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LICC Chair's Annual Report 2008
HAVE WE YOUR EMAIL? IF NOT SURE SEND IT TO ME TODAY timclapham@poczta.onet.pl
December 2008
ul Grzybowska 39 m 701
00-855 Warszawa
email: timclapham@poczta.onet.pl
mobile: 00 48 22 6 240 470
Skype: timclapham1
Dear Comrade
The last year has, in some ways, been amongst the most successful in Labour International's history with the last
four years work of your Committee culminating in the signing of the Paris Declaration in Paris on September 30th;
the overseas voting process being the subject of a multi-actored meeting at the Electoral Commission;
cooperation with the International Consortium of British Pensioners and the European Parliamentary Labour Party
resulting in a well funded and successful fringe event at this year's Party conference and the continued
participation of Labour International in the work of the PES at a European and a local level.
We have also circulated the first of what is hoped will be a regular LI email newsletter.
Rule Review and Ballot
The Party was not satisfied with the nomination process for the re-elections earlier in the year and
took the opportunity to review the rules of LICC at the same time. Our rules have now been brought in line with
those for Labour Party constituencies generally. A very amicable meeting was held at Headquarters with the
Chair of the NEC Dianne Hayter, the Chair of the Organisation Committee Mike Griffiths and senior members of
the organisational staff.
While there are a number of features that may not be appropriate for Labour international and may require
renegotiation by a future committee a number of key principles were agreed. Firstly it is accepted that
LI should have the full rights of a CLP including nomination to Party committees, that the Party itself will
accept international membership of the Party as a norm which will involve redesigning membership application
forms and software as well as reviewing any inappropriate Party regulations. There will also be a representative
nominated by the NEC (currently this is Melanie Onn Head of the Compliance Unit). These changes will need to be
progressed by the new committee. We believe that these changes will bring us into the mainstream of the Party and
enable them to take advantage of the considerable international experience of our members.
The result is that the ballot will now go ahead and enclosed with this Annual Report is a nomination request form
from the Labour Party. Please return any nominations by email, fax or letter directly to the Compliance Unit of the
Party who will be responsible for the ballot and declaring the results. Please remember if you have one years
membership at the close of nominations (Noon Monday 17th February) you may put yourself forward.
If you are not able for good reason to find a convenient nominator or seconder please contact me or any of the
officers and we will make the necessary arrangements for nomination and seconding. We are interested in the maximum
participation of you all in this process so please consider putting yourself forward.
Conference Delegate
We will also require a 2009 Conference delegate and if you would like to be considered contact any of the Committee
members to ensure your name goes forward in good time. LICC needs to appoint a delegate by June.
Membership and Branch Development
Membership and branch development continue to be a little disappointing. The French branch which was re-established
last year with help from the Maliniak Fund held a conference earlier this year in Paris which was also attended by
Paris PES Activists. Work is also progressing, albeit slowly, to establish a Central European Branch to cover
Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Austria, Germany and Poland. Other branches continue such as those in
Spain, Brussels, Geneva and New York. Members may establish informal groups as they see fit and we also have a
standard set of rules for Party branches for those of you who are able to develop a more structured group.
As at September membership stood at 589 (162 female 427 male) and unfortunately the membership decline of recent
years has continued though at a slower rate than previously This is clearly a result of many political and social
factors and I am sure that the new committee will treat reversing this decline as a matter of priority. All lapsed
members from the past year with emails addresses will shortly receive a note from me asking them to rejoin the Party.
On Line Presence
Our on line presence now consists of the Labour International Web site, the Red Rose Forum and the Party's Members
Net. Our very dedicated Web Master is looking at ways we can improve and coordinate that presence and he is also
looking for someone to support him with a view taking over in due course. If you can offer him any help I am sure
it would be appreciated, Contact John on johnjmackay@labourint.org.uk.
President and Parliamentary Representative
The President John Prescott has agreed to continue as our President and has indicated he wants to involve LI in
some of his international work. Our Parliamentary Representative Paddy Tipping MP chaired the meeting with the
British Pensioners at Conference and remains available to deal with any queries from our members. As part of the
Party review mentioned earlier we have asked that the Party consider making the Parliamentary representative a
permanent feature of LI's structure.
Studies and Information
Rachel Cowburn the Party's International Manager, who has been very helpful to us over the years for which
we are very grateful, left office in September. Before Rachel left she asked us to put more effort into supplying
international input for the Party. It will be necessary to contact both the correspondents network and the survey
respondents who indicated an interest in taking part in regular reviews to see how this can be achieved.
