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YF International: Day 4 SSU Congress

August 11, 2015
Contact: Martin Edobor
07865398240

Day 4 - the final day fo the SSU congress involved a speech by Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden in which he outlined his vision for a stronger more social democratic Sweden. The delegates met with the Prime Minister, where a discussion took place regarding current Swedish domestic and foreign policy issues.

Delegates also held meeting with Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Energy and Mikael Damberg minister for Enterprise. 

The Young Fabians wish to thank Darina Agha, SSU International Secretary and Ellinor Eriksson, former President of SSU for being great host.  The Young Fabians and SSU have a special bond and through co-operation we can make the world a better place. We look forward to returning to Sweden in the near future. 


YF International: Day 3 SSU Congress

August 11, 2015
Contact: Martin Edobor
07865398240

On day 3 of the SSU Congress delegates heard a speech from Felipe Jeldres, President of IUSY. Following this delegates viewed presentation by Spas Karimov, YES vice-president providing information about the Young European Socialist recent summer camp.

Delegates met with Jytte Guteland, Member of European Parliament, and discussed the boat migrant issue facing the EU and how best to approach the humanitarian crisis.

Delegates gained insight into the SSU internal party democracy as they observed the election of the new SSU President and General-Secretary. Later on in the evening delegates attended the congress formal dinner.


YF International: Day 2 SSU Congress

August 11, 2015
Contact: Martin Edobor
07865398240

Delegates began the day listening to a rousing speech by Ellinor Eriksson, President of SSU and a good friend of the Young Fabians. This was ollowed by a meeting with Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, President of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO in Sweden. During the meeting with Thorwaldsson, argued for a strong trade union movement stating clearly that "A strong trade union movement leads to a better society" citing Swedens history of achieving full employment.

Delegates also took part in an international seminar on the conflict in Kobane, Kurdish parts of Syria and watched a movie about the topic. 
Gabriel Wikström, former SSU President and Minister for Health Care, Public Health and Sport delivered a speech to the SSU Congress and met with delegates after to discuss public health policy.

YF International: Day 1 SSU Congress

August 11, 2015
Contact: Martin Edobor
07865398240

On day one of the SSU congress Young Fabian delegates were taken on a tour of the Swedish Parliament, Sveriges Riksdag with the young Swedish Social Democratic MPs Alexandra Völker. Followed by a tour of the old city in Stockholm.

In the afternoon delegates met with Jens Orback, Secretary General of the Palme International Centre and Andrine Winther, International Secretary of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. At these meeting the legacy of Olof Palme was discussed, in addition to SDP international development priorities. Delegates were then taken to Västerås, where the SSU Congress is being held.

Later in the evening delegates met with Laila Naraghi, Political Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Topics covered during the meeting included Swedens foreign policy priorities over the next parliament and the government's focus on implementing a Feminist foreign policy. 


Young Fabians take the red pill...

August 05, 2015
Contact: Jessica Toale
07966965959

Launch of the Young Fabians Future of the Labour Party Listening Campaign

Jessica Toale & Alvin Carpio

Last Wednesday Central Working Whitechapel hosted more than 50 Young Fabians members in what will kick off a summer of events aimed at harnessing the views of young people on what the Labour Party should be doing to re-invigorate itself in preparation for the 2020 General Election. 

This listening campaign will see people all over the country organise events in their local area to discuss what the Party needs to do in 2020, what type of leader we need and what activists and organisers should be doing. These views will be fed directly into Margaret Beckett’s Taskforce and Jon Cruddas’ investigation about what went wrong in 2015.

