Safety first

Much to the dismay of the security staff at Labour Party Conference, like thousands of other women, I carry a personal alarm in my handbag. Discovered as I entered the secure zone, said illegal item had to be reported to the supervisor and then confiscated. I tried to reason that should I want to interrupt a speech in the main hall I could do so just as effectively shouting at the top of my lungs but they remained unconvinced and the alarm was removed from my possession. Irritating but I could understand where they were coming from.

However, what was more irritating was when I went to collect my alarm before going home. After a lengthy search the alarm was produced but rather than trusting that I was in fact leaving the complex and heading home, I had to be escorted out of the secure zone and my alarm was only returned once I had passed through the security barriers. They wouldn’t even trust me to with it as I went through the gate, rather they had to squeeze it through the barrier once I had exited, ensuring me and my illicit alarm were not reunited until firmly evicted.

If I was a braver individual I would have tugged the cord and flung the shrieking alarm (which for male readers who may be unfamiliar with how these things work, once triggered can’t be silenced) back into the secure zone. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) the adult in me prevailed and realising the security incident and ensuing lifetime ban from Conference that would have resulted from my act of rebellion, I let the opportunity for revenge pass.

All the same, a woman should not be made to feel like a criminal for carrying a personal alarm, perhaps something Conference organisers could remember for next year?

We need common sense not ideology in education

In this guest post, Young Fabian Martin Edobor challenges the Tories’ flagship schools policy.

Official figures have revealed that only 153 schools have actually signed up to Michael Gove’s academy plan, despite the Education Secretary claiming last month that 1,114 schools across England had applied to become academies.

Despite the clear lack of support, Gove used emergency parliamentary procedures to rush through the Academies Bill during the final days before Parliament broke up for recess. MPs from both the Labour and Conservative parties have attacked Gove for using these measures, as the Bill has not yet been fully scrutinised. Due to the small number of schools which have actually applied to become academies, Michael Gove should not have used emergency procedures. Instead this Bill should have been, reviewed and scrutinised in parliament.

Ed Balls, the Shadow Education Secretary, has demanded an explanation from Gove on why he misleadingly claimed that over 1,000 schools had applied for the academies programme. It is time for Gove to apologise to Parliament for his misleading figures.

The government is rushing through educational reform, which has not been properly thought out. Gove is trying to introduce a free market model of education in a time of austerity. Clearly ideology is overriding commonsense.

My speech to conference

Reflecting on my experience as Cheltenham’s Parliamentary Candidate at the last General Election I wrote this speech to be delivered on the conference floor.

James Green. I was Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate in Cheltenham at the last election.

There are thousands of people in Cheltenham right now who feel let down.

The Liberal Democrats won the seat on the back Labour supporters who voted tactically to keep the Tories out. Throughout the campaign they pitched themselves as the only real left wing opposition to the Conservatives in the town.

Conference, how times have changed.

The Liberals are now the face of coalition cuts that will see departmental budgets reduced by 25%, of a VAT rise that will hit the poorest hardest, and, most fundamentally of all, of a Tory ideological drive to shrink the state.

We have become the only opposition in Cheltenham and across the country. The only home for those who oppose the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

In opposing of course we must expose the Liberals. And that could pay dividends.

At the General Election I held my deposit by 0.1% of the vote but I’m confident that if there was a by-election today Labour would win Cheltenham by a landslide.

But on a serious note, exposing the Liberals will never be enough in itself. It’s vital that we avoid falling into the trap of attacking the Lib Dems while allowing Cameron to rise above the fray.

Conference, we must focus our fire on the driving force of this coalition, the Tories, and on exposing the impact of their regressive and ideologically driven cuts.

But at the same time our history tells us that we can’t rely on the unpopularity of the government alone to win. The public demand and deserve an alternative progressive vision for the country.

This must be credible.

Our approach to tackling the deficit will be seen by the public as the test of our credibility. Of course we should oppose cuts where they are wrong but we must face up to the structural issues within the UK economy which come not only from the bank bailout but also from an ageing population.

It must be ideological.

Conference, we know that that Tories want to shrink the state but you can’t fight ideology with policy alone. We must offer the public a powerful set of ideas rooted in the political and economic realities of today.

And finally it must be authentic.

Nye Bevan put it best when he said, “the first duty of the progressive representative is to reflect the views of those he represents authentically. Because then people know that you are seeking to represent them because they are your inspiration.”

Conference, the quality of life, the public services, the support offered to those who inspired us all to get involved in politics are under threat.

I’m relishing the fightback.

James Green, Anticipations Editor and former Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham