LGA LG Spring conference 2011: “Representing our Roots”

After the keynote speech by Ed Miliband I went to this workshop with Iain McNicol (GMB National Political Officer) and Cllr Josie Channer (Barking & Dagenham).  Cllr Ann Lucas (Coventry) chaired (middle).  Please note the health warning about the accuracy of all my hurriedly typed notes.

Iain started with this story about Tory MP’s Tim Sainsbury and Nicholas Soames.  Sainsbury saw Soames in the House of Commons on a Friday afternoon dressed in his tweeds and said to him “Going rat catching this weekend Nick?” Soames replied “screw you grocer boy: people like you don’t tell me what to dress on a Friday”.  Which shows class is still important even to the Tories.  There are 18 millionaires in today’s cabinet.  In 1979 16% of MP’s were manual workers now only 4%.  Trade union and local government service is seen as the “poor relations” in the Party.  It became acceptable for ministers to define themselves against “Loony Councils” and “out of touch” trade unions.  Things were never perfect but this has led to a catastrophic collapse in activists.  There has been an onward march of professional Politian’s which is not in itself a problem but it is if it squeezes others out. What to do? Identify and encourage future Cllrs and MP’s;  select more local candidates that represent their community and set up training courses to make it more of a level playing field.

Josie was elected last May for the first time as a Councillor in Barking and Dagenham.  78% of Cllrs are from a professional background.   The 12 BNP Cllrs in the borough came about because the Labour Party failed to work with the working class community.  Need to recognise that people support the BNP on an emotional level and do not pay attention to “facts” about them. 

57% of British think of themselves as working class.  You need money to become an MP.  You need a minimum of £2000 per campaign.  She went to a training course for women interested in becoming MP’s and was told that you need to run for at least a couple of seats to get the experience.  She was thinking: “that is £4000, how can I afford that?”  What to do?  You need not to just talk about fairer representation; it has been talked about for a long time.  There needs to be changes.  You need to talk to the Unions.  The support of union members can make a difference. The Party needs to take this issue seriously and look at the selections processes, look at the social economic back ground of candidates, is the panel representative of local class and ethnic groups.  Will the Party commit to the time and resources needed?  Need to think collectively. 

In the Q&A I made the point that I agree with nearly all the analysis that the Party does need to change but we in the trade union movement also have to look to ourselves.  Sometimes I have heard affiliated trade union leaders use the language of the ultra left about the last Labour government and Labour Councils.  This is probably said in frustration with the Party, but if we mimic those who are enemies of democracy and socialism then it is no wonder that this feeds back to our members.  Who then come out with things such as “they are all the same” and don’t vote.  We need to think about different models and relationships - perhaps look at what happens in Nordic countries which have huge union density and are far more equal societies.

I’ll finish with another quotation by Iain.  This was from former GMB and Labour Party leader JR Clynes “I didn’t come into politics to fight the class struggle I came to end it!”

Defeat the BNP in the Barking & Dagenham By-Election 6 July

UNISON NEC member Louise Couling who won the election last month has had to resign and re-run in a by-election on 8 July.

BNP assembly member Richard Barnbrook is standing against her.  I also received this email from local MP Margaret Hodge. 

"We now have just over two weeks to go until polling day. This election will be vital in determining whether we have truly seen the back of the far right in our Borough.

Please do come and help us if you have time over the next few weeks.

We will be campaigning this Saturday 11am-3pm at Transport House 50-52 New Road, Dagenham RM9 6YS. We'll provide lunch, training for anyone who is new and of course a warm welcome. The nearest train station is Dagenham Dock, trains run from Fenchurch Street (Tower Hill) and West Ham every half hour and it's a five minute walk from the station to Transport House.

This Thursday and Friday we will be delivering postal vote GOTV letters, this is crucial to our strategy of getting all of our Labour promises out to vote.

