Yeovil Labour Party

Postal Liberalisation talk

2008-07-01T03:07:00.001+01:00

The Yeovil Labour Party has invited Phil Chadwick of the CWU to give a talk on the liberalisation of the postal services that have been carried out by the New Labour government and the European Union over the last decade or so, and what developments are likely in the future. The meeting will be held on Thursday the 3rd of July at 19:00 at the Labour Club, all are welcome to attend.

Submitted Amendments to Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities Policy Document

2008-06-19T17:01:00.002+01:00

As many of you will know recently the Yeovil Labour Party held its policy forum to discuss the Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities draft final year policy document. At the meeting the following proposed amendments to the document were recommended by the members present. The amendments were as follows.

1. 42 Days Detention and Civil Liberties : Amendment Proposed by CLPD and LRC.
Delete, page 11, line 31, "We are also bringing forward new proposals on pre-charge detention, so that in exceptional circumstances, and with strong parliamentary and judiciary safeguards, there can be a temporary and non-renewable extension of the limit for up to 14 days so that the police can continue to hold terrorist suspects while pursuing their investigations in complex cases".

Supporting Argument :
A further curtailment of civil liberties by extending detention without charge could undermine the flow of information about possible terrorism. There is a growing concern that the muslim community is being targeted as a religious group because of its opposition to US military action in the Middle East.

2. ID Cards : Amendment Proposed by CLPD.

Delete, page 11 line 42 to Page 12 line 14 inclusive

Supporting Argument :
This removes the commitment to ID cards. The National Identity Register would be the world's biggest biometric database, holding 52 pieces of information on every adult who remains in the UK for longer than 3 months. As well as being a waste of public money, the scheme will cost us personally, financially and in terms of our privacy and relationship with the state. Opposition will continue to grow as more people understand these costs and doubt the accuracy and security of such a huge government database. They will change our society and the way we live, forever.

3. Fox Hunting : Amendment Proposed by Helen Weeks.

Add, page 7 line 43.

New Paragraph to Insert:
We will ensure that the ban on hunting with hounds is properly enforced by inserting a new clause of "cause" or "permit" to the Hunting Act 2004 (this can be through a Hunting ( Amendment) Bill, and that offences under the Act be made notifiable and proper penalties for offenders are introduced.

4. Monitoring of Privatised Contracts in the Police Force : Amendment Proposed by Bill Byrd.

Add, page 11 line 4, insert AFTER "By improviding working practices, cutting red tape..."
"closely monitoring and reviewing privatised contracts throughout the police force and encouraging the public service ethic".

Policy meeting to discuss crime and justice, citizenship and equality

2008-06-10T02:28:00.001+01:00

The Yeovil Labour Party will be holding a public meeting on Monday the 16th of June at 19:00 at Unity Hall, to gather feedback from both Labour Party members, trade unions and the general public to formulate a response to one of the party's Partnership in Power documents tackling crime and justice, citizenship and equality.

Once the meeting is concluded the response will be sent on to be voted on at the annual conference.

Report on Yeovil Sports Zone meeting

2008-06-08T00:02:00.003+01:00

For those who couldn't make it to the meeting on the Yeovil Sports Zone project last month with Tim Caroll (leader of South Somerset District Council) and Ashey Strelling (of Save Mudford Rec), the report is up on the Yeovil TUC's website.

The War on Democracy

2008-05-17T21:47:00.006+01:00

We'll be showing John Pilger's film the War on Democracy on Thursday the 17th of July at 19:00 at Unity Hall (opposite the bus station).

The ruling elite in United States likes to go on about how they spread democracy, but this film shows the “hidden war” that is being waged against democracy - how democratically elected governments are overthrown and replaced by dictatorships who represent US corporate interests. It shows what the United States really likes to spread is capitalism, free markets and the neo-liberal doctrine against all public ownership, it shows how the people of Latin America are plunged into poverty by economic “shock treatment” consisting of massive privitisation. And it shows how the people are fighting back in Venezuela and other countries of Latin America.