The event opened with 5 TED-style talks challenging attendees to think about the shape of the future and how to reach out to people beyond the usual suspects:

  • Alvin Carpio, co-organiser of the project, outlined some of the biggest issues facing the UK and, in reference to The Matrix, challenged attendees to take the red pill and get out of our bubble and work with citizens across the UK to transform the Labour Party.
  • Seema Malhotra MP implored attendees to think about the story of the future and what the challenges facing young people today will mean for policy development. She challenged us to speak truth to power.
  • Bailie Aaron, a young social entrepreneur who set up Spark Inside, asked attendees to get out and speak to people who are marginalised from the political process. She highlighted the younger generation’s openness and “we-thinking” propensity, posing that we need to make politics more engaging, participatory, inclusive and diverse.
  • Sam Gurney from the TUC outlined a trade union perspective on the future of the Party and the need to reach out to young people. He also called for a more coherent positive vision for the country, a leader who can articulate this vision across the country and the need to engage across communities.
  • Finally, local MP Rushanara Ali spoke about the importance with which she holds the need to nurture talent and invest in young people and the future. She asked attendees to think about what the economy and society would look like in the future and how we can build collective leadership to move the Party forward.

 The second half of the event split attendees into small breakout groups, led by Sarah Church with facilitators Sarah Webster, Sophia Morrell, Louie Woodall and Christos Gatsios. Participants were encouraged to discuss their thoughts around the key questions of the event. Key themes that emerged from the views of members include:

  • Reaching out beyond the base – The Party needs to reach out, and also be comfortable reaching out, to people who aren’t our traditional supporters – this includes swing voters, Tories, different geographical areas and work places. This should include campaigning in non-Labour areas on issues which are key to the Party in order to be seen to be making a difference at local level and giving people a reason to vote Labour.
  • Thinking differently and seeking inspiration from new places –  We need to take time to evaluate where our Party stands, rethink what we do, and take time to build an electable offer come 2020. We should look for great ideas inside the Party from members and activists, but we should also engage with other people we wouldn't usually think of. We should look to international cases of parties reforming themselves, to teams in sports, pop culture, business practices, and new and challenging political philosophers.
  • Leadership & diversity– We need a leader who is credible and relatable, but more importantly we need to get people from different backgrounds into politics. This means nurturing talent at all levels and as Rushanara challenged in her opening remarks, building collective leadership across the Party, not just at the top.
  • Communication – We need a clearer narrative on what we stand for and where we are going to frame good policies. We need to get people enthused by what the Party stands for and not just reiterate hackneyed lines and themes. We need to give people a reason to vote Labour, and we need to regain credibility on the economy.  
  • Devolution of Politics – We need to ensure we devolve more power to local communities, and ensure we are not perpetuating centralised machine politics. This would include ensuring that issues that are flagged at local level are fed through to national policy making mechanism. We need to be an active part of the community, asking people how we can help and actively making a difference.
  • Technology – People engage and communicate in different ways now than in the past and this will continue to evolve rapidly. We need to use technology to better gather data and engage the 16-24 year old demographic. 
  • Do stuff in Opposition – We need a positive set of policies and actions, rather than just being oppositional. Labour need to campaign and community organise in Opposition and be seen to be making a difference at local level.  

 This was just the beginning of the conversation. The debate over the future of the Party will continue over the summer and culminate in a comprehensive package of views from our members. If you would like to get further involved and share your views:

For more information or any questions email Alvin Carpio [email protected] or Jessica Toale [email protected]k


Young Fabians take the red pill...

August 03, 2015

Launch of the Young Fabians Future of the Labour Party Listening Campaign

Jessica Toale & Alvin Carpio

Last Wednesday Central Working Whitechapel hosted more than 50 Young Fabians members in what will kick off a summer of events aimed at harnessing the views of young people on what the Labour Party should be doing to re-invigorate itself in preparation for the 2020 General Election. 

This listening campaign will see people all over the country organise events in their local area to discuss what the Party needs to do in 2020, what type of leader we need and what activists and organisers should be doing. These views will be fed directly into Margaret Beckett’s Taskforce and Jon Cruddas’ investigation about what went wrong in 2015.

