If you know of other reports, on any side of the debate, please send them to us and we’ll add: theclarionmag@gmail.com
Ed Whitby, one of the Northern regional delegates to the NC. Ed has also published all the motions that the NC passed on his blog
Nick Wrack, one of the London region NC delegates
Michael Chessum, Momentum Steering Committee member
Darrall Cozens, one of the West Midlands regional NC delegates
Jill Mountford, one of the London regional NC delegates and Steering Committee member
Rebecca Allen, one of the Yorkshire and Humberside regional NC delegates
Will Baker, one of the South East regional NC delegates
Josie Runswick, one of the LGBT+ reps on the National Committee
Laura Murray, one of the women’s reps on the NC
Anita Downs, the other women’s rep, replying to Laura
A report from one of the South West NC delegates, Kevin Neil (from social media):
“…to offer reassurance to rank and file Momentum members and activists.
“I was one of the 61 NC delegates in Birmingham on Saturday… and the suggestion of a Trotskyist takeover is quite frankly untrue. Similarly the suggestion that Jill Mountford and others bullied younger delegates is nothing short of disgraceful and wholly without substance.
“For the record the meeting began with a proposal to elect a new Steering Committee and this was defeated — despite the initial SC only being ‘temporary’ and intended to be replaced in the summer.
“As someone who voted to keep the current SC my reasoning is purely pragmatic. We are holding a delegate national conference in a few weeks and no other major change is needed before then. Hardly a take over then if we changed nothing!
“We also agreed that delegates to our conference should be elected by local groups, that motions could be submitted by local groups, that policy and constitutional issues should be decided by delegate voting and that unless there was a… majority on these issues that a ballot of all paid up members would decide the matter. These are hardly the actions of centrist entryists.
“Saturday’s Momentum NC was an excellent exercise in democracy. We had keen and informed debate. We had closely contested votes. We had passion and commitment. However we left with a sense of unity and with an acceptance of the democratic process. Nobody got everything they wanted and that’s maybe the hallmark of real democracy.”
A report from one of the West Midlands regional delegates, Manda Scott, (from social media in response to Anita Downs):
“Thank you. I, too, attended my first meeting of the NC, having been elected as the third of the West Midlands reps, and I support your version of events wholeheartedly.
“I would add that in my opinion, when I attend a meeting, what is said in the room stays in the room while what’s learned in the room may leave. In my opinion, this the fundamental basis by which trust, co-operation and emotional intelligence may flourish – by which we may find the routes to agreement, and by which we may remember that we have more in common than that which divides us.
“We exist at a time of astonishing and potentially terminal crisis: the combination of accelerating inequality, climate chaos and the rise of automation leading to progressively fewer jobs is unprecedented in human history. To stand any chance at all of facing that, we need to find the routes to a resilient, progressive politics. We’ll only get there if we all work towards that as our primary aim.”
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