Here's what John Pilger had to say about the film:

The film is about the power of empire and of people. It was shot in Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, and the United States and is set also in Guatemala and Nicaragua. It tells the story of “America’s backyard,” the dismissive term given to all of Latin America. It traces the struggle of indigenous people first against the Spanish, then against European immigrants who reinforced the old elite. Our filming was concentrated in the barrios where the continent’s “invisible people” live in hillside shanties that defy gravity. It tells, above all, a very positive story: that of the rise of popular social movements that have brought to power governments promising to stand up to those who control national wealth and to the imperial master. Venezuela has taken the lead, and a highlight of the film is a rare face-to-face interview with President Hugo Chavez whose own developing political consciousness, and sense of history (and good humour), are evident. The film investigates the 2002 coup d’etat against Chavez and casts it in a contemporary context. It also describes the differences between Venezuela and Cuba, and the shift in economic and political power since Chavez was first elected. In Bolivia, the recent, tumultuous past is told through quite remarkable testimony from ordinary people, including those who fought against the piracy of their resources. In Chile, the film looks behind the mask of this apparently modern, prosperous “model” democracy and finds powerful, active ghosts. In the United States, the testimony of those who ran the “backyard” echo those who run that other backyard, Iraq; sometimes they are the same people. Chris Martin (my fellow director) and I believe “The War on Democracy” is well timed. We hope people will see it as another way of seeing the world: as a metaphor for understanding a wider war on democracy and the universal struggle of ordinary people, from Venezuela to Vietnam, Palestine to Guatemala.

Everybody is welcome to come along, after the film we'll throw the floor open to discussion on topics raised in the film.

Beyond the Market Economy conference

2008-05-17T01:20:00.004+01:00

The Labour Representation Committee are holding the LEAP Conference 'Beyond the Market Economy' on Saturday the 24th of May between 11:00 and 16:30 Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, WC1E 7HX.

Both Tony Benn and John McDonnell MP will be there making an address, and they'll also open up for a Q&A session.

A few topics on the agenda are:

Securing housing for all
Ending corporate power: 21st century models of social ownership
Drowning in debt: transforming the financial system
Defending pay, pensions and jobs in a global market economy

The agenda can be downloaded here and the 'Red Papers' from here. For those comrades interested in attending (£10 / £5 unwaged) you can register online on the LRC website.

Yeovil Labour Party supports Liberal Democrats in Chard by-election

2008-05-16T22:47:00.005+01:00

The Chard Crimchard by-election is on the 29th of May and the British National Party are fielding a candidate, Robert Baehr to contest the seat, the Labour Party isn't putting forward a candidate in this election.

In order to send a clear message that the people of Chard and the Yeovil constituency as a whole do not want a nationalist to represent them we are encouraging our supporters to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate Jenny Kenton.

2008 May Manifesto Petition

2008-05-07T01:10:00.011+01:00

From the Labour Representation Commitee:

In the light of Labour's election defeat last week, John McDonnell MP is circulating a manifesto petition to Labour Party members, trade unons and MPs to gain large scale rank and file support for a new policy programme for Labour to bring about a radical change in political direction for the Laboour Government.

John McDonnell MP said:

"After the serious rejection of New Labour at the polls last week assurances that the Government is listening are simply not going to be enough to restore any sense of belief in the Labour Party. What is needed is a radical change of political direction."We have to demonstrate that change by introducing a new policy programme that specifically and very concretely addresses peoples' concerns raised on the doorstep. This May manifesto petition is launched so that all our supporters can have a say in pressing for the changes we need.

"We believe that Labour can win back the support of our people by adopting a new 2008 May Manifesto, which should include:
Nailing the 10p tax mistake by the introduction of a fair tax system removing the low paid from taxation and ensuring the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share
An increase in the basic state pension, immediately restoring the link with earnings, lifting people off means tested benefits and providing free care for the elderly
An immediate start on a large scale council house building programme and assistance for those facing repossession
Immediate end to programme of local Post Office closures and liberalisation of postal services
An end to the privatisation of our public services
A new pay deal for public sector workers to protect their living standards and tackle low pay
Abolishing tuition fees and restoring maintenance grants for all students
Scrapping ID cards and abandoning 42 days detention
Introduction of a trade union freedom bill and measures to protect temporary and agency workers
Rejecting the proposals to renew Trident

Those interested in signing this petition should e-mail info@l-r-c.org.uk, include petition in the subject and your name and CLP or trade union. Now's the time to push for genuine working class policies and boot the neo-liberal agenda firmly out of the party, to turn the Labour Party into what it should be - the political wing of the working class.

Yeovil Sports Zone discussion

2008-05-07T01:02:00.002+01:00

The Yeovil TUC are holding a meeting to debate the planned re-development of Mudford rec. Ashley Strelling from "Save Mudford Rec" will be presenting the case for opposition of the development, while Tim Carrol leader of South Somerset District Council will be making the case for the development.

The meeting will be held Wednesday 21st May starting 19:30hrs at Unity Hall, Central Road, Yeovil.

