Yeovil Labour Party

Yeovil PPC

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:55:00 +0000

Paul Smith, Labour PPC has unfortunately made the decision to withdraw as PPC. Yeovil CLP is currently on the search for a new candidate. I will post further details at a later date.

Israel Arms Embargo Petition - Please Sign!

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:29:00 +0000

Dear Comrades,

I ask that you all sign the petition on the Downing Street website calling for an arms embargo of Israel. You can find the petition here. Please pass the link on to your friends and ask them to sign too.

Regards,

Lee Skevington
CLP Secretary

Israel Protest, Saturday 10th January

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:11:00 +0000

Yeovil Labour would like to remind all of its members that a protest of the Israeli attack on Gaza will be taking place on Saturday 10th, 12:30pm at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, London.

After hearing from the speakers including Tony Benn and George Galloway there will be a march on the Israeli embassy.

I'd like to remind all of our members that the Yeovil & Sherbourne Stop the War Coalition are running a coach to London to attend the protest for £10 a seat. This is much cheaper than driving, taking a train or a standard coach. Please contact Vivian of Yeovil Trades Council at vivianvjw@aol.com to reserve a seat!

The nearest tube station is Marble Arch.

Celebration of the Cuban revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:03:00 +0000

The Yeovil TUC are holding a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution on Friday 30th January 2009 at Unity Hall, Central Road, Yeovil BA20 1JL. Between 8pm and 11pm. Featuring music, speakers, and a DVD presentation.

For tickets contact Joe on 07801817963 or Mark on 0779198374 or e-mail Vivian. Tickets £5 pp. Price includes one free Cuban Cocktail.

Yeovil branch resolution on banking

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:56:00 +0000

The following resolution was recently passed by the Yeovil BLP.

We recognise that the actions the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have taken in recent months have been the examples the rest of the world has followed in the fight against the global economic downturn.

We believe this situation gives the government a unique opportunity to look into other forms of banking, ones based on mutuality and co-operation. including the growing Credit Union.

By introducing the principle of mutuality into a publically owned banking system we can invest and safeguard business, savers and home owners from the speculation and gambling that has become rampant in the banking system over the last few decades.

We encourage the government to take control of the banks. We have already used a huge amount of public cash to rescue the banking system from utter collapse, we should ensure that it never happens again by placing it under our control.

CLP Secretary Report

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:46:00 +0000

Greetings Comrades,

I have uploaded my report for the month of October for you to view. Click here to view my report.

Regards,

Lee Skevington
Secretary, Yeovil CLP

Resolution on South Ossetia conflict

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:02:00 +0000

The following resolution has been submitted to the Labour Party conference.

We, the members and representatives of this constituency Labour Party, call upon this Labour government to effect a change in their thus far biased position towards the conflict in South Ossetia and to rightfully admit that the conflict is the result of Georgian aggression and American foreign policy objectives in the region.

We request that the Labour government recognise that the brutal manner in which Georgia carried out its assault, largely against civilians, which resulted in half of the population of South Ossetia fleeing into Russia, was an attempt at ethnic cleansing.

We call upon the Labour government to strongly condemn Georgia for their actions against the people of South Ossetia, end its demonization of Russia, and recognise the Republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations.

The importance of public healthcare

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:35:00 +0000

The National Health Service is probably the single greatest achievement of a British government in history, founded under the Labour government of Clement Atlee in 1948 it insured free healthcare for everybody in Britain.

In Western Europe and the United States we see insurance schemes, masses of paper work that people need to worry about, yet here we only have to worry about the treatment, not how we’re going to pay for it or if our particular insurance scheme or company health policies cover the treatment we need. In many ways it is a model the rest of the world should follow.

The Tories have systematically tried to discredit and run down the NHS. They don’t like the idea of something being run in the public interest, with no place to make any money for shareholders. They attack it, not to try and improve it, but to try and get rid of it. Ten years ago the Tory anti-NHS machine was in full swing; fortunately thanks to NHS funding being almost tripled the NHS has survived.

However nowadays the struggle comes in a more subtle form, and disappointingly has been spearheaded by the New Labour government. We see privatisation slowly creeping over the NHS, this not only transfers public money and puts it into the pockets of private business, it also drains other resources from the NHS, like staff and equipment, we see this particularly hard in dentistry, where I’ve heard stories of some practises in Yeovil trying to push patients off the NHS and onto private. It also risks a huge conflict of interest, instead of getting people back on their feet, with private business involved there no doubt would be at least some temptation to keep people ill for longer to make more money out of them.

Willing to admit it or not, the Tories and some Liberals would no doubt would like to see the NHS dissolved, or completely privatised and some sort of insurance scheme setup in its place. Abolishing public healthcare would certainly be a radical transformation, but I don’t think anyone could possibly argue that this would be the best solution for the British public. Today the NHS’s problems come not from having enough money, but from being forced to compete with the private sector, and from the private sector slowing taking hold of areas within the NHS. To secure the long-term future of the NHS, I believe the only solution can be a healthcare system based on strong foundations of public ownership then the NHS instead of having to worry about the private sector leeching its resources can deliver the best healthcare possible, to the widest number of people possible.

Postal Liberalisation talk

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:07:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:01:00 +0000

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, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:47:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:20:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:47:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:10:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:31:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:10:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:23:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:44:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:40:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:01:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lee Skevington) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:51:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Smith) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:29:00 +0000

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.