I was motivated and inspired (and exhausted) by a weekend spent in Warwick, where local parties, affiliates, and Trade Unions came together with the Government to set a comprehensive policy agenda that will feed into our manifesto for the next general election.
The debates were stimulating and informative, and have left us with a strong set of priorities and policies with which to go into the next general election, and then beyond that to a fourth term in which we can put into action the policies agreed this weekend.
I am proud that it is Labour making commitments to further protect working people, on the environment, on equality, on improving access to health care and ensuring rising standards in education.
I was particularly pleased that delegates made a new commitment to reform the House of Lords and introduced proposals to lower the voting age to 16, a measure brought forward and championed by Labour Student Olivia Bailey. It is telling that as we agreed on radical new proposals to take the electorate, the Tories were still refusing to offer a comprehensive policy agenda.
We have proved again that we are the party with the ideas, with the energy and with the commitment to make Britain better, we now need to ensure that we communicate those ideas and that commitment effectively.
This is a blog post from the previous National Chair, Sarah Mulholland
Yes it is time for me to eat a large helping of humble pie…..my previous and rather vocal rants about the self-importance of blogs and blogging seems to have come back to haunt me. I shall, for one year only, attempt to update interested parties as to what Labour Students are up to through the ‘not-so-new-but-new-to-me’ medium of blogging. And, as my previous and much repented criticism of blogging has involved words like ‘boring’, ‘rambling’ and ‘self-important’, I shall endeavour to keep mine short, interesting, and relevant….
Your new Labour Student team is now in place, and I thought that for my first blog it might be helpful to set out who we are and what we want to do this year. I’ve just finished University in Leeds, and I’m really excited to have started in this role. My election in February seems a very long time ago, and it’s great to finally get started! Matt Strong, from Manchester Labour Club has taken up his post of National Secretary, and Alan Scobbie from Manchester Met Labour Club has begun work as Campaigns and Membership Officer. Matt, Alan and myself are really excited about the year ahead, and hope to work with you all to build a bigger, stronger and more effective organization. We want to sharpen our campaign focus, build our presence in our Student Unions and in the National Union, develop existing clubs and help new clubs to grow. We are really keen to work with clubs to develop campaigns that members want to be involved in, we want greater member involvement and we want to see re-energised liberation campaigns leading the way on the fight for equality and tolerance. We want to see our relationship with the Trade Union movement develop as we work to protect students from the workplace exploitation that so many students experience, and we want to see Labour Clubs playing an integral role in returning Labour Candidates in next years European Elections. Not much to ask for really!
Speaking of elections, if anyone wants to go and help campaign in the Glasgow East by-election please get in touch. There is already a Labour Student team there, working hard to make sure Margaret Curran is elected. If you want to join us this weekend, or anytime up until polling day, please contact Alan Scobbie and he will point you in the right direction (its in The North…)
We’re really keen to hear what you want to see this year, so please do get in touch to share your ideas. You, our members, are our strongest asset, and I look forward to working with you and for you this year. Lets get cracking!
This is a blog post from the previous National Chair, Sarah Mulholland
I was back up in Scotland on Monday evening for the first in a series of joint events that we've been holding with our long-term friend and partner in the movement, Unite the Union.
The evening itself was a much too rare opportunity to bring together Labour Students and young members of the union. It also gave new Scottish General Secretary Colin Smyth his first opportunity since his appointment to speak to an audience of young party members.
Timing-wise, the event couldn't have been on a more appropriate evening, given that John Park MSP was launching his skills and training Bill in the Scottish Parliament the very morning after he had spoken to us at the event. Labour is calling for more young people to get the chance to do an apprenticeship — a subject close to former Rosyth apprentice electrician John's heart. I don't know what the young Nats were doing on Monday evening, but I am fairly certain that they weren't talking with young workers about the skills that Scotland needs for the future. Thinking about it, the worst thing about the SNP's skills agenda isn't that it is wrong-headed or bad thought out — it's that it doesn't really exist.
Anyway, enough of that. The event was a really good one, with some people who I'd never met before, and was a brilliant chance to get our members more involved in the work of the union. More events to come — the next one is in West Bromwich on the 16th of April with Tom Watson MP as the guest speaker. An evening not to be missed!
This Blog entry is from the previous National Chair, Kenny Young
This is a strange line from an interview with Boris Johnson that I thought you might enjoy.
"I think young people should be absolutely forbidden from becoming interested in politics. It should be banned."
