The Labour Party leadership is pushing again toward the abolition of General Committees (GCs), the bodies of delegates from ward branches and trade unions that run local Constituency Labour Parties.
A new "consultative document" ("21st century party - the next steps", available from the Labour Party website) talks up constituencies which have abolished monthly GC meetings, and suggests instead quarterly GCs supplemented by some all-members' meetings. In practice this would mean Constituency Labour Parties being run by their Executive Committees.
What gives the New Labour leadership an advantage in this business is that many GCs are already moribund, unable to get quorate meetings, without any formal abolition.
The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy has prepared model responses to the "consultation" on the new document. This "consultation" is likely to result in proposals from the leadership to Labour Party conference in October, and CLPD is organising to resist such proposals.
The CLPD has also circulated the "Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance" list of candidates for the Labour National Executive Committee, asking for nominations and votes. The Grassroots Alliance currently holds three of the six constituency places on the NEC.
In other materials for the CLPD conference to be held on 21 February, campaign veterans Danny Nicol and Vladimir Derer argue for a challenge to Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. "CLPD must reassert the policy it promoted in the seventies demanding annual leadership elections", writes Nicol.
