Activists from Workers' Liberty and supporters of Solidarity will be at Labour Party conference and women's conference, 7-11 October in Liverpool. We'll be there to help the efforts of Free Our Unions, the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, India Labour Solidarity, and other campaigns; to sell literature, seek discussions and contacts.
There will be demonstrations for the NHS and for abortion rights on Saturday, for free education on Sunday. And agitation for a block on new North Sea oil and gas fields, following the Tories' decision to "max out" licences in their last days, including for the huge Rosebank field.
At 2022 conference, with the acquiescence of the unions, Starmer had almost everything his way. Even then, we were able to have many useful discussions, to make many contacts, to show people that there is still a left willing to speak out.
In 2023 the "unity to win the election" line will weigh heavy again. Some will use it to swing the ballot for the twelve topics for debate towards the bland and "safe" (and to say any motions passed are superseded by the NPF document from July). The leadership wants to bring back (next year) the pre-2019 rule where CLP motions have to be "contemporary" (about events in a short and recent timeslot), and under which, some years, huge numbers were ruled out of order.
The NPF document, finalised in July, was published online only on 15 September, with no publicity, and then with another report denying the facility (available since 2017) for "reference back" of items in the NPF document.
CWU and FBU have submitted motions to tighten Labour's New Deal for Working People policy, and Unite one for public ownership of the energy industry. Other union motions are bland.
Housing (council-home building, ending the "right to buy" scam, rent controls) has most motions from CLPs (46), followed by benefits and the two-child cap (20). Ten CLPs have submitted on migrant and asylum rights, three with relatively strong motions, so the chance of debate is better than in 2022.
There was almost nothing on Brexit in 2022. This year 16 CLPs have submitted. Seven follow a very weak model from the Labour Movement for Europe, calling for little more than "reducing paperwork". One from Edinburgh Central calls for restoration of European free movement, rejoining the Single Market and Customs Union, and direction towards rejoining the EU.
Of nine CLP motions classified under "health funding and structures", the strongest calls for returning all privatised sections to public control, and ending outsourcing, an inflation-busting pay rise for NHS staff, and a long-term real-terms rise in NHS funding.
Several motions to Labour women's conference on 7 October call for decriminalisation of abortion (as in Northern Ireland, and by repealing sections 58 and 59 of the 1861 law), and women's conference may send that on to the general conference. No clear text on the actual availability of abortion (worse in Northern Ireland than in England) seems to have got onto the agenda, but a clear call for decriminalisation will be an advance on the fudged words in the NPF document.
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