Meeting held on Monday 15 August 2016
11 people were present and 2 gave their aplogies
Jeremy Corbyn will be speaking in Matlock and those of us who are able
to go to that will hopefully send us their comments. His popularity
suggests – or may claim to represent – a social movement for progressive
change. We thought this might be a good time to encourage a progressive
alliance across parties of the left, but were disappointed that, as yet,
Labour has shown little enthusiasm, despite offers from the Green Party.
It was noted that in one instance Plyd Cymru and Greens had fielded a
successful parliamentary candidate in Wales. Any movement there would be unlikely until the LP leadership issue has been resolved.
We noted that Derbyshire dales LP had overwhelmingly supported JC,
together with 80 per cent of other CLPs. We discussed the possibility of
selection, reselection and deselection of parliamentary candidates in
the light of the mismatch between PLP and the membership. After his
expected win of the leadership contest, we thought there would be a
period of chaos in the parliamentary LP, which could possibly stimulate
collaboration between left parties. Initially, this would be much more
feasible at the level of local councils and we, as a group, would want
to encourage this.
There was much lively conversation on the merits and demerits of JC as
well as criticism of the PLP. The extent of media hostility towards him
was remarkable. It seemed that his lack of polish and ambition were
attractive qualities though support of him was not unanimous amongst the
group. Discussion of the leadership contest aroused very strong
feelings, but our debate remained good humoured. Some of us saw the
present situation as indicating a hopeful possibility for change. Others
were more anxious about the future of the LP and progressive politics in
general.