You are here: Home » Archives »

What on earth is going on with Refounding Labour?

August 17, 2011 3:22 pm

Author:

Share this Article

Refounding Labour2By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

It’s now over a month since Ed Miliband announced that submissions to the Refounding Labour consultation would be made available to members. At the time we applauded Ed’s committment to openness and transparency – it showed that he was living up to the rhetoric of his leadership campaign and trusting members. It was a positive move.

And yet a month on, we’re still waiting. The Refounding Labour summary revealed little – the draft report (which only came to light after we published it) is the only insight into the process that most members will have had.

Yet in recent days, LabourList heard from multiple sources across the party that the Refounding Labour submissions were about to be released, thanks in no small part to many within Victoria Street who had worked hard to make this happen. An announcement to party members was being drafted. Having campaigned for this kind of move for weeks we were obviously delighted. And then….nothing.

So when will members get to see the submissions to the process and compare them side by side with the report some in the party didn’t want you to see? Time is already running out for the NEC (nevermind CLP delegates) to discuss these reforms, and we’re still hearing that the vote at conference will be “take it or leave it”. That’s clearly unacceptable – and the process is starting to look ridiculous.

Refounding Labour may improve the party for the better. But at the moment, it doesn’t look open or transparent, and it risks looking undemocratic. What on earth is going on with Refounding Labour? That’s a question that needs to be answered – starting with publishing as many submissions as possible – and soon.

Comments are closed

Latest

  • Video Ed Miliband’s surprise visit to Afghanistan

    Ed Miliband’s surprise visit to Afghanistan

    Read more →
  • Comment Housing upheaval can be traced back to Thatcher

    Housing upheaval can be traced back to Thatcher

    By Chris Williamson

    If further evidence was needed that the Government is destroying our communities then it came by the bucket load with proposals to relocate hundreds of housing benefit claimants. Councils across London desperately searched for a solution to the housing benefit cap that made it impossible for some of the capital’s poorest residents to stay in their homes. First we heard of plans to move residents to Darlington, Stoke, Hull and parts of Yorkshire. But the revelation that Westminster Council planned [...]

    Read more →
  • Featured The austerity consensus has collapsed

    The austerity consensus has collapsed

    By Owen Jones

    There is no alternative: the only way out of Britain’s current economic plight is massive cuts to public spending. Taxes on the wealthiest must be slashed: they are blocks on aspiration and economically counterproductive. Austerity is the only game in town. Or so we have been told ever since the Coalition was formed in the rose gardens of Number 10 Downing Street. The overwhelming majority of the media has gladly reinforced the Government line, and those voices calling for an [...]

    Read more →
  • Comment Should Labour go further on football reform?

    Should Labour go further on football reform?

    By Ben Shave

    “As a party, Labour should take great pride in the fact that we initiated Supporters Direct, but now is the time to go further.” These sentiments, expressed in a recent article for Progress by Steve Rotheram MP, hark back to a time where the landscape was somewhat different for the Labour party, but similar in many ways to that faced by football supporters in 2012. The Football Taskforce was established soon after Labour came to power in 1997, with the [...]

    Read more →
  • Comment Making Labour Policy: Who calls the tune?

    Making Labour Policy: Who calls the tune?

    By Ann Black

    Excellent election results and rising polls have brought a mood of unity and created space and time for serious work on policy. Francois Hollande’s victory shows that austerity is not the only option, and Labour must start to develop an alternative agenda, rejecting the Tory politics of resentment and division in favour of policies which are fair, principled and credible: on housing, crime, transport, health, schools, higher education, manufacturing, tax, defence, social care, equality, employment rights and the environment. We [...]

    Read more →