The 10p rate of tax

2008-04-17T22:31:00.006+01:00

From this April the 10p rate (the starting rate) of income tax was abolished. This was announced in last year's budget. At the time it was hardly reported at all - with many media stories talking up the tax-cut from 22p to 20p for the basic rate, leaving many low-income earners out in the cold.

Labour introduced the 10p rate (the lowest level income tax in over three decades) and lowered the basic rate to 22p from 23p in 1999. This along with the minimum wage helped things on the ground a lot.

Why Gordon Brown carried this out in the last budget escapes me, at the time I thought it was simply a matter of scrapping the 10p rate to fund his 2p tax cut for the basic rate, and get all the praise from the media before he entered number 10, perhaps that should still be considered the leading hypothesis.

There have been a number of motions put forward expressing concerns over scrapping the 10p rate, as of writing 73 Labour MPs have so far signed them. Hope isn't lost yet for reversing this change, a number of Labour MPs have said they will try and fight the government over this issue, parliament returns on the 21st, so we'll see what happens.

The Tories are of course using this to their advantage, of course they have no alternative and if they were in power they would never of introduced anything this radical in the first place. I've yet to see any Tory MPs joining the rebel Labour MPs in support for reintroducing the 10p rate - don't hold your breath on that one, they're more interested in getting out of inheritance tax on their £1 million homes.

Where do I stand on this issue? Short term, the 10p rate should be reintroduced. If that means putting an extra couple of pence on the higher rate (over £36,000 per year) of income tax to fund it, so be it.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

2008-04-17T16:10:00.000+01:00

Yeovil Constituency Labour Party
Unity Hall, Central Road, Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1JL

Annual General Meeting, meeting held 27/03/08, commencing at 7:30pm

Members Present at meeting:

Jill Bishop
Chris Chant
Colin Counter
Les Deacon
Andy Dowland
Liz George, Chair
Charlie George
Gordon Harcourt
Marjorie Harcourt
Alf Hill
Pauline Hill
David Kingdon
Tom McGee
Brian Knight
Lee Skevington, Secretary
Paul Smith
Brian Wadsworth
Helen Weeks

The Chair asked for a minute silence for members who have passed away in the past year. Yeovil CLP remembers Shaun Gillman and his work for the CLP.

1. Apologies for absence:

Joe Conway
Norman Campbell
Peter Joyce

2. Nominations

The Chair read the nominations received from branches and the unions.

There were no nominations for Women’s Officer, Political Education Officer or Youth and Student Officer.

Lee Skevington declined to serve again as Youth and Student Officer.

David Kingdon declined an invitation to serve as Trade Union Liaison.

The room agreed that two spaces should remain open for two more branch delegates to the EC in case anyone else became active later on.

3. Party Officer Selection

The composition of the CLP Executive Committee and General Committee is now as follows.

Chair: Joe Conway.
Vice Chair: Liz George
Vice Chair Membership: Helen Weeks
Secretary: Lee Skevington
Treasurer: Alf Hill

Youth and Student Officer: open
Women’s Officer: open
Political Education Officer: open
I.T Officer: Paul Smith
Campaign Coordinator: Colin Counter
Trade Union Liason: Andy Dowland
Printing and Publications: Colin Counter
Press Officer: Colin Counter

Auditor 1: Les Deacon
Auditor 2: Tom McGee

CLP Executive Committee Branch Delegates:

Pauline Hill
Colin Counter
Helen Weeks
David Kingdon
Andy Dowland
Paul Smith
Jill Bishop
Chris Chant

CLP EC Co-op Party Delegate: Tom McGee

CLP Annual Conference Delegate: Helen Weeks

4. Treasurer’s Report

Andy Dowland raised a dispute regarding the treasurer’s report, claiming it was innumerate.

As time was running out, the Secretary that this will be dealt with at the next meeting. The treasurer’s report was therefore passed by the members present.

CLP Meeting Minutes, meeting held 27/03/08, after the A.G.M.

1.Correspondence

The Secretary circulated copies of an update report from the NEC, copies of a postcard objecting to the House of Lords decision regarding Pleural Plaques and Asbestos related diseases as well as literature from party members seeking election to the NEC.

2.Officer Reports

The Information & Technology Officer, Paul Smith, gave verbal feedback on the popularity of the website, claiming that we have had over 1000 visitors since the website went live a few months ago.

No other officers had anything to report.

3.Branch Restructuring

As requested by the Chair of Yeovil CLP (Joe Conway) the CLP discussed potentially disbanding the branches in favor of an alternate model for CLP governance. The Secretary stated that the branches had been inactive for the past two years and were not effective.

