The result of the battle to defend Party democracy is by no means a forgone conclusion. The Millbank Tendency is meeting stiff resistance and some of its positions are being overrun. Labour into Power (LiP) has not been going according to plan in the unions. While USDAW and the UNISON Affiliated Political Fund rolled over, the Communications Workers Union voted by 95% to reject Labour into Power.
The MSF conference appears to have ended up voting both ways and it will be up to the delegation to sort it out. Meanwhile, dele-gates at the GMB conference received a statement from their national executive explaining that there was "a crisis of accountability" inherent in the Labour into Power proposals and that the GMBU demanded the right for both unions and CLPs to put motions to Labour Party Conference. The motivation behind the statement, which was passed unanimously after all other motions were withdrawn, was that three regions had supported resolutions to either reject or defer Labour into Power. There was a real chance that the GMB leadership might lose the vote.
Undoubtedly there is still space for the trade union leaderships to wriggle out of commitments. For example all bets could be called off by the late introduction of yet another new set of proposals by Blair or by way of constitutional amendments.
The Greater London Labour Party has rejected Labour into Power. What happens now in the CLPs will be crucial. Many CLPs have been persuaded by different sets of arguments to vote against the proposals. Some believe that the decision should be deferred because there has not been enough time for debate. Others want to defend the right of CLPs to send motions to Conference. Some will vote against the whole package. Should we argue for deferral or rejection? I think that activists across the country must judge which resolution will win locally to put a spoke in the wheels of the Millbank Tendency.
When the Conference Resolutions Book is published in July it is by no means certain that there will be a majority of CLPs in favour of Labour into Power. Votes to defend Party democracy will only count if Conference delegates with a "defer" position are lobbied effectively in the run up to Conference to (a) stick by their own resolution, and (b) if that is lost then to vote for a resolution which will significantly block a part of the reform (e.g. the right of CLPs to send resolutions for voting to Conference or to vote against Labour into Power as a whole).
Comrades must work to ensure that Conference delegates are strong enough not to buckle under the exhortation of senior MPs at the new pre-Conference regional meetings where Party managers twist arms and appeal to delegates to "trust Tony". Last year at one such meeting Harriet Harman advised new delegates that one motion should be rejected because it was not Party policy! Labour into Power is certainly not a Labour policy.