Iain McNicol defends party staff who have “come under attack”

Labour’s top official today defended Labour party staff who have “come under attack” in recent months.

After a summer of divisions, Iain McNicol said he stood in “solidarity” with people who work for Labour and urged party members to appreciate their work. He also said the party should value the work done by MPs. This comes following anger and abuse directed towards sections of the parliamentary Labour party after mass resignations in June and a vote of no confidence against Jeremy Corbyn.

McNicol also used his speech to conference to congratulate Corbyn on his “impressive and decisive win” and urged the party to unite to defeat the Tories.

In an attempt to strike a tone of unity, he said Corbyn and the shadow cabinet will take the fight to the Tories and stressed that the party is united in desire to defeat the Government. Reaching out to new members he said that they should be on the forefront of campaigning.

“Theresa May has never won a general election, our task as a strong confident Labour party is to make sure she never does”, he said.

At the end of last year, Labour had paid off all of its debts, McNicol added. This coincided with the surge in membership. “The money new members will add to our funds helps put the party in its strongest financial position in a generation,” he said.

McNicol also welcomed the announcement of the Jo Cox women’s mentoring scheme to train over 600 future women leaders – the party’s biggest ever mentoring and development programme.

“This programme will create a generation of women to continue Jo’s work…a fitting tribute to Jo’s life and work”, he said.