The event opened with 5 TED-style talks challenging attendees to think about the shape of the future and how to reach out to people beyond the usual suspects:

  • Alvin Carpio, co-organiser of the project, outlined some of the biggest issues facing the UK and, in reference to The Matrix, challenged attendees to take the red pill and get out of our bubble and work with citizens across the UK to transform the Labour Party.
  • Seema Malhotra MP implored attendees to think about the story of the future and what the challenges facing young people today will mean for policy development. She challenged us to speak truth to power.
  • Bailie Aaron, a young social entrepreneur who set up Spark Inside, asked attendees to get out and speak to people who are marginalised from the political process. She highlighted the younger generation’s openness and “we-thinking” propensity, posing that we need to make politics more engaging, participatory, inclusive and diverse.
  • Sam Gurney from the TUC outlined a trade union perspective on the future of the Party and the need to reach out to young people. He also called for a more coherent positive vision for the country, a leader who can articulate this vision across the country and the need to engage across communities.
  • Finally, local MP Rushanara Ali spoke about the importance with which she holds the need to nurture talent and invest in young people and the future. She asked attendees to think about what the economy and society would look like in the future and how we can build collective leadership to move the Party forward.

 The second half of the event split attendees into small breakout groups, led by Sarah Church with facilitators Sarah Webster, Sophia Morrell, Louie Woodall and Christos Gatsios. Participants were encouraged to discuss their thoughts around the key questions of the event. Key themes that emerged from the views of members include:

  • Reaching out beyond the base – The Party needs to reach out, and also be comfortable reaching out, to people who aren’t our traditional supporters – this includes swing voters, Tories, different geographical areas and work places. This should include campaigning in non-Labour areas on issues which are key to the Party in order to be seen to be making a difference at local level and giving people a reason to vote Labour.
  • Thinking differently and seeking inspiration from new places –  We need to take time to evaluate where our Party stands, rethink what we do, and take time to build an electable offer come 2020. We should look for great ideas inside the Party from members and activists, but we should also engage with other people we wouldn't usually think of. We should look to international cases of parties reforming themselves, to teams in sports, pop culture, business practices, and new and challenging political philosophers.
  • Leadership & diversity– We need a leader who is credible and relatable, but more importantly we need to get people from different backgrounds into politics. This means nurturing talent at all levels and as Rushanara challenged in her opening remarks, building collective leadership across the Party, not just at the top.
  • Communication – We need a clearer narrative on what we stand for and where we are going to frame good policies. We need to get people enthused by what the Party stands for and not just reiterate hackneyed lines and themes. We need to give people a reason to vote Labour, and we need to regain credibility on the economy.  
  • Devolution of Politics – We need to ensure we devolve more power to local communities, and ensure we are not perpetuating centralised machine politics. This would include ensuring that issues that are flagged at local level are fed through to national policy making mechanism. We need to be an active part of the community, asking people how we can help and actively making a difference.
  • Technology – People engage and communicate in different ways now than in the past and this will continue to evolve rapidly. We need to use technology to better gather data and engage the 16-24 year old demographic. 
  • Do stuff in Opposition – We need a positive set of policies and actions, rather than just being oppositional. Labour need to campaign and community organise in Opposition and be seen to be making a difference at local level.  

 This was just the beginning of the conversation. The debate over the future of the Party will continue over the summer and culminate in a comprehensive package of views from our members. If you would like to get further involved and share your views:

For more information or any questions email Alvin Carpio [email protected] or Jessica Toale [email protected]k


A Future Social Democratic Settlement

July 26, 2015

Social democracy across Europe has been flagging, and has been suffering through with political shortsightedness and lack of bold vision.

Twice since the second world war have had such paradigm shift. The post-war consensus ushered in by the Attlee ministry built the welfare state. This was recast again by the Conservative party of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 which promoted deregulation, privatisation and neo-liberalism.

The spectacular results of New Labour from 1997 and Tony Blair was a seismic shift, but not one that recast the national narrative but one that adapted the party and the left within Thatcher's neoliberalism model as did the Industrial Charter with the Conservatives following Atlee.

