IS THE PARTY OVER FOR US?

I wasn't going to blog on this again but I'm going to as I've just read the comments from yesterday's CiF piece by John McDonnell as they make particularly depressing reading. I didn't catch the article originally as I was so late getting back from Bournemouth. Had I done so, I would have tried to be a bit more positive than the majority who urged John to quit/resign and form a new party. Let me say firstly that at the current time that view is perfectly understandable.This week's conference has been a major - and I mean major - blow for the Left.There's no point in false bravado.
If there's a snap election, there will probably be a rump of 20 Left MPs. We won't get a chance to somehow stand left candidates and stop the relentless march of New Labour Second Wave as candidates will be imposed right across the land. Things could not be more bleak. But people who are urging John to quit forget one thing. The PLP may be beyond redemption at the moment. But in the heartlands, there are still hundreds of councillors whose views are very different from those of Gordon "big tent" Brown and branches and constituencies who do not slavishly follow the New Labour agenda which will now go unquestioned at Conference and the NPF.
At this Conference, a delegate from Manchester Gorton proudly boasted that her CLP no longer had resolutions but went out "campaigning." No doubt equipped with lots of shiny leaflets from Central Office full of vacuous nonsense....
Things are pretty different where I live. But yes, we're campaigning all right.
Tomorrow, John McDonnell is coming to Hebden Bridge to head up an LRC conference on the theme of Re-building the Labour Left. And I hope he will be able to give us some positives at the end of a very bad week for Party democracy. When we planned this three months ago, the notion that CLPs would willingly give up their right to vote at Party Conference seemed unthinkable. But that's where we are. Pretty isolated.
People say John McDonnell should resign but why exactly? That would firstly be letting down his constituents in Hayes and Harlington, who have consistently increased his majority at each General Election, and letting down all those of us who are hanging on in there by our fingernails and who probably would go if he and his few remaining colleagues went too. That is EXACTLY what New Labour want.
There are still battles to be had outside the cosy confines of Party Conferences, ie the brave fight of the Gate Gourmet workers (pictured) campaigns to engage in and people to persuade and engage with. That's where we have to go if things are ever to change. But we stay in the Party. For now.

BROWN AIMS TO BLOCK TRADE UNION CONFERENCE VOTE

Well, it didn't take long. Less than 24 hours into his Labour leadership, Brown is already on the warpath against the trade unions. Last year, Dave Prentis (pictured) had his mike switched off by New Labour stooge Gary Titley MEP in a heated debate on NHS privatisation. Now Brown wants to go the whole hog and end the block vote at Labour conference - and the unions' right to put forward contemporary and emergency motions. Instead, there will be "general debates" by members.

Now to the naive, this may sound perfectly reasonable.Indeed, it will be spun as an extension of democracy. Be warned. It is anything but.

CLPs can already choose four key issues of their own they want to debate ( the bar was raised from 2 in 2003 with help from the UNIONS) to debate at Conference. Yes it should be more but were it not for the unions in the past few years, none of the following issues would have been debated: Iraq, social housing and the fourth option, NHS privatisation, the plight of agency workers. railway re-nationalisation. And, because the unions do vote in blocks, all these issues have a) got through the right-wing gerrymandering of the Conference Arrangements Committee and b) been passed by Conference with support from the CLPs. Some of you may recall a similar idea on weakening the unions' clout was once floated by Jon cruddas. It will be interesting to see where he stands now. One thing is clear. The NEC MUST oppose this move . And so must the Party.See John McDonnell's blog for more details.

John says: " This is the first step by the new Leader towards breaking the link between the party and the trade unions. This is a real kick in the teeth for all those trade unions who loyally nominated Brown to the leadership of the party. Many will now be wondering what hope there is of exercising any influence on the key issues of privatisation, public sector pay cuts, and trade union rights.
"We are launching a campaign within the Party and the trade unions to save the rights of trade unions within the Labour Party."