The Labour Party Conference 2016 --- or Mayhem on Merseyside

The Summer hiatus is well and truly over and BelperStuff returns ----- not exactly refreshed and re-energised ------ more shaking head in amazement at what is going on. There have been many days when it was tempting to break the self imposed purdah and some posts were actually written but, as my finger hovered over the upload to the blog key the question was asked, "is this a useful addition to the debate or merely vanity on my part." The month of silence speaks for itself.

As you can see from the title of this post BelperStuff will once again be attending the Labour Party Conference, this year in Liverpool. The main event is as predictable as ever. Composite motions being voted for by delegates which will then become party policy. You can watch all this on television so what is the point of going to the expense and bother of physically being there? It's the fringe events that are the attraction; the only real problem being which events to attend and thereby which conflicting events to forego. It is wise to plan these things so choices have already been made:

1. Saturday evening will see BelperStuff attending "The Theology of Immigration". Should be thought provoking.
2. Sunday evening will be a visit to the Momentum parallel universe for a debate on Labour and anti-semitism. I am pleased to see them staging this.
3. Monday is SERA day with one fringe event at lunchtime and two in the evening (luckily one follows the other)
4. At the same time on Monday evening is the East Midlands reception and also the Rally for our EU rights. Somehow I plan to squeeze the East Midlands bash into the half hour gap between the SERA events and then attend the EU rally later in the evening. I should arrive back at the hotel just before they close the late bar!!!
5. Tuesday provides the opportunity to attend a lunchtime event dealing with railways and in the evening the, "Universal Basic Income - Should Labour Lead the Way?" catches the eye and there is always a chance that, "What Would It Take For Labour To Win  General Election" can be squeezed in beforehand if light relief is needed.
6. Wednesday has still to be decided upon .......... should it be child poverty or the Labour Energy Forum?

The backdrop to all this is the conference proper and the big question this year is .............. you can fill this in yourselves but I imagine that most will choose a wording that refers to peace breaking out. I am hopeful that this will be an opportunity for the massed ranks sitting in the main hall to magically give off a glow of solidarity which, over the course of 4 days brings about a feeling of unity between members, affiliates, officials and parliamentarians. Well one can dream. 

A thought on bloodletting

The use of bloodletting as a medical procedure endured for thousands of years but gradually lost favour in the 19th century. Strangely the practice jumped species, from the sick and injured to those afflicted with a belief in socialism. The more diverse the intensity of belief then the more need for the veins of the party to be bled. Let's hope that the anaemic body of Labour is now given time and space to replace the spent red corpuscles.

If my own constitution can stand the pace of conference then I will endeavour to report evryday much as I did last year: Labour Conference in Brighton 2015

Now, in true BelperStuff fashion I will sign off this first 2016 conference post with a return to the second best Liverpool band with this video, "When two tribes go to war"...... how precient: