Young Fabians relaunch with under-18s banned after complaints and review

The Young Fabians is being relaunched with under-18s barred from membership following a review of its “practice and culture”, LabourList can reveal.

Andrew Harrop, general secretary of the Fabian Society, the UK’s oldest think tank, told LabourList he was “delighted” to be relaunching the organisation and would be introducing “a number of changes” following a review.

The review, prompted by complaints about behaviour, has not been made public, though it has been circulated to those who contributed, the Fabians’ executive and others.

Changes to the group include restricting its membership, previously open to those aged 30 and younger, to members aged 18 to 27.

The Young Fabians will also now be led by two co-chairs, with a limit of one man, while concerns about the conduct of members will be handled by the Fabian Society directly.

A statement from Harrop said: “Following our review of the practice and culture of the Young Fabians, we are introducing a number of changes.

“We are in the process of forming a new Young Fabian executive and we encourage all our young members to get involved.”

The announcement comes after the Fabian Society suspended in-person activities and elections of its youth branch last autumn following a complaint about several members.

The complaint included “allegations of behaviours that breach the society’s code of conduct”.