One of the issues at at stake is the party policy on freedom of movement. We reported how on the very last day of the Labour Party conference party members unanimously voted on a motion reversing previous Labour pronouncements that freedom of movement should end on Brexit Day.
The motion called for freedom of movement to be defended and extended and also called for the closure of immigration detention centres. (You can read the full motion here.)
The motion garnered much praise from Labour Party members and beyond, (though not the Daily Telegraph that carried a predictable and misleading headline the next day).
Yet criticism has not just come from the right wing press. In an intervention ahead of Saturday’s meeting where such policies will be ironed out. Len McCluskey, head of Unite, Britain’s biggest union told The Guardian that: “it’s wrong in my view to have any greater free movement of labour unless you get stricter labour market regulation.”
Jeremy Corbyn declined to be drawn on his response to the influential union boss’s intervention. “We’re going to have our clause V meeting at the weekend and no doubt that issue is going to be discussed there,” said the Labour Party leader.
Yet McCluskey’s interview in the Guardian provoked outrage from many on the left.
Alena Ivanova, from the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, told The Guardian: “A Romanian care worker and a British bus driver have more in common with each other than they do with their boss. That is the basis of the trade union movement. Len MCluskey’s job is to fight for their full rights, for decent pay and the right not to be deported and harassed by the state because of their immigration status.”
Karen Doyle of Movement for Justice told The London Economic: “McCluskey’s comments show the only reason for ending free movement is to appease racist anti-immigrant prejudice – the Tories know it too, that’s why they’re pulling out all the usual racist immigrant bashing this week. It’s time for the Labour Party to stand up for immigrant communities with hard policy, not empty words.”
Activists keen that September’s unanimous conference motion makes it into the manifesto and that Labour Party member’s voices aren’t ignored have written this open letter which you can sign below.
Immigrant rights and anti-racism campaigners Movement for Justice will be also lobbying the meeting on Saturday morning from 8.30AM. (For more details follow @FollowMFJ)
This election is about the future direction of our society
Dear Comrades,
This year’s Labour Party conference ended on a high note of political aspiration. On 25thSeptember, delegate after delegate spoke in enthusiastic support of Composite 20: Free movement, equality and rights for migrants are socialist values and benefit us all. Those delegates spoke from their own experience and the experience of their black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, the communities that are battling against racist Home Office policies and the increasing racism and anti-immigrant prejudice that has dominated the campaign for Brexit. They spoke as immigrants, as the children and partners of immigrants, and as Labour councillors and activists. Nobody spoke against the motion.
At the end of the debate Composite 20 was passed unanimously, to loud acclaim.
That vote sent out a message of struggle and hope against the threat of a government led by Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Dominic Raab and Priti Patel.
With that vote, conference delegates presented you with a huge opportunity to change the dangerous direction in which this country and its political system are moving. If you put the inspiring programme of equality set out in Composite 20 at the heart of Labour’s election campaign, you will inspire millions.
It will represent a decisive break with the disastrous racist policy that has been followed by politicians of ALL the main parties for decades – the policy of scapegoating immigrants for the social problems created by government policies and capitalist greed.
There are very good reasons why the great majority of black, Asian, Muslim and other minority ethnic voters, youth and students, and significantly more women than men are opposed to Brexit – because it is racist and reactionary and driven by anti-immigrant prejudice.
We are experiencing its impact and we will not be silenced while our rights and futures are destroyed by the Brexiteers’ backward-looking, chauvinist project.
You, the Labour Party and trade union leadership, cannot stay silent on this. You must listen to our voices.
On Saturday you will gather to finalise the Manifesto for the forthcoming election, in the ‘Clause V meeting.’ It is imperative that you include the policies in Composite 20. A clear commitment to fight for those policies can only benefit Labour in this election campaign and on 12thDecember.
Composite 20 called for Labour to include the following 10 points in the Manifesto:
These are the policies of hope, and Labour is nothing if can’t inspire real hope.
They are the policies for Britain to move forward as a progressive, democratic society that is integrated on the basis of equality for all. For nearly a decade, British governments have ratcheted up divide-and-rule, anti-immigrant policies, while imposing poverty and insecurity on working class and struggling middle class people of all races. The Tories and the Far Right are using Brexit to spread this racist poison. They must be stopped.
You can’t afford the illusion that Labour will unite ‘Leavers’ and ‘Remainers’ and win this election just by focussing on the NHS, public housing, Universal Credit, privatisation, the minimum wage etc, while saying as little as possible about Brexit or being neutral on it. Such a policy means being evasive, neutral and inactive on the continuing rise of racism and hostility to immigrants. It means ignoring the voices and the experience of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, immigrants and youth
We are traditional Labour supporters if anyone is, and we will not be ignored, side-lined and taken for granted in order to appease the misplaced prejudices that Johnson and the Tories have spent their whole political careers encouraging. We will keep fighting for the progressive demands of Composite 20, and we will fight to win.
Moreover, Labour can’t win unless it challenges those divisive prejudices. The opinion polls make that clear.
When asked what they regard as the most important issue in the election, most people put Brexit at the top of the list, especially among those who are not already planning to vote Labour. The NHS, the economy etc come much lower down the list of priorities. This is not surprising. At times of profound crisis – and Britain is going through its biggest peace-time crisis for a century – political direction and action become the decisive issue. It subsumes and determines the economic and social policies. It becomes a question, as many Labour supporters are saying, of what kind of country do we want this to be.
In reality, Labour will get more respect from the majority of Leave voters if you make it clear that you are taking action based on Composite 20, than you ever will by avoiding the very issues that are dividing the country. For decades, politicians of ALL the main parties have told voters that immigration is a threat. There are millions of people in impoverished, working class and struggling middle class (and predominantly white) communities that voted ‘Leave,’ who are not ideologically tied to the Far Right, and they deserve some political honesty and leadership from the Labour Party.
When you put the policies of Composite 20 at the heart of the election campaign you will send out a direct political challenge to everything the Tories and the Far Right stand for, you will inspire millions and multiply the numbers and commitment of Labour campaigners. You will encourage thousands of Labour Party members and voters to engage in a debate with their Leave voting friends, family members, neighbours and co-workers – tens of thousands of conversations that can change minds.
The stakes in this election are high. A victory for Johnson will not ‘get Brexit sorted,’ but it will establish the most reactionary British government since World War Two. It will mean an increase in racism, a deepening of the hostile environment for immigrants, greater repression, insecurity and inequality, and a bonfire of workers rights and human rights, along with tax cuts for the rich. The outcome of this election will shape the future direction of our society for years and decades to come.
Labour must act boldly and without equivocation on the political issues of racism and immigration that have dominated discussion on Brexit, just as much as when you talk about the economy, public services or housing.
We urge you to seize the opportunity that the Labour conference provided you with when it unanimously backed Composite 20.
Movement for Justice
(Movement for Justice is an immigrants’ rights organisation. You can find out more about MFJ here.)
READ MORE: Why the best news from the Labour Party conference was a vote for free movement
EU votes to let Brits enjoy visa-free travel even in no-deal Brexit
