End the choice between all or nothing

Conference Policy Reports and Draft reports: Voting in Parts

Proposed Draft Constitutional Amendment

The Labour Party Rule Book 2003, Section A, Chapter 3 Party Conference

Subsection 3C Procedural rules for party conference

Paragraph 3C2.7 reads as follows:

1 Conference shall consider policy reports and

2 draft reports as part of the rolling programme,

3 the NPF report, the NEC annual report, NEC

4 statements and development strategy,

5 constitutional amendments and motions on

6 contemporary or emergency issues submitted

7 and accepted. It shall not consider any business

8 unless recommended by the NEC and CAC. At

9 any special session of party conference, the

10 NEC shall determine the business to be

11 conducted.

Amendment

Line 4: End the sentence after “strategy.” and insert: “Conference has the right to refer back part of any policy document without rejecting the policy document as a whole. Conference shall also consider”

Supporting Arguments

Conference has always had the right to refer back any section of the NEC Report. But the platform has always refused to extend this right to NEC policy statements (except in 1974 when Tony Benn chaired the Conference). When Partnership in Power was introduced in 1997 delegates were led to believe that National Policy Forum reports would be voted on in parts if Conference so wished. But in practice this has not happened. Conference has to vote for the whole document on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. This means that documents are always passed, although delegates may be unhappy with one or more particular section. This proposed rule would allow Conference to have a separate vote on any part of a policy document. It is a simple democratic procedure that is long overdue.

Closing date for constitutional amendments: 11 June