Andy Dowland suggested it would be an admission of failure to disband them. He claimed that transport would be an issue for people in the more rural communities which are a part of the CLP. He suggested that instead of disbanding the branches we instead need to engage more effectively with the grassroots in smaller areas in order to build up our membership.

Mr Dowand went on to explain that disbanding the branch structure would not allow for the CLP to more effectively address local concerns for local people. It was suggested that it would be a better idea to reinvigorate our branch structure.

Mr Dowland suggested the CLP move away from the more organized branch structure in favor of just a group of people effectively campaigning in a local area with transferable membership between one branch and another.

Helen Weeks suggested that perhaps the Yeovil branches could be amalgamated into one branch.

Brian Wadsworth spoke in support of disbanding the branches as they are dead. Mr Wadsworth suggested that the CLP needs to find another way to move ahead and to engage with local people.

David Kingdon suggested that the motivation of the CLP was to simply get its hands of the money of the branches.

The room decided that the decision will be deferred till the next AGM.

3. Financing and fundraising

Alf Hill suggested a later meeting be held so that the CLP may get more ideas and input from members.

Andy Dowland commended Les Deacon’s dedication to running the tote.

Helen Weeks suggested having more social activities in order to raise money, she suggested having an annual dinner and quiz nights.

Gordon Harcourt mentioned that Yeovil Rural Branch had made money from the sale of Labour Party scratch-off lottery tickets. The room agreed that this was a good idea and would be a potential means of raising funds for the CLP.

The Secretary will obtain further details following the meeting.

4. Formation of a campaign committee

The Secretary suggested the formation of a campaign committee, as mentioned under Clause VI.5 of the Labour Party Rule Book.

The room agreed, therefore the Yeovil Constituency Labour Party will hereby form a campaign committee with the Campaign Coordinator as its Chair.

Colin counter stated that the CLP needs to get more people involved and to raise our profile. Colin Counter will be the chair of the campaign committee as the new Campaign Coordinator.

5. Any Other Business

Alf spoke about a recent council consultation; Les Deacon suggested forming a Labour committee to draft a response. Andy Dowland urged members to file a response to the consultation before the end date.

Paul Smith raised the issue of the local post-office closures. Alf Hill objected, stating that no resolution may be passed at the present meeting as it would need to be placed on the agenda as a resolution and circulated to all members prior to the meeting. Lee Skevington suggested that as the E.C. and G.C. were convened and a quorum was present a vote was possible. Les Deacon claimed such a vote was unconstitutional and would need to wait. Paul Smith was concerned that by the time another meeting was convened it would be too late. Action regarding post-office closures will be taken at a future meeting.

Meeting closed at 9pm.

Letter to Post Office National Consultation Team

2008-04-02T03:23:00.004+01:00

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to the National Consultation Team overseeing the closure of between 2500 and 3000 Post Office branches nationally. I encourage anybody looking for more information on the proposals and how to contact the Post Office on these matters to see their website.

Dear Sir or Madam.

I am writing to you to put forward both the concerns of my fellow residents and myself over the five proposed Post Office closures that are happening within the Yeovil constituency. These are Mudford, East Coker, Barwick and Haselbury Plucknett and Goldcroft in Yeovil.

Four of these Post Offices are located in rural areas and are very much the life blood of these communities, of these four the closest alternative Post Office is at least a mile and a half away. In many cases the alternative post offices specified would involve walking over significant stretches of road, often with no pavement making them extremely dangerous, especially in the winter months with little illumination.

The branch located upon Goldcroft in Yeovil itself is not a quiet branch by any stretch of the imagination. With between 1000-1499 customer sessions per week according to your data, not only that but a significant number of new houses and flats are being built in the area which will only make the Post Office important to a growing number of residents over the coming few years. Closure of this branch would constituent an extreme inconvenience to many of the residents in this area, wasting a considerable amount of their time and money.

I therefore ask you on behalf of the people who have contacted me, and expressed their dismay at these proposals to not close the above mentioned branches so they can continue to support and provide a focal point for the communities they're seated within.

Yours faithfully,
Paul Smith,
Labour parliamentary candidate for Yeovil.

The Consultation Team are still accepting feedback from residents in Bristol and Somerset until the 9th of April so there is still time to send them your thoughts on these closures.

