by Chris McLaughlin
A pirate Labour website has been opened in defiance of party officials’ refusal to allow members full access to the policy consultation process in the lead up to the writing of the next general election manifesto.
The policy “depository” has been launched by the campaign group Save the Labour Party with the support of Compass Youth and the unofficial LabourHome website as an open and transparent service.
It is the first attempt to run a full electronic membership consultation process through unofficial lines but has been set up within the Labour Party’s own official website.
Peter Kenyon, of Save the Labour Party, originally offered the idea to Gordon Brown but party chair Dianne Hayter rejected the full involvement of members.
The party is currently consulting and taking constituency party amendments on six documents which, after discussion at the National Policy Forum and annual conference, will form the election manifesto.
But individual party members are not being allowed to see or comment on all the amendments as they are delivered to the party headquarters.
The pirate site rectifies this. Mr Kenyon said the move was in the spirit of a speech Mr Brown made in Scotland earlier this month when he called praised the internet as a way of enabling “millions of us to link up, debate and organise…to shape the way we run our world”.
Mr Kenyon said: “This is clearly a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Dianne should reach the PM’s speech and think about whether she is going along with his fine words.”
Further details are available from peter.g.kenyon@btinter net.com
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