coancern by restoring the right of affiliated organisations and CLPs to submit motions to be debated and voted on at conference, witgh the subject of such motions not being restricted by the artificial and narrow criterion ‘contemporary’,
2 to ensure that the right of affiliated organisations and CLPs each to choose 4 subjects for debate is guaranteed by a Priorities Ballot which selects 4 separate subjects from CLPs in addition to the 4 chosen by affiliated organisations.
3 to provide for voting in parts on lengthy National Policy Forum documents, instead of the current undemocraqtic practice of conference having to vote on a whole document on an all-opr-nothing basis.

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