LTB 426/16 - LABOUR PARTY LEADERSHIP ELECTION - AFFILIATED SUPPORTER SIGN-UP

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 15 Jul 2016, 16:37

LTB 426/16 - LABOUR PARTY LEADERSHIP ELECTION – AFFILIATED SUPPORTER SIGN-UP

No. 426/2016

15th July 2016

Dear Colleagues

LABOUR PARTY LEADERSHIP ELECTION – AFFILIATED SUPPORTER SIGN-UP

Please find below clarification on who will be able to vote in the forthcoming Labour leadership election with regards to trade union members.

CWU members who pay the political levy and have already registered as affiliated supporters are eligible to vote in the election and do not need to sign up again this time round.
All other CWU members who pay the political levy and joined the union before 12th January 2016 can sign up as an affiliated supporter of the Labour Party in order to vote. The deadline for this is 12 noon on the 8th August. They can do so at http://support.labour.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; – there will also be a page on the CWU website which will link to this shortly.
Any CWU members who joined after 12th January will not be eligible to vote as affiliated supporters. They will, however, be able to sign up to vote as a ‘registered supporter’ as an individual by paying a one-off fee of £25 to the Labour Party. The registration process for this will run from Monday 18th July to 5pm on Wednesday 20th July only.
Finally, it should be noted that in order to register as an affiliated supporter, individuals will need to sign up to the following statement (there is an equivalent statement for registered supporters):

I support the aims and values of the Labour Party, am not a supporter of any organisation opposed to it and pay a political subscription to my trade union from which affiliation fees are paid on my behalf.

In the leadership election last year the Party did exclude some individuals who, for instance, were members of other political parties. Applications for a vote will therefore be subject to a vetting process by the Party.

It is important that you bring this information to the attention of all your Political Fund levy paying members including your Retired Members. We will give greater publicity to this issue next week on the CWU website (including the new Retired Members and Youth websites) and all CWU social media.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary

jetblack · Post by **jetblack** » 15 Jul 2016, 17:43

And the rationale behind the 6 month rule is ..???????

And you can get a vote now for £25 - but not the £3 of before. The rationale being....what exactly ???????

Something very wrong here IMO.
I have to say, I'm absolutely astonished at the lengths the upper echelons are going to to try to impose their will and maintain the status quo - and to bar the will of the members, and those that are becoming politicised and joining the Labour movement. Shouldn't they be encouraging them - not trying to silence them ?

Who is the Labour Party for ?

If the (establishment) Labour Party have their way and quell the nascent politicisation of the people of the UK then there will be massive repercussions for it - not least in its relationship to the trade unions.

What is the Labour Party for - if not the representation of the 99%, as a focal point for their interests ?
They shouldn't be silenced, surely ?

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 15 Jul 2016, 20:09

sorry wrong side of the stick , bad day at work.

jetblack · Post by **jetblack** » 15 Jul 2016, 20:31

worktotime wrote:beyond belief

Sorry - but which bit is "beyond belief" exactly ?

That you are able to vote for the leader of your choice in the upcoming Labour leadership contest ?

Thats whats known as democracy mate.

I hope you haven't misunderstood my post (above) - it was more a comment on the machinations going on in the Labour Party hierarchy, and in no way a slight on the CWU's position.

Please re-read it, and perhaps get some help with your comprehension skills if you are still unable to get to grips with the intended meaning.

Disgusting.

Post by **britwrit** » 15 Jul 2016, 23:23

From the Labour Party website:

Members will have a choice of returning their paper ballot paper or voting online but should use only one method and your vote will only be counted once.

My God.... Stabbed in the back again!

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 16 Jul 2016, 08:36

worktotime wrote:beyond belief , I wish the cwu was more interested in and more militant of what issues are going on within the work place and members on a daily basis, than whats going on in the labour party , disgusting.

Then opt out of the political fund. However, those who do pay for it, do so on the understanding that the CWU are there to represent their members as a group both within the Labour Party, and generally in the field of Politics.

fishtank · Post by **fishtank** » 16 Jul 2016, 11:27

jetblack wrote:What is the Labour Party for - if not the representation of the 99%, as a focal point for their interests ?
They shouldn't be silenced, surely ?

The vast majority of Labour supporters (about 95%) won't get to vote.
If you truly understood representation you would also understand that we are a parliamentary democracy not a plebiscite democracy, the 99% are represented by their elected constituency MP, not a bunch of unelected members with no accountability to anyone but themselves..

jetblack · Post by **jetblack** » 16 Jul 2016, 12:19

fishtank wrote:the 99% are represented by their elected constituency MP

Thats a nice dream FT

Here is the reality:-

..LOL - if it did they wouldn't have given us a vote in the first place !!

But seriously, I'm struggling to see how the actions of the NEC re. voting rule changes, can be seen as anything other than the authoritarian rule of a desperate oligarchy. Further from the tenets of democracy (of whatever flavour you care to cite) they could not be.
Essential elements of a democracy, for me, include :-

1) access to impartial info so as to be able to make informed and educated choices (we fail)

2) citizens having a voice that is heard (we fail)

3) citizens interests being represented (we fail)

4) citizens having the right of self determination (we fail)

How does the NEC placing artificial barriers to participation help further 1) to 4) in any way ?

Seems to me that the National Executive of the Labour Party are (remarkably) going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that socialism doesn't prevail in the party.
Nothing new (in recent years at least) I suppose, but astonishing times nonetheless. Changing rules at will to try to ensure the right outcome isn't democratic - its called "rigging the market".

edit. a good reason to take online privacy/anonymity seriously - "NEC guidelines leaked to the Morning Star on Thursday seem to show that supporter applications to the Labour party could be blocked if the applicant has publicly used the words “traitor”, “scum”, or “scab” to describe “any candidate, any Labour representative, or any other member”. This could, in theory, include any public social media post." - http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/st ... or-traitor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Not that I'm advocating the language used by certain people - but thats not the point I'm making. Where could this stop ?

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 16 Jul 2016, 19:24

jetblack wrote:
worktotime wrote:beyond belief
Sorry - but which bit is "beyond belief" exactly ?

That you are able to vote for the leader of your choice in the upcoming Labour leadership contest ?

Thats whats known as democracy mate.

I hope you haven't misunderstood my post (above) - it was more a comment on the machinations going on in the Labour Party hierarchy, and in no way a slight on the CWU's position.

Please re-read it, and perhaps get some help with your comprehension skills if you are still unable to get to grips with the intended meaning.

Disgusting.

yer I have read it wrong which I have deleted it , and by the way I do have some learning difficulties and I don't appreciate s**t comments , so lets have a think before leaving comments.

jetblack · Post by **jetblack** » 16 Jul 2016, 19:28

worktotime wrote: yer I have read it wrong which I have deleted it , and by the way I do have some learning difficulties and I don't appreciate s**t comments , so lets have a think before leaving comments.

OK - sorry for any offence caused, it wasn't intended. I took your post at face value.