Copies of the letter are available for download:

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CLP Annual General Meeting

2008-02-10T00:44:00.000Z

The Yeovil Constituency Labour Party will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 27th of March. As indicated by the Labour Party rule book, we will be electing party officers, conference delegates and two auditors. The party officers being elected include the following:

Executive Committee

Chair
Vice-Chair
Vice-Chair Membership
Secretary
Treasurer
Youth and Student Officer

General Committee

Women's Officer
I.T. Officer
Press Officer
Campaign Coordinator
Political Education Officer

Please note that at least two of the party officers must be female. Additionally, this year the conference delegate must be female. It is the job of the party officers to "provide a strategic lead for the development of the party in the constituency". As such, we are currently receiving nominations from party members for the above positions.

All currently affiliated organisations are able to send a delegate to the A.G.M. and they are entitled to vote on any matters arising.

Along with the delegates from the affiliates organisations representatives from the branches may send a delegate (permitted there are more than 10 members) to the A.G.M. For party branches with 3 or more members under the age of 23 years, a youth delegate may be sent to the A.G.M.

Anyone wishing to raise an issue at the Annual General Meeting may contact me directly at secretary@labour4yeovil.org.uk and i will ensure the matter is added to the agenda for discussion and debate.

I will post the agenda for the A.G.M. shortly.

Minutes for CLP meeting held on 17/1/08

2008-01-28T15:40:00.000Z

Minutes for CLP meeting held on 17/1/08

Members Present

Joe Conway - Chair
Lee Skevington – Secretary
Paul Smith
Fred Wood
Colin Counter
Andy Dowland
Les Deacon
David Kingdon
Christopher Chant

1.Apologies

Alf Hill – Treasurer
Mark Lambden – Trade Union Liaison

2. Correspondence

The Yeovil Labour Party Prospective Candidate, the Candidate's Agent and the Campaign Coordinator are invited to a training session on Saturday 22nd January. Yeovil Constituency Labour Party will be sending its candidate, Paul Smith, at a cost of ￡25.

The CLP discussed two documents submitted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

a) Debate on Comments on proposals for British participation in the United States Missile Defence System – Rejected by members present.

b) Debate on Comments on the proposed Trident replacement and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons – Accepted by members present. Response to be sent to Britain in the World Policy Commission.

3. Trigger Ballots

All members present passed an affirmative nomination in support of Glyn Ford's re-selection as an MEP.

4.Policy Issues

Rail Nationalisation

Yeovil CLP seeks to open the debate regarding public ownership of the railways - we feel giving large tax payers subsidies to private company's is not giving full value to the tax payer or the commuter- we therefore suggest that the Labour party looks at ways of giving better value to the tax payer and rail users with a full and open debate, if the outcome of this debate means returning the railways to public ownership, then we believe it should be carried out in the most economic and pragmatic way, thus honouring many of the Labour party's pre 1997 annual conferences commitments, which voted to look at the viability of public ownership of the railway.

First Fare Increases

Yeovil Constituency Labour Party opposes the recent First fare rises. The CLP will follow this up with events to be arranged by the Campaign Coordinator.

Other Policy Issues Arising

The members present voiced support for government plans to reform organ donation procedures.

5.Upcoming A.G.M.

The Annual General Meeting for Yeovil Constituency Labour Party will take place on Thursday 27th March for 7pm.

The members present expressed a wish that the future of CLP fundraising be discussed at the A.G.M. This will be added to the next agenda.

The members present also expressed a wish that the current local party structure be discussed with the aim of potentially abandoning the branches. This will be added to the next agenda.

6.Officer Reports

The party officers had nothing to report.

7.Complaint Regarding Correspondence

Fred Wood made a formal complaint regarding the handling of the candidate selection process. It is alleged that he did not receive the necessary correspondence informing him of the meeting. A copy of emails sent were presented to the members present.

8.Purchase of New Printing Equipment

Lee Skevington presented the members present with a quote from Smart Office Systems Ltd. No decision was able to be passed regarding printing equipment due to the absence of the treasurer.

Andy Dowland suggested an arrangement between the constituency party and the unions to spread the cost of the new printing equipment.

A new push for a proper ban on fox hunting

2007-12-27T02:01:00.000Z

This Boxing Day, according to the BBC we had some quarter of a million people out participating in hunts across some three hundred locations in the UK.

Labour's 1997 election manifesto promised a free vote in parliament on banning fox hunting, something that we carried out. Unfortunately thanks to the influence of Tory MPs and the House of Lords a ban on fox hunting had to be watered down, and made in my opinion ineffective. We clearly see the same old stuff going on, only now within the law, the hounds - so the huntsmen and women claim no longer kill the foxes.

The larger issue is untouched by the ban. As a society, we have decided that people chasing after and killing animals is immoral, especially when done in the way these hunts are carried out, viewed as entertainment! A jolly good day out! Population management, as these people claim they're doing shouldn't be a good day's entertainment.

Things have been looking up for the pro-hunt crowd over the last couple of years since the ban, it energised those in favour of fox hunting, while those opposed thinking they had won almost went into hibernation. It is starting to show, the Countryside Alliance is so bold enough to claim "With growing support from MPs and candidates of all political parties the hunting ban is on borrowed time."

I believe we should push for a new ban, a ban that doesn't give way to the Tory MPs and the House of Lords. We should go all the way and get a total ban on this barbaric practice.

Xmas

2007-12-21T13:51:00.000Z

I'd just like to wish all our members, activists, supporters and so forth a merry christmas! And for anyone out there that is interested, be sure to take a look at the Socialist Appeal website for some inciteful articles on the true identity of Santa and the founding of Christianity.

Even if you're not Christian, let us remember that this is a religious holiday. And even if you don't believe in Christianity, let us not forget the message of peace that it promotes at this very special time of year.

Comradely Regards,

Lee Skevington
CLP Secretary

Funding crisis

2007-12-04T00:29:00.000Z

I think it is time to comment upon this growing disaster, certain aspects of "new" Labour seem to be moving back towards alternative methods of party funding after they were defeated a while back, they see this whole series of events as a good excuse to revive them. A welcome consequence for them as it would destroy the trade union link, while still giving their business friends some ability to support the party.

I support John McDonnell's proposals to limit donations from individuals to £1000 per year. That would cut out individual businessmen from donating huge sums of money.

Everybody in the party caught up even slightly in this crisis should stop using it as an excuse to push through their neo-liberal agenda to destroy Labour's link with the working class and offer their resignation. Their dodgy donations should not be used by them to push their own agenda.

Pittards, put workers before profit and the bosses' pay

2007-12-01T01:59:00.000Z

As some of you will of no doubt heard, Pittards due to the current weakness of the US dollar is set to shed about a quarter of its workforce. This is part of an ongoing decline in the company, one where we've seen a scaling back of the workforce and pension deficits over the last few years.

To quote the Yeovil Express: "Company bosses said the severe weakening' of the US dollar during the past year had adversely affected profitability and redundancies were now necessary."

David Laws says his thoughts are with all those whose jobs are at risk. Touching. Kevin Davis has a bit of an opportunistic stab at David Laws for not doing anything about it. Of course the Tories offer no solutions other than criticising everybody else. This is the free market at work, and neither the Liberals nor the Tories have solutions, their ideology is firmly committed to the free market, being free, just like the "new" Labour leadership. The only solutions come from the left, from those that think outside of the box.

To save those jobs I would urge the bosses at the company to take a hit to their pay packets, perhaps even reduce the numbers of managers at the company, until the situation with the exchange rate improved. Profits should come after people's jobs, if the company needs to operate on razor thin profits for a while, so be it. If these were demands that the people of Yeovil got behind, maybe we could make a difference. Workers should never be first on the chopping block.

Statement from Paul Smith

2007-11-28T15:23:00.000Z

On the evening of Sunday the 25th of November I was selected to stand in the next general election as the Labour Party candidate for the Yeovil constituency. I stood on a platform of socialist and democratic values, openness and honesty and for a Labour Party that puts working people first.

My key objectives for the build up to the election include:

1) Establishing a link with young working people and introducing them into politics.
2) Re-connecting with voters and members disillusioned with politics in the last ten years.

To do this I believe it is important to show we're not an organisation ruled from top to bottom, but a democratic organisation ruled from the bottom up, where the rank and file members can make and influence policy. To not be afraid to disagree with national policy when we believe it is wrong, nor to criticise when we think it doesn't go far enough. We must be willing to speak our mind and listen to the working people our party was founded to represent.

Over time the Yeovil Labour Party shall be, with the public formulating local policies on which to fight an election campaign. My goal is to ensure they are as fair as possible to people of this constituency and put their interests first.

Candidate Selected

2007-11-25T20:29:00.000Z

The Yeovil Labour Party has elected its candidate for the next general election. The candidate shall be Paul Smith.

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting and cast their vote. The candidate himself will be making a statement shortly.

Hands Off Venezuela Conference

2007-11-18T02:21:00.000Z

The 'Hands Off Venezuela' conference will be taking place on Saturday November 24th. The event will present a number of speakers from both Venezuela and others from parliament as well as a number of other organistions.

