Published 20th February, 1996; Iattended as a delegate from the TSSA. Joint Conference
The Local Government conference is held jointly with the European conference.
The Transport Salaried Staffs Association was well represented at these conferences. It seemed to have as many delegates as any other union; some large unions were just not there.
Opening rally
John Prescott celebrated the record number of Labour Councillors and Labour M.E.P.s.
He ridiculed Heseltine for condoning firms that delayed paying their bills.
But the speech fell flat; it seems the acoustics of the International Conference Centre put off the speakers of the opening rally.
Nottingham City wins award
Best practice awards were made to various Councils for job creation schemes, Huddersfield's new football stadium etc.
The City Council won an environmental award for thermal image photos taken from the air; these photos will guide an energy conservation scheme.
Cost of Rail privatisation
Clare Short explained that rail privatisation had cost £1,000 million so far; and that a committee of M.P.s had estimated that the privatised railways would cost an extra £850 million per annum to run.
Railtrack's assets are valued at £6,500 million, yet is set to be sold at £1,500.
The cost of privatisation - £5,500 million plus £850 million a year.
Clare pleaded to the party not to be distracted over what policy to adopt should Railtrack be privatised.
However, if it is dearer to run a fragmented railway, shouldn't Labour unify it again as a matter of urgency?
Local Economic Strategies
At a fringe meeting, John Prescott called for more freight to be carried by rail.
He highlighted the wish of the Toyota car factory in Derbyshire for a rail spur to ship cars by rail; especially with the new links to Europe. But the Tories have obstructed these requests.
End of the ceasefire
Prescott and Blunkett had to leave the meeting when news of the bomb in London and of the end of the ceasefire reached them.
The news shocked the meeting. Jack Dromey, chairing the meeting - and once known as a radical - said it as it was.
That when Major trashed Senator Mitchell's report, he threw away a real opportunity to move negotiations on.
Opinion: the bipartisanship arrangement between the Government and Opposition is bad for Britain and Ireland. Labour needed the freedom to criticise Major's actions; especially those driven by the desire keep the Unionists in the Government lobby.
Westminster Council
Frank Dobson opened the second day on his favourite subject, corruption within Westminster City Council.
The level of grant Westminster receive is a scandal. They are ranked as the 4th poorest District in Britain; whilst Barnsley is rated 313th.
3 reports due
The Labour Group Leader reported that 3 reports on Westminster Council are due in the next month.
Pendle Lib. Dems.
A delegate from Barnsley complained that there was too much focus on the Tories.
For instance, the local bus company was jointly owned by Barnsley & Pendle District Councils. But the Lib. Dems. are selling their half to Stagecoach.
Planning
The first seminar I attended was on planning. Existing legislation was largely based on that introduced by Labour in 1947. Planning then was seen as part of the social reforms Labour was introducing. It also presupposed that development was good, because after the war, development was gratefully received.
Points made included -
that the planning process is too legalistic;
that inquiries are threatening to ordinary members of the public;
that there's no room for third parties in the planning process;
that rules on planning gain ('let us build a supermarket and will provide some playing fields on the site') need clarifying and tightening;
that the planning system should be reformed to be non adversarial.
Out of town shopping
Keith Vaz had published a policy document and sought views. He explained most of the evidence (largely, it turns out, from the private sector) had said out of town developments create jobs.
He thought we had to do more to develop a policy expounding the advantages of town and local shopping centres.
All this was misinterpreted by delegates as an endorsement of out of town shopping centres. Joy.
Education
Harriet Harman's choice of a grammar school for her son still rankles and had over-shadowed the education session, much to David Blunkett's frustration.
Standards vs. money; or standards and money
Blunkett has sought to promote the issue of standards. Seeing the problems our inner-city schools face, I would emphasise -
inner-city comprehensives' poorer performance in league tables are largely dictated by the problems children from poor backgrounds suffer;
the new value-added analyses (that takes account of class and then shows how much a school has brought children on) is a fairer reflection of a schools performance;
money should be directed to schools in proportion to the needs, not in proportion to the number of pupils.
et Blunkett's challenge is sobering and examples are cited of heads turning schools around without extra resources.
As a result I've held a meeting with Notts.' Director of Education.
Homework centres away from school campus and motivating parents to take a more active part are both interesting ideas and difficult challenges.
The key appears to be mobilising parents; a difficult task.
