Labour activists from across the South West heard a stirring call to action at the regional policy conference in Exeter. Shadow Cabinet member Jan Royall called for a “narrative of hope and vision” in what she said would be most important election campaign since 1945.
Jan – the Labour leader in the House of Lords – was speaking to delegates who had gathered to discuss Labour’s policy agenda for next year’s General Election. She said people were feeling insecure, and UKIP were encouraging a politics of fear. Labour should offer hope. She said housing and the NHS should be high on Labour’s agenda.
Jan told the conference:”The stakes are really high. Unless we win next year, our country is going to be torn apart. The election is ours to win. We must offer policies that are big, bold and radical.”
Also at the conference was Labour’s newly elected MEP, Clare Moody. She thanked Labour members who had worked hard to secure her election and she would be working hard in Brussels and Strasbourg to bring investment and jobs to the South West.
The main business of the conference took place in meetings where delegates discussed the nitty gritty of Party policy, on everything from nuclear weapons to rural postal services.
Kathy Pearce of Bridgwater and West Somerset CLP said: “It was good to get together with members of all ages from across the south west. There was huge support for the draft proposal to support councils who want to build more social homes, and for a call for a future Labour government to give councils the power to acquire unused buildings and land for building new homes for local needs.
The current fragmentation of the education system received a massive thumbs down, with delegates calling on the next Labour government to reinstate local accountability through local authorities.”