Please put Saturday 3rd July in your diary - it is the final Saturday before polling day and we will be holding a big final push to make sure we speak to all of our promises before July 8th. We will be meeting again at Transport House at 11am. I do hope that you will be able to join me".

If you can help with any of our activities or have a spare hour or two, please do call Jen on the campagins hotline on 07576 323 109 or e-mail me at margarethodgebarking@googlemail.com".

Promoted by Jennifer Oliver on behalf of Louise Couling all at 304 Hedgemans Road, Dagenham, RM9 6DA.

UNISON NDC 2010: The Bard of Barking

 This was a great performance at Conference on Thursday by singer/campaigner, Billy Bragg. It started off with a video of Billy confronting the BNP/fascist Councillor and London Assembly member, Richard Barnbrook, on St Georges Day.

Every year Barnbrook dresses as in a suit of armour and pretends to be the patron saint of England, St George. Billy pointed out that in reality, St George had been born in Lebanon and would have not been able to even come to visit England if the BNP immigration polices were in force - never mind be its patron saint! This made Barnbrook look even more stupid than usual. The video also showed up imported BNP yobs accusing Billy of not being from Barking yet he was able to ask them the name of the historic building behind them (the remains of Barking Abbey) and none of them knew what is was called.

Billy pointed out that his home borough of Barking and Dagenham which returned 12 BNP Councillors in 2006 was no more or less racist than your home town. People knock on doors and stir up trouble. The BNP ship activists into the borough purely to cause hate. There use to be 40 000 people working in the Ford’s car factory in Dagenham - now there is only 3 000. This has led to pressures on services and social housing. Immigration is not the true problem - it’s the supply of housing and structures. His parents, like any other immigrants, came to Barking to seek a better life for their children.

He actually had 2 confrontations with Barnbrook. In the 2nd one, Barnbrook said that the ballot box who will show us who is right. The ballot box did. The BNP lost all their seats. Up to a 1000 people per day turned up to campaign against the BNP. The fight is not over. While the “Clash” fans generation know that fascists can be beaten - they will come back. Billy personally thanked everyone for their support in Barking and elsewhere (Stoke) and for working against the English defence League.

Billy lives in west Dorset. There a Tory usually gets elected. In 2005 he helped run a tactical voting campaign. Jim Knight was elected. He was the first Labour Party MP in Dorset since 1960s. In 69% of Consistencies Labour came second to the Tories. Billy voted Lib Dem in his consistency in last election. Tactically it worked well in past but now it has turned and bitten us and ended up with Libcons. Tactical voting is a symptom not a solution. The problem in Barking and Dagenham Labour Party was that they had been in control since 1931. They had been a fine council but under New Labour it was taken for granted. The same thing happened nationally. The Labour Party focused on the 20% of seats with swing voters and left their core vote behind.

Need to listen people and make sure their vote count. If we do have referendum on electoral change then we as a labour movement must embrace it. In West Dorset there are more than 7% labour voters. Fear of trusting the people just helps the BNP. The pluralism from such change would help Mr Angry voter to protest amongst progressive alternatives not the BNP. Look at what has happened in Scotland and Wales. Trust the people.

How do we hold those in economic power to account? In the USA he remembered President George Bush at a G20 meeting calling for everyone to come together and save “democratic capitalism”. Billy is baffled by two other such sets of words often found together. “Military intelligence” and “American football” It deeply annoys him - the idea of “self regulation”. The idea that capitalism is democratic and can be regulated by Bankers. He pointed out that the so-called new government regulatory committee being set up has loads of Bankers on it.

How do we hold those in power over us to account? The way to hold then to account is by organising. Unions need to organise. Bankers have already forgotten what had happened in 2007 and 2008. It is the unions who will have to fight to hold capitalism to account. Political parties change from time to time but organised labour remains solid. This is the modern red edge to the Green politics of Glastonbury.

The whole conference hall then all donned masks and sang along with Billy the Robin Hood anthem in support of a Tobin Tax (see next post). As you do.