It sort of says it all really, doesn't it? Under the laughing, joking, toffish mannerisms lies a genuinely frightening right-wing, 19th century view of how Britain (and, more importantly in the coming months, London) should be run in the 21st century.
Beneath it all is a man who really doesn't think that the under 30s (or 40s?) should be involved in the political world. I'm not sure in what way that is meant to be charming. Perhaps he has judged that twentysomethings are bored enough with politics that they'll warm to him if he seems bored of it too. I just don't think that strategy will work. It can't - young Londoners help to keep our capital vibrant. They work, study, travel and live in London and they care about how it's run.
But, that's Boris. He's a man who conspired to beat up a journalist, a man who thinks politics isn't for young people, and a man who applauded George W Bush for smashing the Kyoto Protocol. He genuinely seems to think that Londoners are stupid enough to forget it all, and hand him the keys to City Hall, if he keeps up the Boris "charm".
All I'm saying is, I'm not completely sure, but I probably won't be voting for Boris. I always preferred Paul Merton on Have I Got News For You anyway.
This blog entry is from the previous National Chair, Kenny Young
I thought I would give you a quick update on what's been going on in the Labour Students office during the past couple of weeks since my last blog.
As you might imagine, Labour Students Conference is at the top of our agenda. The event, which runs along the Party's main Spring Conference, brings together Labour Students from all over Great Britain to meet up, campaign, make policy and elect a new National Committee (cue soft violin music as we all prepare to exist the building for a final time) and is generally unmissable.
Aside from Conference, your three Labour Students sabbatical officers have all been working hard to help get Ken re-elected as London's Mayor (sign up for e-mails here). We all need a Labour Mayor of London, and in a straight fight between Boris and Ken - which is what this race really is - it's clear that Ken is on the side of students in this city. It was Ken who extended the Student Photocard to cover ground-rail, as well as the Tube, buses and DLR journies. And it's Ken who, if re-elected, will extend the 30% discount to one-day travelcards and Oyster pay-as-you-go fares. Part of Boris' challenge will be to get voters to forget all of that with a joke and a bit of buffoonery, so we'll soon be looking for as many campaigners as possible to help get Ken re-elected.
On top of that, we're continuing to have lots of busy days organising all the different things that go on from this office. I can see Emily's keyboard begin to fire steam and sparks, so I'd better get back to what I was doing.
See you at Conference!
This blog entry is from the previous National Chair, Kenny Young
Blogging: the final refuge of the painfully anti-social; or a vital 21st century tool for keeping in touch across large and diverse networks of people? I suppose over the coming months, you will be the judge as to which category my writings fall under.
I ask you not to judge me too harshly in my opening blogs, whilst I get to grips with the whole phenomenon. Hmm … actually, that would be no fun. You should vent your feelings and add any comments you have — these can be easily added below blogs and articles posted on the new website, using the "add a comment" feature.
Given that this is my first blog here, I’ll mainly use it to give you a quick update on what I’ve been doing over the past few weeks.
The National Union of Students is one of the biggest membership organizations (7.5 million) in Western Europe. Nominations for candidates wishing to stand for election within the NUS close this Friday, so look out for Labour Students being nominated for the Presidency and for Block of 12. So, it’s been a busy time on that front, but the bulk of the effort is on the shoulders of the candidates themselves. Members who went to Labour Students Council in December will remember meeting those student officers who are now standing as Labour Students.
On that point, actually, February and March see the remaining 50% or so of unions holding their delegate elections across campus, so for those Labour Clubs who haven’t organised standing candidates to be delegates to NUS Conference, I’d strongly encourage you to. It gives your Labour Club the chance to work with Labour Students to change NUS for the better and make sure that it is led by the principles of solidarity, tolerance and equality. Get in touch if you’d like to chat it over, or get some help and advice.
We’ve also been working with our closest partners in the Trade Union movement — Unite. As one element of our partnership, we are jointly organizing a full raft of regional events across the country that will establish a campaigning relationship with young members of Unite. The outcome that we are looking for is creating a campaigning team that can work together for a Labour victory in the next General Election, as well as helping our two organizations meet our shared aims and objectives. Stay tuned to our Pin 2 Win campaign map on the homepage for the latest on when these events will be happening.
And that’s the bulk of it. If you want to know more, post a comment or drop me an e-mail. Don’t forget to register for Labour Students Conference by 1 February, or you will miss out on a brilliant event.
Hope to see as many members as possible in the coming month, and welcome — once again — to the new website!
This blog entry is from the previous National Chair, Kenny Young