You can get more information on the event from the facebook site, which can be found here.

The speakers list include:

Venezuelan Speakers

Guadalupe Rodrigez, Coordinaadora Simon Bolivar, 23 Enero,
Nelson Rodriguez, Inveval Factory Committee, FRETECO

Other Speakers:

John McDonnell MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, the National Union of Journalists
Matt Wrack, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union
Alan Woods, Author of "The Venezuelan Revolution"
Derek Wall, a national spokesperson for the Green Party

I'd recommend any of my fellow comrades attend. It is extremely important to show solidarity with our Venezuelan comrades and the socialist government of Hugo Chavez. The emergence of a revolution is extremely rare and the progress of the Venezeualan government in securing a future for all the people of Venezuela has had unmeasureable success. The country is finally freed from the pseudo democratic rule of the bourgeois pro-capitalist political parties - and the people are, now given the choice, consciously supporting a socialist government. The government is using its massive resources (including oil) to support a progressive social program, rather than lining the pockets of the rich.

We have seen massive reforms in health and education - but there is still much left to do to ensure a better future for the people of Venezuela. We must ensure the 'revolution' continues and that the fervour does not die off in the face of American imperialism and global capitalism.

As socialists, therefore, we must support Venezuela. We must continue to fight for socialism and for real labour values, and we should not just fight for it in our own country, but globally as part of a bigger and greater and more powerful true labour movement.

In solidarity,

Lee Skevington
CLP Secretary

New Poll

2007-11-17T02:41:00.001Z

Although last week intervention from Downing Street meant no full introduction of a national waste charging scheme; a scheme will be piloted around the country in several areas. These areas are yet to be decided.

If passed into law, the proposed Climate Change Bill will result in changes to the Environmental Protection Act (1990) to allow for the legal introduction of waste charging schemes.

Upon completion of the pilot scheme a report and assessment will be made to parliament regarding the successes and failures of the scheme. However, the proposal of waste charging schemes has highlighted concerns over fly-tipping. According to South Somerset District Council fly-tipping has cost Yeovil £25,000 in the past year.

The Communities and Local Government Committee in their last report requested further clarification on how financial incentive schemes will interact with council tax and also recognises that such schemes will disadvantage large families and those on low income. This report makes clear that if any scheme is to be introduced there are many issues in need of ironing out before going ahead.

Opinions regarding waste-charging are mixed, therefore we have placed a poll on the homepage of this website. I encourage you to vote in the poll and/or comment on this blog and let us know your thoughts on the issue!

Waste Collection & Recycling

2007-11-14T17:50:00.000Z

It has been revealed this week by the L.G.A. (Local Government Association) that Britain still throws away more waste than the rest of Europe. It is reported that in the past year the UK has thrown away 22.6 million tonnes of waste.

The UK is followed closely behind by Italy, Spain and France.

While significant strides have been made in an attempt to reduce the amount of non-recycled waste the new statistics are testament to the fact that enough is not being done to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill sites across the country.

Lee Skevington, Yeovil CLP Secretary commented :

"Local councils have an integral role to play in limiting the amount of waste sent to landfill. While in Yeovil proactive steps have been taken by the council in reducing waste, there quite frankly isn't enough that is being done to tackle the problem".

"If we're to be serious about recycling we need local government to be providing more pick up points for recyclable materials as well as collecting cardboard and plastic as they do in other local authorities. While it is tempting to place all of the burden on local people to recycle, enough isn't being done to encourage local business, both big and small, to go green. We all have a part to play in meeting recycling targets."

"It is inconvceivable to pass the total cost along to the common taxpayer as they are only responsible for a very minor amount of the total waste produced."

This report comes amidst government controversy over waste charging. However, the communities and local government select committee has this week commented that if waste charging is to be introduced then council tax must first be reduced.

Therefore, before local government can introduce any waste charging scheme they must first make reductions to the rate of council tax. There has, however, been talk of revoking section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act. Under section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) no local authority may introduce direct charges for household waste-collection.

Anyone interested in reading the report of the select committee can find it here.

PPC Meeting Update

2007-11-09T22:03:00.000Z

Just a brief update for anyone unaware - although i previously posted saying that the hustings meeting would be on the 15th the letters i sent to all of you (our members) say it is the 25th. This is now the correct date. The meeting and vote will be held at 7pm on Sunday November 25th.

A few words from our perspective parliamentary candidates

2007-11-05T00:37:00.000Z

Below are a few words that Colin Counter and Paul Smith feel give a brief description of their beliefs and thoughts, and hopefully will give you an idea of where they're coming from.

