Party revives shelved plan to relaunch BAME Labour with recruitment drive

Labour’s ruling body has signed off plans to relaunch BAME Labour, reviving plans shelved before the election and proposing a recruitment drive, LabourList can reveal.

Many across the party have voiced support for reforming an organisation some have called “moribund” in recent years, but there are left-right divides internally over the best structures for BAME representation within the party.

The party plans to use a clause in the party-affiliated socialist society’s rulebook which allows it to “take appropriate action” if the organisation “ceases to function” or do so effectively, new documents show.

Intervention after BAME Labour fails to hold elections

A report for the national executive committee claims BAME Labour has not held an annual general meeting and executive elections for more than two years, longer than allowed by its constitution.

A previous party report earlier this year claimed the group had “not functioned adequately for some time”, with no AGM since 2018 and “significant governance concerns, particularly in terms of financial management and data protection”.

Such issues mean the organisation “cannot properly represent its members or be deployed effectively as a campaigning force”.

But LabourList revealed in March that the party’s initial plan to intervene was derailed, after the NEC voted to defer the issue rather than back it. Trade union and left representatives are understood to have voted against the measure.

READ MORE: NEC stalls party plan to intervene in BAME Labour over ‘governance concerns’

Now the party has revived the intervention plan, recommending the NEC back a “transparent recruitment drive” by the party to give all eligible members the opportunity to join BAME Labour, as well as an invitation for organisations to affiliate. LabourList understands the ruling body voted to sign off the proposal on Tuesday.

The party itself will then manage an online ballot on BAME Labour’s executive committee. The party will also establish a new BAME Labour bank accoun, for the payment “and monitoring” of subscriptions and affiliate fees.

The plans will also see the organisation’s constitution changed so it becomes “fully independent” from the party, though further details are not given.

Changes will make it a ‘reinvigorated organisation’

Abdi Duale, chair of the NEC’s equalities sub-committee, said: “The Labour Party has made great strides to improve diversity and representation. The Bernie Grant Leadership Programme which trains future black leaders is testament to that commitment.

“But BAME members have been disappointed by BAME Labour’s inactivity since 2018. That’s why I supported the changes approved by the NEC today so that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic members of our Party will have a reinvigorated organisation to be a part of. These changes will support BAME Labour to recruit, support and engage current and new members.”

His fellow NEC member Gurinder Singh Josan said: “BAME Labour Party members will welcome having a thriving BAME Labour organisation to be part of, and I look forward to it becoming a positive campaigning force for BAME members during elections.”

Row over ditched other plans for BAME representation

But former NEC member Mish Rahman, on the left of the party, previously argued in a piece for LabourList that the changes would relegate BAME representation to a “mere token gesture, devoid of meaningful influence”.

He criticised the requirement for membership fees, contrasting with Young Labour or Labour Women’s structures.

He urged the party to “adhere to the existing conference, constitutional, and rulebook-backed BAME structures allowing BAME members to self-organise, instead of attempting to control them within the confines of a fee-paid socialist society”.

READ MORE: ‘The party’s BAME Labour power grab would betray trust of BAME members’

While the party’s grounds for intervention in BAME Labour is the fact it has not upheld its own rules about holding biennial meetings and elections, Labour does not appear to have itself upheld chapter 12 of the party’s own rulebook in recent years on elections and meetings aimed at giving a voice to BAME members.

The 2021 party conference passed significant reforms to create democratic wings for BAME and disabled members, with plans to create a National Labour Party Black Asian Minority Ethnic Members Organisation, a committee and an annual conference.

But the NEC decided not to proceed with the plans in 2022, after a report highlighted the six-figure costs involved in organising a conference.

One Labour staffer told LabourList the latest plans and retreat from the rulebook marked a “slap in the face for BAME members and voters”.

Do you want to share your views on reforms to BAME Labour? Get in touch on record or anonymously at [email protected].

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