‘Historic’ Labour Clause V meet endorses manifesto but Unite tensions resurface

A Labour spokesperson has said today’s Clause v meeting “endorsed Labour’s manifesto”, as senior figures assembled to sign off the general election policy plans in London today.

Dozens of senior figures met to finalise the Labour party’s 2024 election manifesto ahead of its launch next week, with a so-called ‘Clause V meeting’ to finalise the plans. One attendee told LabourList it “felt historic”, and the meeting was “fantastic”.

But it is understood that major affiliated union Unite has not endorsed the plans. It follows a string of public criticisms by general secretary Sharon Graham of the party’s revisions to its workers’ rights reforms  who recently warned the New Deal for Working People had “more holes in it than Swiss cheese.”

READ MORE: What is the Clause V general election manifesto meeting?

The Clause V attendees met in a grand 19th century building in central London, kept secret for security reasons today, with a couple of hours to read key documents  – and mobile phones taken away – before the meeting got underway at midday.

Attendees began leaving around mid-afternoon, earlier than in some past more drawn-out Clause V meetings.

At around 4.30pm a party spokesperson said: “Today’s meeting has endorsed Labour’s manifesto. On 4 July, the British people will have the chance to vote for change – to stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.”

One source described the meeting as “positive”, and no attendees, including Graham, are thought to have spoken out over any of the plans to the assembled media as they left. But Unite’s apparent dissent emerged later on Friday.

LabourList had been outside the meeting as shadow cabinet members, trade union representatives, national executive committee members and other leading Labour politicians filed in this morning. Most attendees were tight-lipped as they entered, smiling but not responding to questions from journalists.

READ MORE: Labour removes 2019 general election manifesto from party website

Jonny Reynolds and Hilary Benn say good morning to the gaggle of journalists outside Clause V meet, but most MPs and other representatives going in are tight lipped on media questions about what to expect, how they’re feeling and policy debates… pic.twitter.com/yhSFbT99N0

— LabourList (@LabourList) June 7, 2024

Ian Murray of the Fire Brigades Union spoke to LabourList as he entered, and said his union will push for the New Deal for Working People to be “rigidly stuck to”. He said he expected it to be a “long day”.

TSSA General Secretary Marayam Eslamdoust said beforehand she would push for the best deal for transport workers, while Brent Central MP Dawn Butler said she was feeling “excited” – and said when asked by PA Media that Palestine recognition should be in the manifesto.

One protester briefly confronted Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy as he entered the building, but did not manage to confront Keir Starmer, who went into the building via a back entrance.

Jess Barnard, a member of Labour’s national executive committee on the left of the party, said she would press for commitments to remove the two-child benefit cap and universal free school meals. It comes as left campaign group Momentum launches a new campaigning tool as part of a child poverty campaign to lobby the party to include pledges in the manifesto.

But following the meeting, a spokesperson for Momentum said in a statement it was “deeply disappointed” the leadership did not take up its proposals.  ” We need to kick out not just the Tories, but Tory policies too.”

A Labour spokesperson told LabourList on the day the general election was called last month that the manifesto was ready then, and the final document is expected to be launched publicly next Thursday.

Party rules – and specifically clause V of them – mean it must be signed off at a special meeting however of the shadow cabinet, parliamentary committee of Labour MPs, the leaders of the Scottish and Welsh Labour parties, the chair and vice-chairs of the National Policy Forum, the whole national executive committee, and representatives of affiliated trade unions.

Ian Murray of the ⁦@fbunational⁩ says the union will push for the New Deal to be rigidly stuck to, as he and Matt Wrack head into the Clause V meet. pic.twitter.com/qTLeU5Vb0e

— LabourList (@LabourList) June 7, 2024

While many party figures have been involved in shaping parts of the manifesto, the whole document is being closely guarded to reduce the chance of leaks.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and party chair Anneliese Dodds are thought to be among those to have seen the whole document, while it has been reported trade union representatives were able to see hard copies on Wednesday.

Some of the likely contents of Labour’s manifesto are public already as part of Labour’s daily campaign announcements over the past fortnight, and its “first steps” pledges last month, which party sources have indicated will be in the document.

We recently published a summary of a more extensive party document on the policies that make up the “first steps” seen by LabourList.

The Guardian reported claims from unnamed party sources apparently familiar with the document on Thursday that the 2024 manifesto is not likely to include many “retail policy announcements” like those in recent manifestos. But they suggested it could include pledges to:

• Recognise Palestine before a peace process is completed
• Reduce retirement ages for ambulance drivers
• Review public sector pay review bodies’ work
• Recruit more teachers
• Reduce net migration
• Allow military ID to vote but not pledge to scrap voter ID laws

A spokesperson for Labour left campaign group Momentum said the Palestine pledge would still be a “weakening” of the party’s stance a few years ago, and urged the party to pledge to ditch voter ID rules.

The document is widely expected to be a much slimmer offering than both Labour’s 2019 manifesto and the party’s current official full policy programme, signed off last year through the established party mechanism,  National Policy Forum.

This year is the first time in a decade the party has gone into an election having completed its whole formal NPF process of devising policy with many party stakeholders, after snap elections in 2017 and 2019.

Labour was approached for comment on the claims.

Read more of our 2024 general election coverage here.

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