Red Rose Forum

In addition to interfacing with delegates, following meetings and visiting stands, I met John Prescott when we discussed LI of which he is Hon President and a staunch supporter. I also met the UK delegation at their delegate’s meeting. Present were John Prescott, MPs, NEC members and their advisers, and International Manager Rachel Cowburn. Their discussions concerned decisions on voting on key issues such as energy on which the UK had played a key international role, and the European Constitution Treaty. At the end of the meeting, John Prescott emphasised the value of Labour International to the Labour Party. He said it was important that the legacy of Gillian Maliniak contributed towards our programme in support of LP values and policies. His intervention raised substantial interest among our delegates who asked me for information about LI and enquired how they could be of help to us. We shall brainstorm on that score and put forward proposals,.

One item would be to revive our efforts in 2002 to put forward LI candidates for election to national committees, on the strength of the LP administration’s view that we were entitled to do so as LI is the equivalent of a constituency despite some inevitable distinctions as we are global and not local. At the time this was blocked by the NEC, not on principled grounds but technical ones such as its omission from the Labour Party Rules.