Labour in Leicester and Leicestershire Conference

I don't know about you, but I still miss the Political Education Days we used to have in our constituency.  I remember Roy Hattersley on House of Lords Reform and Chris Mullins on the Birmingham Six.

Today Rory Palmer emailed a number of us with the following.  It seems Political Education is alive and well in Leicester - and we are invited.

David F is putting it on the agenda for January 5.  Maybe we can get up a busload or something.  I'm certainly up for it.

Labour in Leicester and Leicestershire Conference 2016
Saturday 23^rd January 2016 at Leicester Town Hall. 10:00am – 5:00pm
This conference will bring together Labour members from across Leicester and Leicestershire to hear from a range of speakers including members of the Shadow Cabinet and to discuss local and national policy areas.
The conference will hear from a range of speakers including Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Seema Malhotra MP and Shadow Cabinet member Jon Ashworth MP.

Speakers also include Leicester West MP Liz Kendall on the EU Referendum and Leicester’s City Mayor Peter Soulsby who will give a report on progress in delivering Leicester Labour’s 2015 Manifesto.

Policy Workshops will cover areas of national and local significance, including: the future of public services including the NHS, schools and the police & 999 services; plans to grow Leicester/shire’s economy and create jobs and what devolution could mean for our area, and; Labour’s approach to improving living standards and tackling inequalities at a time of shrinking public sector budgets.
There will also be a range of informal sessions including an introduction to Labour Party structures for newer members; training on the EU Referendum campaign; a session for members interested in becoming a councillor/ candidate; and much more.
This conference will be a timely opportunity for Labour members in Leicester and Leicestershire to meet ahead of the Police & Crime Commissioner election next year; the EU Referendum; and County Council elections in 2017.
The conference is organised and hosted by the Leicester City Council Labour Group. 

In the meantime MERRY CHRISTMAS to all.  Here's to an active and electorally successful New Year!

Garden Fund Raiser! June 2013

The Branch held our annual tea in the garden event in Arnesby this year, at Elaine and Peters. Despite threats of heavy rain and strong winds, the storm held off for a couple of hours, and no-one got wet!

Over 30 members and friends braved the weather to come along, including old members who came all the way from Buxton and Market Harborough to visit, and Leicestershire members from over the borders in other Branches!

There were plenty of delicious cakes, as usual - yum!

It was hard work providing all those cups of tea.....

Excellent reading material was available at very competitive prices!

Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester attended, and after talking about the positive results in the recent County elections; and his hopes for the Euro and 2015 elections, he stocked up on a wide range of reading material for his forth coming holiday!

Willy Bach also discussed current issues and our prospects in the Euro elections.

A happy raffle winner.....

 

The treasurer was happy that there are now funds in the Branch - we made £200!!

The next events are: Lutterworth Carnival, where our stall will be a Quiz, written by Willy B, and money raised will go to Lord Mayors Appeal; and BBQ at Mike Wailloos, (in the red jacket!)July 13th, 2pm. Tickets £10 from David Fish, Secretary. See you there!

Electing our first police and crime commissioner

Sarah Russell, Labour's candidate for elected Police Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, spoke at the all-member GC meeting last night.

Whilst this was Sarah's debut as commissioner candidate, she is very experienced in the higher levels of local government.  A long-serving councillor for the Westcotes Ward, she is currently assistant mayor in Sir Peter Soulsby's cabinet with responsibility for Neighbourhood Services - exactly the background needed to protect neighbourhood policing both within the city and out here in easily-neglected rural areas.  In reply to some challenging questions from the floor, Sarah explained how she has set up inter-agency groups to deal with local problems.   Police officers are members of those groups, working to cure the problem, not just contain it.  Most importantly, Sarah is clear - the commissioner's job is to develop the strategic framework; implementing that strategy and deploying police resources remains a professional judgement for the chief constable.

A flavour of the farago going on with other parties can be had here.  The Lib Dems claim they are not standing anywhere because they are opposed to elected police commissioners.  This may seem odd, given that Nick and Vince and the other one didn't exactly kick up a fuss in Cabinet.  The more cynical among us might assume the real reason is that they can't find enough dupes willing to endure that degree of a kicking.

The independent, Rick Moore, is a far more serious proposition.  He has been out and about on the pre-election trail for some months now - I first read about his candidacy in an alumni magazine issued the first week in January.  I have known Rick for eighteen years and he means business come November.  Activists in the City probably haven't known him quite so long but they found out he was a player when he came second to Peter Soulsby in the mayoral election last year.  And let us not forget that the same supplementary vote system is to be used for the commissioner election. 

Also speaking at the meeting was Philip Hunt, Labour lead on Home Affairs in the House of Lords.

Labour was against elected commissioners but we are a serious political party and when there is an election we stand candidates.  Just because we didn't support the principal doesn't mean we cannot commit wholeheartedly to the process.  And this, as Philip pointed out, is important - there will be people standing in these elections who want to instruct the chief constable in his duty.  There will be some who imagine the job will be like the American system we see in TV cop shows, where the commissioner spends his or her time building a political powerbase and sacks the police chief as a matter of course every election year.  That is how you politicize police officers.  And if anyone needs reminding how Britain feels about the police getting embroiled with politics they should keep an eye on the Leveson Inquiry.

Whoever wins these posts will have tremendous personal power (check out the information here), far more than elected mayors and even Boris.  They will personally set the police precept.  The scrutiny they are technically subject to is frankly pathetic.  It is therefore vital that the best people win, people with experience of public service, who put public needs before personal ambition.

The challenge is going to be turnout.  A November election, after the European Cup, Olympics and Jubilee?  I can't come up with an accurate figure for the electorate but the population here is somewhere around 940,000.  How can anyone hope to contact that many people in a meaningful way?  Especially when it hasn't yet been decided who is going to pay for the 'free' leaflet delivery.

I know I'm biased but this seems to me to be an election that simply has to be conducted largely online.  Thank goodness the GC arranged this early wake-up call!

Supporting independent shops

Last Friday Leicester's elected city mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, announced a new initiative to support independent shops, particularly those on major routes outside the city centre. Partnership funding is available for:

• making shop fronts more attactive
• better street signage
• making the general environment more welcoming to shoppers.

For more details, click on the post title.

What are the chances of our Tory councils in Harborough and Glenfield doing anything similar (or, indeed, anything at all) to help our struggling independents in Lutterworth and Broughton?