Conference

CONFERENCE MOTIONS IMHO conference motions are an area where we have NOT got the system right yet. In 2012 branches have put forward about 30 very good motions for debate in Birmingham Nearly all of those branches are in for a disappointment. That does not look like the right way to run the party.   Regional links A motion put up by multiple branches concerned regional elections to NEC. This topic was debated in 2011’s conference. The NEC solved the problem (of regional representation) in January 2012, so we don’t need to debate it again. In September 2012 I posted on the forum explaining how the solution will work.   MEP selection Another motion put up by multiple branches concerned how we shall select our MEP list. It will not be debated at conference. The NEC obviously wants to control the quality and to some extent behaviour of our MEPs. The NEC has the chance to eliminate unacceptable candidates by the Assessment System. After that it would seem that the members in the region will know the candidates best and be best placed to sequence the list. Plus, our constitution requires us to behave democratically. Plus, the local members are going to have to do the work, so we don’t want to upset them. It has been suggested that regional organisers have unfair exposure. I can see the problem, which remains unsolved.