Europe & Transport
I gave up on the EuroCities seminar - it's just a lobbying organisation - and joined practically the rest of the TSSA delegation in the transport seminar.
Kinnock's European green paper says lots of good things, but asks us to consider "fair pricing" - either more petrol duties or road pricing. Opinion: road pricing is a distraction. It will require heavy investment for a new form of tax collection.
Better to increase duties on petrol and spend on public transport, safer roads surfaces and paths, traffic calming and cycle routes. Use petrol tax instead of vehicle tax and use the Swansea office to track the ownership and maintenance of vehicles, to tackle crime and boost safety.
Brenda Hanks and Dave Merritt spoke in the general debate, which focused more on national issues.
City Mayors
Frank Dobson was popular in the morning; but when he was asked about Tony Blair's idea of elected City mayors (during a question and answer session), he struggled.
The idea is that a dynamic personality can come to symbolise a city, and thus make the city's case more effective against a national Government.
Labour Councillors detest the elitism of such a proposal, preferring the collective approach of Labour groups.
Still one person gave Frank a clap.
Graham Allen
Speaking to Graham earlier, he defended the American solution of representatives holding a separate executive to account.
Subsidiarity
Another delegate wanted how much power Labour ministers would give away.
es, powers would be devolved by Ministers said Nick Raynsford; but subsidiarity meant devolving power to the best practical level; and that meant Councils devolving power as well! [But don't mention Walsall!]
New County
This theme is being taken up by Notts County Council. The New County initiative is built on ideas of devolving powers to towns and parish councils; signalling that the often artificial Districts Councils could be the tier to remove.
General Election Strategy
Fraser Kemp (the General Election co-ordinator) highlighted the key points of Labour's message -
one nation;
a young country;
stakeholder economy;
new Labour, new Britain.
The presentation was impressive and reassuring.
Key seats strategy
This says focus on the seats that will give us a 47 seat majority. It needs a 6% swing; never previously achieved by post-war Labour.
Quibbles
ou'd expect nothing else from the leadership. But it's hard to persuade members to canvass elsewhere if their own wards are marginal; or if the polls suggest their constituency (such as Gedling and Broxtowe) could fall for the first time.
Phone canvassing
Lots of good stuff in this training seminar. Key lessons are that this can compliment door step canvassing and that people are more honest on the phone.
Final rally
John Edmonds
The secretary of the GMB, dropped his original speech to highlight the work of trade unionists in Northern Ireland who resist sectarianism within the workplace.
Tony Blair
A general speech touching on Labour's key messages and most areas of policy.
Warning
The speech was portrayed as a stern warning to party members about complacency.
One of the key weaknesses identified in the general election strategy was that you might be able to trust Blair; but could you trust the real face of Labour behind Blair.
And here he was, emphasising an alleged difference between the leadership and the party.
Key messages
He expects a dirty campaign, with 3 cabinet ministers employed to do nothing but attack the Labour Party. He hopes people will want to hear about the condition of Britain.
Our economy is too weak, society too divided, politics too remote.
For too long Britain had been run for an elite at the top.
Democracy
Mawhinny claims that "hereditary peers are essential to British democracy". Well take the Lords Brockett. The first bought his peerage from Lloyd George. The second was a Nazi sympathiser. The third voted for the Poll tax, spoke for it and called for law breakers to be sent to jail. He's since been found guilty of fraud.
"We'll find new ways of increasing women representation in Parliament."
New Labour, new Britain
Our values endure; the means of application change.
There's no future for Britain as a low tech., low skill, low wage economy.
Scott inquiry
Blair said there was three key issues
Were the guidelines changed on the sale of arms to Iraq?
Was Parliament and the public then misled about the change?
Was the Government in possession of information which showed beyond doubt the Matrix Churchill trial should not have proceeded?
The "Arms to Iraq" scandal is a symbol of how secretive Gov't has become. We will have a Freedom of Information Act.
Finale
Blair then almost recapped his speech in the last ten minutes, imploring delegates to imagine how it would be different under a Labour Govt. and asking us to share his vision.
I"What a great thing it would be if the vision could become a reality."Iˇ
Hard work
Blair had to work so hard at painting a vision of a Labour Government led by him.
Perhaps Councillors in particular have had so many warnings at how difficult it will be under the next Labour Government.
Perhaps the New Labour set up is perceived to deal with issues at only a superficial level.
Perhaps it was the acoustics.