Colin Counter:

A Labour Government! Who would have thought 30 years ago that a 'we' would have been in power for three successive terms! When I say ‘we’ I mean the royal “we”. That is the people, of which I am one. I have not been a Labour supporter all my life, simply because they were a rag bag of people with ideas which quite frankly scared the living daylights out of all people. The Tories were even worse. we needed a ‘third way’. New Labour provided the balance. Which is why ‘we’ were elected. My politics are the 3rd way. That is, there will never be any room in British politics for extremes. The journey for the British people, has been long and very painful, both in emotion and financially. The Tories with ‘boom and bust’ and Labour with ‘tax and spend’. We are here!

The question now is were do ‘we’ go? Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair, he was not elected by the people. His dithering over a ‘snap’ election has cost ‘us’ dear. ‘We’ deposed the king. Let ‘us’ reflect for a moment. King Blair, brought ‘us’: Positives; a stable economy, full employment, new schools, new hospitals, free bus travel for the over 60’s. Negatives; Record personal dept, smoking/hunting bans. War in Iraq/Afghanistan and migration of workers from the EU. This is REAL life! In our personal lives there are pos/neg. It is getting the balance right that counts. Personal dept, is that the fault of government? Bans on smoking/hunting - free vote. War in Iraq, brought on by extreme groups. Migration, full employment requires people to work. If the Brits wont do it who will!

I could debate all these points for hours, but this is the election for PPC for Yeovil CLP. We are up against the LIBDEMs. A contempt able outfit, whose ‘policies’ defy all coherence, whose loyalties change from day to day. Who have turned ‘fence sitting’ into an art form! I should know, for I once was ‘one of them’. Convincing the electors in this area to support Labour is going to be a mammalian task. But not impossible! You asked for my politics, it is all contained in the words above. To summarise, for Labour to win in Yeovil/Chard/Crewcerne/Ilminster we require two things: 1. Oust David LAWS, 2. Get the 50% of people who don’t vote to VOTE! 3. Elect me as PPC.

Paul Smith:

This Labour government has certainly achieved many things, the minimum wage, peace in Northern Ireland, and a ban on fox hunting and so on. However many within the Labour Party, and those who have left the party in the last 10 years, almost half our membership, are disillusioned with the direction of the leadership. Not to mention the public as a whole, the broad spectrum of people who brought Labour to power in 1997 have, section by section been disappointed by the failure of this government to bring radical change, to reverse the damage of Thatcherism upon society.

Instead of re-nationalising the railways, the very idea is branded by the Labour leadership as "extremism", despite most of the public supporting it.

Instead of restoring rights to trade unions, the draconian Thatchite anti-union laws which has led to the biggest assault on living standards in living memory, remain standing, leaving us with some of the worst working conditions, and over-stressed workforce in Europe.

Instead of ending private businesses profiteering out of public services, they've allowed the private sector more and more influence, privatising twice as many jobs as the Tories carried out in their 18 years in power.

Instead of tackling corporations avoiding taxes, to the tune of an estimated £97-£150 billion every year, they turn a blind eye. Even using the low estimate that is somewhere in the order of £1600 per person, per year. How far that money would go to funding not only maintaining the public sector but also the expansion of the public sector.

Our democracy is, to be frank, at risk of going stale, trapped like the United States between two right-wing parties who represent business and business alone. Already people are utterly disillusioned with politics, "all political parties are the same, they don't represent us." is something I am sure we all hear too often. But I think they've got a point, we need a Labour Party worthy of the name, that's not what we have at the moment and I hope to push the Labour Party a little bit more to the left, which I believe is closer to where the British public are on the political spectrum.

"New" Labour simply cannot distinguish itself from the Liberals or the Tories in the Yeovil constituency, and I am convinced the only way to begin to build an effective challenge on the other parties is by differentiating ourselves from the run of the mill policies that get thrown around so much like "we support the NHS", while behind their grinning faces they're planning on privatising jobs, just so private companies can take a slice of our taxes. People can see through that, they're fed up with it, and they've got nowhere to turn apart from the likes of the far-right, who'll say anything and blame anyone and Respect, probably the biggest laughing stock the left has ever known. Too many working people are unrepresented in our democracy, we need to give them a voice and Labour is the mechanism by which to do so. Yeovil needs an MP who will vote in accordance to what the constituents want, not what their party leadership demands especially when it comes to further privatisation of public services and wars fought solely on the grounds of picking up a few lucrative business contracts.