Labour Women Leading has issued a call for the defence of a standalone Labour Women’s Conference.
There is a real threat that the improvements that came out of the Democracy Review will stall, because they are not prioritised by the current leadership. There are currently no plans for a standalone National Women’s Conference, the newly elected Women’s Conference Arrangements Committee has yet to meet, and there are no structures to facilitate liaison between the ruling NEC and the National Women’s Committee. The National Women’s Officer has resigned and staff support for the women’s organisation is rudimentary. Encouragement to establish women’s branches has ended, with women’s forums in some CLPs and women’s branches in others.
Stand up for our women’s organisation and for the engagement and activism of women members. Labour Women Leading has drafted a motion that we’d like women’s branches and CLPs to pass and send to Labour’s General Secretary and appropriate members of the National Executive Committee.
Defend Women’s activism in the Labour Party
This women’s branch/forum notes:
- The success of recent standalone Labour Women’s Conferences and the ongoing popularity and success of online annual conferences during the Covid pandemic.
- The development of inclusive women’s structures, including women’s branches, a National Women’s Committee and the NEC Equalities Sub-committee.
We call on the NEC to take steps to facilitate the ongoing development of democratic women’s structures in the party, as well as adequate staffing and resourcing.
The General Secretary should take responsibility for ensuring that a timetable is set towards the organisation of a standalone National Women’s Conference in March 2023. The organisation of the Conference should be overseen by the elected Women’s Conference Arrangements Committee.
The development of inclusive equalities structures within the Labour Party must not be allowed to stall.
Pass this motion and send it to the General Secretary, David Evans (david_evans@labour.org.uk), James Asser, Chair of the Equalities sub-committee (james.asser@yahoo.co.uk), Ann Black, NEC Vice-chair (annblack2001@gmail.com), and Ruth Hayes, Chair of the National Labour Women’s Committee (ruth.hayes161@gmail.com).
To join Labour Women Leading or for more info on its work, contact Ruth Clarke: ruthmclarke@gmail.com
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