Support Unions and Students to Defend Education

Today Conference will discuss social care and health. Our Party needs to set out clear policies to tackle the crisis in these services. The Tories put forward no plans for social care in their recent announcement – just a tax rise. Our previously discussed policy, of a National Care Service, is what is required and we should say so.

On the NHS, our Party is not doing enough to fight the ongoing privatisations and back NHS workers’ pay claims. We really should not return to the Blairites’ policies.

On the health issue which has most affected us over the last 18 months, regrettably our Party has gone along with the Tories’ disastrous approach. On current official figures, which understate the Covid pandemic: 130,000 plus have already died; there are 1,000 deaths each week and 30,000 plus new cases every day; and Covid hospitalisations are rising again – pressuring the overstretched NHS.

The high number of deaths, long Covid and economic disruption have been exacerbated by government policy. Countries that rejected “herd immunity” and engaged in maximum elimination of the virus, like New Zealand, have not suffered like our population here.

Our Party should put people’s health first and stop supporting the Tory agenda.

TUESDAY AM UPDATE

It is great that the Black Lives Matter topic was prioritised for debate today, and delegates have the opportunity this afternoon in the Justice and Home Affairs debate to raise the ongoing issue of institutional racism experienced by People of Colour in the justice system and the need for a progressive and inclusive immigration policy.

It was disappointing, however, that CLPD’s model motion was ruled out as an “organisational matter”. It had listed Labour’s current failures to take a clear stand against racism – including leadership statements made in relation to Black Lives Matter; anti-traveller election literature; and Islamophobic press briefings by senior Labour staff. The ongoing failure to publish the Forde report, over a year after the NEC deadline, and address the issues of racism raised in it, could be added to the list.

The long overdue development of Labour’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic structures is a step in the right direction. However, the leadership needs to do much better to oppose all attempts by the Tories to promote racism and get our own house in order.

UNISON’s vote on Sunday to severely re- strict the field of candidates in leadership elections was key to this anti-democratic measure being agreed. It was a close vote: the rule change passed with only 54% of Conference voting to raise the MPs thresh- old in leadership elections from 10% to 20%.

Since that vote, a statement has been issued by TimeForRealChange candidates standing in UNISON’s Labour Link election, criticising UNISON’s conference delegation for voting against their union’s policy. They state that the Labour Link has clear policy supporting a threshold of 10% and that the union had a proud record of standing for diversity and equality – which will be undermined by voting for such a high threshold.

Just hours after Conference passed Composite 5 on Public Ownership on Sunday, Shadow Chancellor Rachel “tough on welfare” Reeves declared on BBC News that “this is not the moment to be looking at nationalising companies.”

Meanwhile, millions of people in Britain face sky-rocketing energy bills and no fewer than SEVEN energy firms have gone bust in the last few weeks.

The private sector cannot be trusted to run our public services and utilities. Labour’s shadow front bench must listen to the Party’s sovereign body, Conference, and commit to bringing them under public control.