Power". (Ken Livingstone himself had constructed in practice but must also said before the conference that adoption have an organisational form. *
V-THE-WOOL THE CALLOUS WRECKER IRCH OF THE SOCIAL FABRK
7 I PRESUME? F BRUSSELS,
AND WOULD YoU CARE FOR SONE BRIOCHE? Unions sell out before negotiations
Everything at the Labour Party Conference went according to Tony Blair's plan, writes Pete Firmin. Conference delivered a "Yes" vote on the "Partnership in Power" reforms which have demolished Party democracy (around 30% of votes opposed).
Most contentious issues were kept off the agenda. And if they weren't, then the movers agreed to remit rather than rock the boat. Blair delivered a very eloquent, cleverly crafted speech which said virtually nothing
The exception to this smooth running was the National Executive Committee election results. Not only did Ken Livingstone beat the macheavelian Peter Mandelson by a substantial margin for the vacant seat, but the proportion of the vote obtained by the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs platform increased from 31 per cent to 39 per cent.
Blair had the trade union leaders to thank for such a "successful" conference. John Edmonds of the GMB speaking on Partnership in Power, said he didn't support the proposals but the GMB would not be voting against them, and went on to say, parodying Blair's speech to the TUC, "we're watching you Tony".
Workers Union (TGWU) even insisted that resolutions on the striking Liverpool Dockers (TGWU members) be excluded from the conference timetable
In short, the union leaders dropped their demands on the Labour government even before entering negotiations.
Where resolutions were debated which posed uncomfortable questions for the government - on student tuition fees, arms sales to Indonesia, and the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in the National Health Service - union leaders readily agreed to remit them to the party's National Executive Committee.
Even the relatively left-wing RMT transport union eventually remitted" their resolution on PFI in the rail sector, having been convinced that they should only put it to the vote if they could win. They reasoned that remitting was better than having it voted down. Remission allows the NEC to discard resolutions it doesn't like, before there is any open debate. In fact, the resolution had a reasonable chance of being passed.
The only close call for Blair was on Trident, where the vote went 53-47 against the resolution for scrapping the nuclear missiles.
Stage management, lengthy speeches by ministers, and intimidation of delegates were to be expected. But what does this year's conference say about the state of the movement?
The adoption of Partnership in Power makes it virtually impossible for the labour movement to hold the government to account. It removes the ability of unions and Constituency Labour Parties to submit resolutions critical of the actions of the government. It removes the right of individual members to elect MPs to the NEC, and downgrades the NEC as compared to the newly-established Joint Policy Committee, on which government ministers have a majority.
Union leaders were happy to go along with this - and overturn their own conferences' policy in the process. After all, their ability to have cosy chats with Labour ministers remains unscathed They dislike the ability of their membership to hold them to account just as much as Blair does General Secretaries
Some on the Labour Left refuse to recognise this conflict of interest, simply denouncing "the unions" for their voting records in the Labour Party. The Camof "Partnership in Power" would signal the end of the Labour Party.)
The problem with this analysis is twofold. Firstly, it sees those voting for the Campaign Group 'ticket' as a coherent force, whereas many are members who have become inactive because of despair at the drift of the Party.
Secondly, and more important, it assumes that simply organising to win the NEC votes of the Constituency Labour Parties will change the balance of forces. This strategy is incoherent even in its own terms - the CLP section of the new NEC will only be about a quarter of a body being downgraded anyway. Victory in the CLP section of the NEC elections would change nothing on its own.
In order to achieve such a result in the NEC elections, some are talking of the need for a very broad alliance indeed. They cite the joint effort with Labour Reform around "Partnership in Power" and say this needs to be repeated. No policies
However, Labour Reform is not - and does not claim to be - an organisation of the Left. If anything it is a section of the old Labour right. They do not have policy positions beyond the ones they took on "Partnership in Power". Individual supporters of the platform freely admit they voted for the scrapping of Clause IV of Labour's constitution, which symbolised the Party's socialist 'soul.'
In order to enter into a joint election campaign with Labour Reform - which represents very little on the ground the Left would have to drop any idea of campaigning on key policy issues.
Work with Labour Reform around 'Partnership in Power' was not without its problems. Labour Reform were not prepared to oppose the changes, but only to call for deferral because of lack of time to discuss them. A section of the Left went along with this, not as a fallback position if outright opposition fell, but as their main argument. Deferral was, however, never likely to win support in the unions, and opportunities were missed to argue the case for rejection of the changes, leaving the General Secretaries an easier task in their arm twisting
Those who want to challenge Blair's capitalist policies will put questions of NEC slates in their rightful context - the need to be part of the opposition to those policies through demonstrations, strikes etc. This strategy can also moti-
Concessions
Union leaders did not want to oppose "Partnership in Power" because they calculated it would endanger any conces- than linking up with, and being a part of, ween Party activists and campaigners sions from the government on union rights. However, they then ensured that the composites on this issue contained nothing to upset Blair - no figure on the minimum wage, nothing on the anti-union laws.
Representatives of Britain's largest union, the Transport and General paign for Labour Party Democracy prefers to share platforms with left (or not-so-left) General Secretaries, rather the oppositions within the unions, fighting for a change of policy and attempting to call those leaders to account. signal of a resurgence of the Labour Left, vate those who vote for the Left within the
Party to become active again.
Unity needs to be forged in action betoutside; those in single issue campaigns and other political groups.
The Labour left needs to find ways of debate around how to forge an alterna