Candidate Selection

A number of weeks ago the Yeovil Labour Party began its candidate selection process and the initial stages are now complete. Yeovil CLP now has two prospective candidates and they are:

Paul Smith



Colin Counter




The candidates will be making an appearance on November 15th from 7pm onwards at the Yeovil Labour Club. This is the date for our hustings meeting.

At the meeting the candidates will be expected to give a speech letting us know why we should select them, on their political ideology and what they would bring to the party. Both candidates will also be expected to answer a number of set questions given to them by the executive committee. Once this is done it will be thrown open to questions from all registered party members who are paid and up to date with party subscriptions.

All members present must have their membership card with them as they will need it to cast their vote.

At the end all Yeovil CLP members are entitled to cast a vote for the candidate of their choice. Overall it is expected to last for approximately 2 hours. If anyone has any queries about the process please don't hesitate to contact me on secretary@labour4yeovil.org

Protest the Saudi Arabian State Visit!

The Saudi dictator, King Abdullah, will be arriving in Britain for a 3 day visit at the invitation of the British government.

Saudi Arabia is a country which has committed and continues to commit horrendous human rights violations. This has been equally condemned by the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Furthermore, it is a nation in which no political parties exist, there are no free elections, no independent media and no trade unions. King Abdullah stands for everything that Labour vehemently opposes. The rights of women are extremely limited and homosexuals are extremely repressed, as well as condoning the use of torture and execution.

If you wish to voice your opposition to the Saudi regime and at the invitation of King Abdullah to the United Kingdom, then on the 31st October make your way to the Saudi embassy in London to protest.

Let the government know that we will not support this regime!

Time and Place

Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Saudi Arabian Embassy
Street: 30-32 Charles Street, W1J 5DZ
City/Town: London, United Kingdom

Labour to give local councils new freedoms

(article from labour.org.uk)

Labour’s Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has unveiled a re-engineering of the relationship between the state and local councils.

Hazel Blears announced that the number of Whitehall performance indicators coming into force next April have been slashed from 1200 to 198, giving councils major new freedoms to direct their focus and resources at issues local people care about.

Local authorities will now have more freedom to tackle anti-social behaviour, crack down on gun culture and confront climate change.

Hazel Blears said: “We have delivered local government unprecedented freedoms, financial flexibility and revenue raising powers. You must now step up to the mark, embrace this new responsibility and demonstrate a strengthened approach to governing.

"This represents a major re-engineering of the relationship between the state and local councils bringing Government much closer to our communities.

"We are delivering on our devolution promises - slashing Whitehall control, increasing financial flexibility and turning devolution to the town hall into a reality.

“Councils and communities will have more power to take action on the issues local people care about whether it's tackling guns and gangs, providing more affordable housing or improving the local neighbourhood.

"We are giving local government the space it needs to thrive - they must now make the most of this once in a generation opportunity and deliver on local peoples priorities and take the tough decisions to make a positive difference."

Labour’s Communities Secretary also set out other new freedoms for local Government, including up to £5 billion in funding to be transferred out of ring-fenced budgets and shifted to provide resources for local priorities.

Inciting Gay Hatred to be Banned!

In an attempt to further tackle hate crime the Labour Party has finally declared that inciting homophobic hatred will become a crime and therefore punishable under law. Jack Straw has since commented "it is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are now appalled by hatred and invective directed at people on the basis of their sexuality. It is time for the law to recognise this" when speaking on the second reading of the crimal justice and immigration bill.


This is just further evidence of the steps the Labour Party has took in the U.K. towards fighting injustice and inequality wherever it may occur. The Labour Party has consistently battled for equal rights for homosexuals.


In the 80s the age of consent for those in a homosexual relationship was 21.

We equalised it and changed it to 16, despite Tory opposition.

The Conservatives did nothing to prevent gay-hate crime which was at its height in the 80s during the AIDS epidemic. Stonewall (the gay lobby group) has reported that before the 97 Labour government:

* 34 percent of gay men and 24 percent of lesbians had been beaten up by queer-bashers

* 32 percent had experienced harassment, such as threats, graffiti, vandalism or blackmail

* 73 percent had been subjected to homophobic taunts or abuse


The Labour Party has increased the sentences for 'queer-bashers'


The Conservatives in the House of Lords attempted to prevent civil partnerships from ever seeing the light of day. Tory MP Andrew Rosindell even went so far as to say that homosexual relationships were 'inferior' to heterosexual ones, as well as being 'deeply offensive'.


To ensure equality the Labour Party introduced civil partnerships so that those in homosexual relationships had the same rights as married heterosexual couples.

Garador Strike

Today members of the Yeovil Labour Party joined the workers' of Garador on the picket line. Around 60 members of Garador's Unite union have gone on strike after the base-rate of pay to employees was cut and the hours these men were expected to work went up.

The temperature of the dispute has considerably risen in recent months as Garador has refused to co-operate with the workers and have threatened them with disciplinary action. The company has also in recent months resorted to the use of casual labour in an attempt to break the strike, though this attempt was deemed illegal by the union and has since stopped after a number of reported accidents to the unskilled and untrained migrant workers.

Garador, in a further attempt to bring an end to the strike has tore up agreements that both temporary and permament workers are paid the same. The Yeovil Labour Party condemns the actions and behaviour of Garador and fully lends their support to the workers in their struggle for equal pay, regardless of their status as permament or temporary workers. The Yeovil Labour Party believes in equal pay for equal work and believes Garador's attempts to create a two-tiered work force to be negligent and irresponsible business.

Joe Conway, Chairman of Yeovil Labour, will be writing to the government this week in order to gain support for the workers of Garador and to attempt to bring about an end to the strike.

The strike continues.

Facebook

The Yeovil Labour Party now has a Facebook group! So if you're on Facebook please do come along and join us and support your local Labour Party! Click here!