Young Labour needs some teeth

By Kev Peel (LGBT Officer, Young Labour National Committee) and James Anthony (Trade Union Rep, Young Labour National Committee)

Election time is always exciting, and currently a new young batch are vying for positions on the Young Labour National Committee. All of them are setting out their plans for where Young Labour and the wider party need to be going and what they’ll do if elected.

But sadly it’s not always that easy, so as current members of the Young Labour National Committee, we wanted to share our thoughts on the problems and future development of Young Labour with those who will be elected to take up the mantle next week.

Over the last two years, we feel that Young Labour as a national organisation have achieved very little. This is not due to a lack of energy and enthusiasm from those involved, but rather as a result of the neutering of Young Labour by the Labour Party machine.

Members of the national committee – or indeed of local Young Labour groups up and down the country – don’t have access to contact information for those they are supposed to represent. This more than anything else prevented any effective work from happening. In theory the party are supposed to send out e-mails to members on request. This rarely happened despite numerous requests. Elected officials of Young Labour need to be trusted to have access to the information they need to do their jobs properly.

There was a general lack of support from the party whenever it was needed. This is not an attack on staff, who were burdened with the additional responsibility of looking after Young Labour on top of already hectic jobs, but rather on the party’s failure to recognise the need for at least one dedicated staff member to deal with youth issues. We’re very grateful that Ed has committed to recruiting a Youth Officer and would like to see this post advertised as soon as possible.

No training was ever offered to national committee members in order to help them better understand the role and responsibilities they were undertaking, and certaintly no opportunity for the committee to come together as a team. Meetings take place in an evening in London with those of us outside the capital trying to participate at the other end of a phone. An effective organisation needs training and development of its officers and activists and we hope this is something the new committee will lobby for.

Decision making on youth issues needs to be given to Young Labour, or Young Labour at least needs to be consulted. The recent high profile introduction of a 1p joining rate for young members was done without any consultation with Young Labour. If asked we would have pointed to the issue we’ve been raising over the previous year, the big hike in membership fees when the first year rate ends.

You would think that Young Labour would at least have had a say over the Youth Conference. Neither of us, as members of the national committee, have even been officially told this conference is happening. No discussion has been had with the national committee about the format, the agenda or speakers and none of this information has even been provided as an afterthought. This leaves us sounding like idiots when young members get in touch and ask about the plans. That the national committee of an organisation has no input into, or any knowledge of, our national conference is outrageous.

The lack of any funding or resources of its own make it very difficult for Young Labour to function in any normal way. The organisation needs dedicated funding from the party and its own bank account and the ability to decide how that money is allocated. And that lack of resources also impacts on the Youth Conference. Sadly the elections that take place there will be voted on by people who can afford to get there. The lucky delegates will be from trade unions or wealthier CLPs and will have their travel and accomodation paid for, but for many (especially the delegates of Young Labour Groups) will have to pay for themselves meaning that some young members will decide not to go because they either don’t think it’s worth the money or simply can’t afford it. This can’t sit right with Labour’s values.

Local and regional groups need to be linked much more closely with each other and the national structure. Many regional groups are weak and ineffective and used as a way to get a few extra bodies out campaigning rather than a genuine way for young members to engage with the party. These groups should be supported by dedicated staff and properly funded to allow them to engage with their membership. A radical strategy should be rolled out to create hundreds of new Young Labour groups in CLPs up and down the country and these groups should be the first port of call for new members joining the party – as well as receiving information about your CLP Secretary, you should also get details of the secretary of your local YL group.

Many young members have been put off for life after attending a CLP meeting in which approving the minutes of the last meeting took 2 hours. Ensuring young members have the chance to meet others their age when they join will help retain and engage the many new young people joining the party in recent months. It’s not easy to get youth structures working well, and when you do you have to deal with the constant need to bring new activists on – members don’t stay young forever (as we are both acutely aware). But with the right help and support Young Labour members can help us set the the right policy, bring along the best candidates, and motivate active campaigners for us to be a winning party.