NEC CAMPAIGN- GAME ON!

I want to thank delegates at tonight's GC for nominating me to go forward to NEC ballot. I know not everyone shares my politics but I also know that the Labour Party has a renewed vision and belief in the importance of everyone having their say and in uniting against the ConDems.
I plan to work as hard as I can to get as many nominations as I can .
But my greatest joy is knowing that we're all going to work as hard as we can in Calder Valley to see the Tories off. And we will be working together......

WHY WE'RE FIGHTING BACK

It would have been nice if the Halifax Courier had actually contacted me before writing the story below which today appears on its website. As usual, they have just quoted from the blog without ringing for more information. Still, it's largely accurate.
Our Branch, the largest in the constituency, has lost many of its activists as a result of the de-selection of Janet Oosthuysen by the NEC and then the subsequent concerns over the selection of Steph Booth, which were ignored again by the NEC. It is, however, suggested that it is only " a handful" of malcontents who are unhappy at the way things have panned out. This is not so.
My Branch, by far the biggest in the constituency, overwhelmingly supported Janet as our best candidate and later endorsed me and I'm grateful to have had the support of the clear majority of Branch members in the hustings.
As a consequence of what has happened our former Chair resigned from the Party with several others but by affiliating to the LRC, our Branch will be hoping to re-build and recruit new members so that we will continue to have a wide support base in our immediate locality, which will be needed in the period ahead if we are to survive as a campaigning Party.
Let's be clear. This constituency has lost many of its foot soldiers with many more disillusioned , disengaged and disaffected because of bad calls by the NEC. And also because of the "handful" of Party members who did not accept the fact a left PPC won fairly and squarely in the first place. And then launched a personal vendetta which, unfortunately, succeeded.
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/We39re-hanging-on-by-our.5472373.jp

A DIRTY GAME.....

Politics is a dirty game and after 30-odd years I see no reason why it should change - much as I would like it to. Stitch-ups, treachery and jobs for the boys have always been a part of Labour Party culture which is why in the early 1980's groups like the Campaign For Labour Party Democtacy struck such a chord with activists.
CLPD is still gamely hanging on and trying to reverse measures like the abolition of contemporary resolutions at annual Conference. The results of which we will see at Brighton in a couple of months but that will only happen if the unions come on board. Which, hopefully, they will.
OMOV voting for the National Policy Forums would be another advance , making the NPF more representative and ending the sheep-like mentality of the current set-up which is still overwhelmingly dominated by what's left of New Labour.
The mood locally in my Labour Party Branch is unremittingly bleak folowing the NEC's refusal to listen to us over the Parliamentary selection(s) and several of our keenest activists have resigned. Most members are just apathetic and unwilling to engage - and who can blame them.
As Branch Secretary, I face a Herculean task turning that round but we still have over 100 members and the only way forward is to try and motivate people which is not going to be easy in the current circumstances. In the long term, things can change and with local elections coming up next year we will need candidates in place who our members will campaign for.
If there are any more stitch-ups, or candidates barred for spurious reasons, Calder Branch will be in terminal decline.As things stand, most of us are just hanging on in there by our fingernails.

OFF ON HOLIDAY.....

Having spent the past few weeks to-ing and fro-ing across the country I'm finally getting a break and travelling to France tomorrow night for a few days in Normandy.
But first, I will be chairing the afternoon session of the Labour Briefing AGM which has the theme of "What's left of the Left?"
I've been reading the recent biography of Ken Livingstone and it's bizarre to find that almost everyone quoted is someone you know which made it fascinating, despite the fact the author clearly has little time for left-wing politics and a very jaundiced view of the Labour Left.
In the 1980's I was on the periphery of all the faction-fighting mentioned in the book but remember CLPs in Brent South where a couple of hundred people would be arguing the toss. For reasons which I've gone into at length elsewhere, tonight's CLP AGM in Calder Valley is unlikely to prove so crowded. The recent furore over our PPC has led to several people I know resigning from the Party and others contemplating it.Nevertheless I will be there and expect to be there long after the votes are cast at the General Election.
On the way home last night, it was a surreal experience seeing many on the train from Manchester singing and dancing to "Rockin' Robin" as the news broke that Michael Jackson had died. Bit like an episode of Shameless.......
Calder Valley has its own Robin who is standing as CLP Chair and, in the interests of an end to the ideological schism which has torn our constituency apart, I hope he wins. Right, I'm off to do my packing......... back Thursday.

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT IN CALDER VALLEY.....

Yesterday I was out and about meeting Labour Party members and I just want to say thanks to all who are supporting me in my bid to be PPC . It's clear that in my immediate vicinity I have the backing of dozens of members but I am under no illusions. It will be a very close call. And, because of my previous commitment to Keighley, I've had relatively little time to campaign. So, once again, blogging will have to take a back seat.....will post as and when I can.

LEADERSHIP ISSUE ON AGENDA AGAIN..

On the day of what became electoral Armageddon, I was neverthless amused to read a piece in the Guardian by Brownite acolyte Patrick Wintour. The article was about the local elections, but the second par referred to a leadership Conference resolution in which twas alleged there was "no interest."
Rule 1 of journalism. If something is not news, you do not put it in the second paragraph. Therefore I concur Number 10 is briefing against this it delberately - and that there IS concern at the highest levels over Calder Valley's bid to change the rules. Hardly surprising. Lets just say Gordon has to give up the ghost. Passing this resolution in September would mean only 30 MPs would be necessary to get a candidate on the ballot. That, hopefully. might see candidates from ALL wings of the Party getting the chance to stand as Leader. And, given the nightmare we suffered yesterday, it would certainly be feasible to get John McDonnell on that ballot and indeed obviously a soft left candidate like Cruddas. Such an event would finish off New Labour as the Party would collectively ensure Real Labour values were re-instated and Purnell, Blears et al consigned to the dustbin of history . At the moment, it's the stuff of dreams. But it's also a scenario whch I wager will be giving some people in New Labour nightmares. So I urge serious lobbying in the months ahead to get this through. ......we all know as things stand no-one will get thge 70-plus signatures needed to challenge Brown. But if events change then things could happen very, very quickly. And, in the 24 hours or since I originaly posted these thoughts, the media is once more febrile with speculation.......

NEC WRANGLE

Spent most of yesterday holed up in the Stubbing Wharf pub in Hebden for our CLP's AGM. I won't go into the details of the bitter wrangling over the NEC nominations. You would lose the will to live.........I don't mind people putting up alternative candidates but when they seemingly prefer to nominate no-one from their wing of the Party then try and stop lefties being nominated for the NEC well, you have to despair. In the end, after much haranguing and unnecessary debate, we nominated Christine Shawcroft, Mohammed Azam Fran Griffiths and Ann Black. It should not have taken over an hour to do so......can't wait for the Parliamentary election which is coming up soon

CALDER VALLEY SELECTION CALLED OFF!!!

The procedures were all in place and ready to go. Mysteriously , the regional Labour Party has now called the whole thing off. AWS or no AWS? We were told it was DEFINITELY all-women. Now it seems not......why am I thinking shenanigans? PS:Now I really AM going to take a holiday from blogging......