Needed - More Blathering

The North East Derbyshire Constituency Labour Party is having the following resolution submitted to it by its Dronfield Branch. If it is carried, it will be sent to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party for its consideration. Others might like to press this matter via similar avenues. The issue was first raised at our Labour Party Discussion Group (which this blog caters for) at a fine meeting last Sunday.

Candidates for the position of Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party shall be required to issue "Manifestos Of Intent" of no less than 3,000 words to explain the programme that they would like the Labour Party to pursue and that these documents should be circulated to members of the Labour Party to help them determine how they will vote in the coming contests.

The following link was the result of efforts by our local Labour Party Discussion Group (the "Dronfield Blatherers") to obtain "Manifestos Of Intent" back in 2010. This (as you will see) achieved some success. But this was done late in the day and in an informal way. This time we need the NEC to arrange for such Manifestos to be issued systematically and in a  prominent fashion. Click into this link for the 2010 versions. A huge boost to our campaign was the fact that the Guardian ran this letter which provided a link to this blog. Publicity helps.

Wanted "Manifestos Of Intent"

Almost 5 years ago in 2010 this blog was used to get forms of "Manifestos Of Intent" out of the candidates for the Labour leadership. The extent to which we achieved this is shown here.

At our Discussion Meeting on Sunday the question was raised on how this could be done on a more formal basis for the current leadership elections, with Labour's NEC making the necessary organisational arrangements. It is a matter we are pursuing. We will report later on whether we have made any progress.

Our Next Discussion Meeting

ADVANCE NOTICE

We will not be holding a discussion meeting in April, as we will then be into the formal General Election period.

But we will be holding a key meeting just three days after the General Election itself. It will provide an important opportunity for us to discuss with Keith Venables where we stand politically, as a consequence of the election result.

Please place the following details in your diary. 


    DRONFIELD LABOUR PARTY DISCUSSION MEETING

TOPIC  :          AFTER THE GENERAL ELECTION : WHAT NOW ?

SPEAKER :    KEITH VENABLES

TIME :             8pm to 9.15pm

DATE :            SUNDAY, 10 MAY 2015

VENUE :         CONTACT CLUB, SNAPE HILL LANE, DRONFIELD
 

Keith is the convenor for both the national body "Independent Working Class Education" and the "Derby People's History Group".  He has been a trade union and equalities tutor.

MARCH DISCUSSION MEETING

         DRONFIELD LABOUR PARTY DISCUSSION MEETING


TOPIC  :         THE EUROPEAN CRISIS

SPEAKER :    JOHN HALSTEAD

TIME :             8pm to 9.15pm

DATE :            SUNDAY,  8 MARCH 2015

VENUE :         CONTACT CLUB, SNAPE HILL LANE, DRONFIELD

  John regularly attends our meetings. He was a former executive and administrative civil servant who studied economics and politics at the LSE. He was asked to apply for a job in Brussels in 1965, but instead came to Sheffield and taught a wide-range of workers attending university day-release classes, organised in association with trades' unions. He has been active in the Society for the Study of Labour History for many years and is currently one of its Vice-Presidents. His publications have mainly been about nineteenth-century radical history in the Huddersfield district, particularly focussed on Owenite socialists active in agitations for a free press, the conditions of childrens' employment in textile mills, and Chartism. He continues to take an interest in economic and political questions, including their international dimensions, having been a one-time Jerwood Fellow at Hitotusbashi University in Japan.

FEBRUARY DISCUSSION MEETING

         DRONFIELD LABOUR PARTY DISCUSSION MEETING


TOPIC  :        THE PROBLEM WITH DEMOCRACY

SPEAKER :    MATTHEW FLINDERS

TIME :            8pm to 9.15pm

DATE :          SUNDAY,  8 FERUARY 2015

VENUE :       CONTACT CLUB, SNAPE HILL LANE, DRONFIELD



Matthew Flinders is a Professor in the Department of Politics at Sheffield University and is the Founding Director of the Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics. The Crick Centre itself being named after the late Bernard Crick who was also a Professor in the same Department and as a major political theorist produced influential works such as "The Reform of Parliament" (1962)  and "In Defence of Politics" (1964).  Matthew Flinders is Chair of Political Studies Association. He regularly produces evidence at the request of Governmental and Parliamentary Committee's and his own publications include books entitled "Walking Without Order" (2008), "Democratic Drift" (2009) and "Defending Politics" (2012).