While the Partnership in Power process is one method for domestic CLP's to make a contribution we are but one of
569 constituencies in England and Wales so a more focused approach to input is desirable. Clearly if individuals
want to submit submissions and they are of a good standard it would be very appreciated. For example reports on
the emerging economies, on countries outside the EU or any specialised topic written from first hand experience
will find a ready audience.
The Committee
There was a full meeting of the committee in May at the meeting of the French branch in Paris and a further meeting
at Party Conference. Two members of the Committee resigned during the year Jeremy Millard our Secretary for
the past few years and Tania Rodgers who was appointed membership secretary in September 2007. The Conference
delegate this year was Frazer Clarke and his report can be found on the web site and will be in the December
Newsletter.
As at the date of this report the following are the officers with email for contact:
Tim Clapham: Chair Branch development and membership timclapham@poczta.onet.pl
Sylvia Moore: Deputy Chair, treasurer and political communication SSindamanoy@aol.com
Rob Navin: Correspondent network and electoral arrangements rob_navin@hotmail.com
John Mackay: Webmaster johnjmackay@labourint.org.uk
Steven Oates: Legal adviser oates@ilo.org
Treasurers Report
The continuing decline in membership and depreciation of the pound to the euro from c 1.5 in 2005 to 0.95 in 2008
are reducing our income. This was stressed in all Treasurer’s reports from 2004 and that consequently expenditure
exceeded income required to carry out the focused high level of LICC’s approved programme and campaigns.
Consequently, LI has become a respected and valued international political partner for the Labour Party. To
maintain that level and provide funding support to the Labour Party, the treasurer’s reports of 2007 and 2008
strongly advised the committee to find outside sources for funds in addition to income from a portion of LI
subscriptions in the current account and the Maliniak bequest lodged in the deposit account. Such steps will
require the attention of the next committee.
Total balance at the 31st August 2007 £17,768.57
Total balance at the 31st August 2008 £13,743.62
Accounts were checked and confirmed as correct by Tanweer Ali, Labour Party Membership Number A109210, finance
professional and Geneva Branch treasurer.
The Paris Declaration of 30th September
Over the last four years we have been very active at Conference, in the PES and in working with the Parti Socialiste
and as a result I was asked to pull together a delegation to represent British EU expatriates at a conference on the
rights of expatriates which included EU expatriates from around the world and from all EU countries. We were thus in
a significant position to influence the final paper and did so successfully to ensure that the final declaration
fully reflected the aspirations and needs of the expatriate community
It is the first significant statement of the rights of expatriates and is therefore an important milestone in
ensuring these rights are achieved. Copies of the declaration and the input of the British delegation can be
downloaded from the Labour International web site. The Paris Declaration is a campaigning document which it is up
to every branch and each member to promote. Copies are being sent to all relevant British Ministers and interested
politicians.
The Party of European Socialists
LI has been a significant supporter of PES Activists and has taken part in their conferences in Oporto in 2007, and
in Vienna and Madrid in 2008. Those of you with an email address are registered as PES Activists and you should now
been receiving regular information from them. Being a PES Activist enables us as individual members to be politically
engaged and to take part in political action.
It also enables us to meet and work with other European socialists. For example for the Paris Declaration meeting I
was able to stay with local PES activists, attend a Party meeting in a local arrondisemont and learn a lot more about
the working of the French PS which will be passed on to the Party. Other members of LI are taking an active part in
establishing the PES network as in Budapest and elsewhere. PES groups also exist or can be created outside Europe
wherever there is a group of European socialists.
The International Consortium of British Pensioners
Following contact with the International Consortium of British Pensioners we agreed to organise a fringe meeting at
Conference. The Consortium brings together various pensioners organisations outside the EU who are campaigning to
have the same rights as British expatriate pensioners have in the EU. That is an annual increase of some sort. At
present a pensioner may have retired to Australia or elsewhere outside the EU some twenty or more years ago and
despite having made the same contributions as his or her compatriots have their pensions frozen and will not receive
any pension increase. One must say that most of our fellow social democrats in the EU cannot understand how such a
situation can be justified and allowed to persist. This is a bread and butter issue which can provide us with a link
to the many British pensioners living outside the EU. A report on the meeting will be in the December newsletter and
on our website.