On the 70th anniversary since the election of the last Labour agenda-setting government of Clement Attlee in 1945, we are proud to announce a new research project to investigate what the future direction for social democracy and political economy in Britain. The objective of the project is to analyse key societal challenges in the mid-term, develop ideas for a paradigm cast in the values of social democrats and developing a political plan to achieve them.


YF in Sweden

July 23, 2015
Contact: Martin Edobor
07865398240

Following on from our successful delegation to FEPS conference in Brussels, the Young Fabians International Network will be sending a delegation to the Social Democratic Youth Leagues (SSU) annual congress. The SSU is the Youth Section of the Social Democratic Party in Sweden and provides a strong political voice for the young. 

The theme of the congress is equitable future. Under the previous Conservative government in Sweden, inequality grew by record amount.  One of the most important task in Sweden today is improving equality and giving people the same opportunities for power and influence. This is a key challenge for Stefan Löfven's minority Social Democratic government, how we utilise social democratic policies to reduce inequality is the key question we hope to answer.

The Delegation will be led by LJ Davies, Chair of the Young Fabian International network and Martin Edobor, Young Fabian Vice-Chair. Delegates include

  • Unsa Chaudri
  • Rachel Ward
  • Rayhan Haque
  • Ian Kugler

The congress will be taking place between the 7th and 10th of August, in Västerås. The Young Fabians and our delegates will be live blogging throughout the conference with videos and commentary using the hashtag #YFSweden15.

The International Network will be hosting a policy roundtable in late August examining the state of social democracy in Europe, so please keep an eye out on our events page. 

To find our more information about the international network, projects and future delegations please contact LJ Davies at [email protected]

 

 


Young Fabians Elections 2015

July 21, 2015

The Fabian Society and Young Fabians are proud to be a democratically governed, member-led society. Our executive committee is elected by all members. The next election takes place in September.

The executive committee primary function is to oversee the activities of the group, support key foundations of our organisation and provide community leadership to enable our members to run their own projects.

If you are interested and want more information about what's involved please get in contact with us.

Nominations are now open for the annual election to the Young Fabian executive, open to any member under the age of 31 on 21 November 2015, the date of the Annual General Meeting.

Nominations should be in writing and individuals can nominate themselves.  Nominees should submit a statement in support of their nomination, including information about themselves, of not more than 70 words.  Please also give your date of birth (not for publication). Nominations should be sent by email to [email protected]  with “Young Fabian Executive Election” in the subject line.

The closing date for nominations is Friday 14 August 2015.

Election will be by electronic ballot of all Young Fabian members. The ballot will open on 21 September, and close on 23 October, with the new committee taking over at our AGM in November.

 


A Successful Apprenticeships System for the UK

July 21, 2015

The Young Fabians Education Network held their inaugural event on 15 July at the House of Commons. Organised by Channon Zhangazha & Joel Mullan (Vice-Chair & Chair of Young Fabians Education Network), the event began by dissecting the Conservative government’s target of reaching 3 million Apprenticeship starts by 2020. However, rather than focusing on the futility of statistics, the debate focused on how to ensure the best possible outcomes for learners and to encourage businesses to offer more high quality apprenticeships

Panellists John Woodcock MP (Shadow Minister for Young People), Mike Thompson (Head of Early Careers at Barclays Bank), Ashley McCaul (Chief Executive at Skills for Growth) and Tom Bewick (Managing Director at New Work Training Ltd) led the lively member-led debate, which was chaired by Channon Zhangazha.

The recent announcement of an Apprenticeships levy was cautiously welcomed as well as the move to ensure that employers take ownership of Apprenticeships standards. A discussion subsequently ensued as to the role of training providers, the lack of adequate careers guidance in schools and the wider purpose of state education – whether solely focused on academia and higher education, or to empower students to explore more vocational routes at an earlier stage.

For more information about the member-led Young Fabians Education Network – including what you can do to get involved – please contact its Secretary, Jun Bo Chan on [email protected].

Read a storify summary of the event

Press coverage


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