Colleagues,

Please be advised that the Eastern Region will be hosting a Regional Political School at Alvescot Lodge over the weekend of the
1st – 3rd December 2006.

Places at the school will be offered as a priority to delegates from the Eastern Region, hopefully we will be able to completely fill the course. However if we do not manage to fill the course then the school will be opened up to delegates from the South East & London Regions.

The school will provide a two day Political Training Course, for ease of reference I have broken it down into sections.


Introductions & getting to ‘know you’
Presentation (Gary Heather) NEC member
History of the political Involvement and activities of the CWU, with tasks
Structure and Process (Activity)
Political Levy
Labour Party Links
Questions for the panel (regarding activities undertaken)
Questions to the panel (debate on pros and cons of affiliation/disaffiliation, political levy, etc)
Action Planning
Review and evaluation of the course

The region will be piloting the course and the above agenda will have activities added to it, for example lobbying of parliament, etc. We will be required to report back on the course regarding what was good, Bad or indifferent, what can be added or taken out to ensure that future courses are interesting and successful. Branch delegate’s feedback will be essential.

Nick Nichols will be overseeing the course, speakers will include Gary Heather, Beth Kelly MP (EU Parliamentary Panel & Local Councillor ) and Jeannie Drake DGS. We are in process of securing speakers and further material for the course, the above list is by no means exhaustive and is subject to change/confirmation.

As the Eastern Region has delegation priority can Branches please circulate this information to their respective political officers/interested parties to secure a delegate to attend the weekend political school.

Can Branches please ensure they have their nominations in place by Wednesday 8th November 2006.

Please can you respond directly to me and we will secure your Branch nomination on the above course?

Kind regards

Paul

Paul Moffat
Eastern Region Secretary
Communication Workers Union

31-33 Brunel Business Centre
The Concourse, Bletchley
Milton Keynes
MK2 2ES

Tel: 01908-632922
Fax: 01908-639622
Mobile-Email: easternregion@cwu.org
url:http://www.cwu-eastern.org

Labour Party Leadership (The Dream Team)

Alan Johnson New leader

Peter Hain New deputy leader


Brown should be put to pasture!

website

I am hoping to get a branch website underway soon and i am thinking of having a discussion forum. Are there any labour party websites with a discussion forum out there that anyone knows of.

When blair goes

Tony Blair said he intends to serve a full third term, so why all the obsession of when he will go, surley it will be late 2009/ early 2010 depending on how long these things take. I have only been in the party for just over a year so dont really know the sort of time scale involved in electing a new leader.

eynesbury ward postal vote result

The vote were counted this morning and its very close between the three canidates I wonder if this will be reflected in the votes cast at the polling stations ? the exact figures arent known but evidently these things can be worked out.

should i ?

There is a byelection in the ward i live in for the town council, the local labour party would like me to stand. Really dont know one way or the other if to stand.

Any advice?

Trade union link with the labour party & state funding of political partys

Are Blarites hijacking the issue of State funding and using it to their own ends to sever the link between the party and its affiliated unions?

If they don't like the link and the influence then they should leave the party and set up on their own instead of trying to hijack the labour party.

The sooner Blair and his supporters go the better!

Even if the link was served it may prove to be worthless as many trade unionists are also labour councilors/members so the trade union influence would live on even if the finacial backing was replaced by state funding.

How far would state funding go anyway, my own branch of the labour party has alrerady benefited from the link as I have secured a £100 donation to setting up a branch website and this is in a area of Tory domination with Lib Dems the opposition which shows the value of the trade union link.

dave the chameleon (party political broadcast)

Well, Tony has told us why we shouldn't vote for my cameron's tory party but not why we should vote Labour. Its all very well putting people off the Tory party but unless we try and turn them on the labour party who knows were their vote will go?

I have never liked political parties telling me why i shouldn't vote for their rivals!

Up until last year i was a floating voter since i became old enough to vote.

I am a grown man and i will make my own mind up based on what all the parties have done so far, what they are going to do and why they are going to do it and how they are going to do it.

Political parties should concentrate on selling their policies rather than lecturing as to why we shouldn't vote for their rivals.

Am I going soft or making a valid point? Surely to combat political apathy we need to put out sensible intelligent view points and polices rather than that stupid (but funny) broadcast last night.

Surely all the money spent and being spent on dave the chameleon broadcasts would have been better off as a short film on how flagship labour councils are doing so the people can see tangible benefits to voting labour at local level.

Sadly i believe that last nights broadcast will do absolutely nothing to sway floating voters to vote labour and may even hinder the chances of the labour party in tory/lib dem strong holds.