Many significant resolutions and composites were passed at Labour Party conference. Although by no means perfect or in agreement with Left Horizons on all points, we think it is important that Labour Party and trade union members see the most important of these resolutions and that they are circulated in the labour movement. We will therefore publish a number of them on our website in the coming days.
The first published here was not a resolution, but an appeal handed to delegates by representatives of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland. When such representatives did get to the rostrum to make their views known, usually as points of order, they were very well received by CLP and trade union delegates alike. There was no vote on the issue, however. We would urge members of Labour Parties and affiliated trades unions to take up the points in this appeal and pass resolutions through their organisations, to be sent to Labour’s NEC.
As of September 2017 it was recorded that 37,000 Northern Irish trade union members have opted-in to pay the political levy their trade union offers which largely goes to the Labour Party. Additionally the party in the Labour Party Northern Ireland has over 1500 members and 1,000 registered supporters. This is their appeal:
We demand the right to vote Labour: appeal to delegates
People in Northern Ireland are enduring an acute political and economic crisis. As elsewhere, tory austerity is taking a massive toll on society. Brexit threatens. We have no devolved Government in place at Stormont to take urgent action and vital decisions. As a result of Tory austerity policies and the absence of Stormont, public services are in sever difficulty and inequalities are increasing. Social care is in crisis. Disability rights are failing behind. We urgently need a Labour government.
The Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) has 1500 members. Many of these were inspired to join by the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and his policy manifesto ‘For the Many not the Few’. We are organised in the Labour Party in Northern Ireland, which meets regularly and sends delegates to conference as Northern Ireland CLP.
However, Labour’s NEC still refuses us the right to stand Labour candidates. We are denied the right to vote for Labour Party candidates in any election: local government, Westminster, European or Stormont Assembly. This suppression of Labour Party representation is currently under review by the NEC and we appeal to conference delegates to support our Right to stand.
Discrimination
This denial of Labour Party representation is a gross suppression of our basic democratic political rights. Under the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland remains part of the UK. In the next General Election, the Labour Party will campaign to be our Government and yet we are denied the right to vote for Labour candidates. Our voters are disenfranchised and discriminated against.
In the absence of the Labour Party, we are forced to vote for local communal-sectarian parties, such as the DUP and Sinn Fein. As a result, sectarianism is exacerbated, Stormont is in limbo as a result of disagreement between these parties, the DUP is given a free run by Labour, and the Tories get the support of the DUP to stay in power in Westminster.
Political and Economic Crisis
People in Northern Ireland are facing a crisis with no devolved government in place to deal with it. Some major manufacturing firms, eg Harland and Wolff shipbuilders, Bombardier aircraft works and Wrightbus are under threat, with the potential of massive job losses. Brexit poses more of a threat to Northern Ireland than to any other region, given its land border with the Republic of Ireland and thus the EU. Up to 40,000 jobs may be lost in Northern Ireland as a result.
Equal rights
Largely as a result of the work of the Labour Party, an Act bringing the outdated laws in Northern Ireland on abortion and on same sex marriage more in line with those in the rest of the UK has been passed at Westminster. This will come into effect on October 21, provided a devolved government has not been restored to Stormont. If Stormont is restored, these changes are likely to be blocked by the DUP. This is despite public opinion polls showing support for change.
Way forward
The Labour Party has in the past considered the SDLP to be its ‘sister’ party in the Party of European Socialists (PES). However, the SDLP leadership has now entered a formal ‘policy partnership’ with Fianna Fail, which is affiliated to the ‘liberal-centrist’ Renew Europe group in the European Parliament. This very much calls into question the suitability of Labour’s sister party relationship and leaves a glaring vacuum in left of centre politics in Northern Ireland.
To fill this gap we need a strong cross-community anti-sectarian political voice to campaign for a better future that voice has to be the Labour Party. The NEC has a moral and political responsibility to represent the people of Northern Ireland, many of whom are members of affiliated unions and pay the political levy.
If the NEC continues to suppress Labour Party representation, this will aggravate our current serious political situation. There is a real threat of a return to violence. It is imperative the NEC, possibly in conjunction with the leadership of the Irish Labour Party, takes responsibility and provides us with political leadership. We must have the Right to Stand.
September 27, 2019