The European Parliamentary Labour Party
We have been in regular contact with the European Parliamentary Labour Party whose leader Gary Titley MEP has been
one of LI's strongest supporters. Brussels Branch in particular have always enjoyed a close working relationship
with the EPLP. This year the EPLP agreed to support our Pension Fringe event and Claude Moraes MEP was on the
panel. They also agreed a substantial financial contribution which is much appreciated. Our Deputy Chair Sylvia Moore
and their London office have agreed to consider other joint projects for the future.
The Electoral Commission
Over the past few years by correspondence and in person we have maintained contact with the Electoral Commission. It
is our view that the Commission should make a detailed study of the overseas voting issue in the context of the
democratic rights of EU citizens. We regard the whole issue as one involving a fundamental human right as no citizen
should be arbitrarily deprived of the basic right to vote because of where they chose to live. Resource constraints
however demand that the Commission see a level of political support for such a study and this still has to be achieved,
Nevertheless the Commission has been very supportive where they can. In November they organised a roundtable
discussion on the process of voting for overseas electors which brought together many actors involved in this
issue. It included the political parties, Royal Mail, electoral administrators, the MOD and the Foreign Office. I
attended for LI and we did achieve some success. In particular the Foreign Office accepted in principle that the
Consulates and Embassies needed to be involved in the process.
Further a code of practice governing the practice of local consulates in relation to political parties would be
drawn up. A major problem has been the difficulties perceived by British Consulate staff in responding to the
legitimate demands of political parties to be put in contact with expatriate communities. It is after all the
task of the political parties to give British citizens reasons to vote. Limited progress was made on loosening
the administrative obstacles though this will be the subject of further discussion. (Around 14,000 registered voters
in the context of around 5.5 million British expatriates suggests something is very wrong with the system!)
The Future
I will not be standing for re-election to the Committee but it has been a privilege to serve as your Chair over the
last few years. LI is now well positioned to move forward if the new committee follow up the work that has been done
and of course there is much more that can be done. Membership and branch development will be critical if LI is to
have a future but we also need to ensure that potential members a reason for, and pride in, being members of LI.
This does mean activity, campaigning and an active voice in relevant issues.
Unfortunately social democracy in Europe is not as strong as it should be considering the major crisis engendered by
the greed and selfishness of the financial sector. The European Election gives us an opportunity to remedy the
situation and either through our Party or working with PES Activists or by setting up PES Activist Groups each
one of us to can help to reverse the trend. The Left Manifesto agreed by PES members provides an effective point
of focus for campaigning on European issues and provides the springboard for a future Labour victory.
Yours fraternally
Tim Clapham
Chair
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Melanie Onn
Head Of Compliance Unit
The Labour Party
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H OHA
To: All Members of Labour International
Dear Colleague
You may be aware that the National Executive Committee (NEC) has reviewed the procedures under which Labour
International (LI) is operating following concerns raised with the NEC during the nomination process earlier
this year. We have revised the rules for LI following consultation with your officers and are now ready to
elect the Labour International Co-ordinating Committee (LICC) which is the executive body of LI.
The NEC has designated me as the officer responsible to oversee the activities of LI and I have been asked to conduct
the nomination and election process for the LICC.
The basic structure of the LICC is as follows:
• A six person committee, of which three must be women
• Elected for a two year term of office
• Maximum of two members to be elected from any one country
• Nomination by self-nomination, with a proposer and seconder (members of LI)
• 12 months membership requirement at point of nomination
• 150 word statement lodged to support nomination
I am formally calling for nominations to LICC, and you can lodge this with me by confirming your self-nomination and
sending a 150 word statement to me. You can send it to me by email at:
melanie_onn@new.labour.org.uk> or by post
to the London HQ as above. Your proposer and seconder can also be confirmed by email or post. If for good reason
you do not have access to a nominator and seconder you may still put your name forward subject to meeting the
other requirements as LICC will dind a nominator or seconder. The deadline for nominations is Noon on Monday
17th February.
The ballot will be conducted by a single round transferable vote ie you will be asked to place the nominees in order
of preference, for example from 1 to 8 should there be eight nominees. It is anticipated the ballot will be sent out
early February and will have a deadline for return of ballot papers during early March. We would then be in a
position for the six newly elected LICC members to have a meeting, possibly by telephone conference, to elect
their four officers which are Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary & Treasurer. The two year term of office for the LICC
would run from 2009 until 2011.
Can I thank the existing officers for their co-operation during the NEC review and the arrangements for the election
of the LICC.
Yours sincerely
Melanie Onn
Head of Compliance Unit
