The National Members Council met on Monday 25 July 2023. The meeting was chaired by Andy Hudd. It began with the report of the General Secretary who confirmed the successful integration of the Resist Movement into the Workers Party. The NMC welcomed comrades Sian Bloor and Chris Williamson into the Workers Party.
At the time of the meeting, in just two weeks we had 116 new members successfully enrolled in the party, but there was still much more work to do. The party thanks the recruitment team and those volunteers who make welcome calls to new members and appeals for more volunteers to help with the backlog.
The members council asks to party members, branches and teams to consider the following items:
– On August 6, 1.00pm-4.00pm the WPB are organising a demonstration on Whitehall in central London with No 2 Nato. Confirmed speakers are: David Clews, Richard Medhurst, Peter Ford, Chris Williamson, Patrick Henningsen, Niall McCrae, Tony Gosling. Russell Brand has been invited to address the meeting.
-Following a survey of 100 supporters on Telegram, and more than 250 on social media, a fair cross-section agree it would be good for the WPB to promote the idea of a referendum on Net Zero. A draft proposal was discussed by the NMC and unanimously agreed. The objectives will be to expose Labour and Tory vulnerabilities, encourage a proper two-sided discussion of the issues, and put the WPB at the forefront of the action, the better to pursue our goals on all fronts especially fairness for workers and halting imperialism.
-Writers team and media volunteers as well as general party members are asked to prioritise action, articles and support for this position.
-The WPB has published a statement on our attitude towards the trade union movement following criticism online of Unite the Union for the decisions taken at its Policy Conference to remain with Labour and the subsequent involvement it had in cancelling Asa Winstanley’s book launch in Bristol. Our position is clear: we do not back calls to leave the trade unions, we support our trade unions. It is their business if they wish to support Labour, it is our business to convince them it is a mistake.
-The Party will hold its Congress the weekend of 2 & 3 December.
More information will be circulated in the internal membership bulletin.
