International Branch of the British Labour Party
PES and sister parties
PS host Fête du Progrès on 27 April
Apr 16th
On Friday 27 April the Parti Socialiste Bruxellois will host their annual Fête du Progrès.
This year’s event is taking place at the Quai du K-Nal, from 19:00.
Tickets are on sale at €9 (pre-sale, includes free drink) or €10 on the night.
More information on the Fête du Progrès website.
S&D conference on the financial crisis
Mar 20th
On 28 March the S&D Group in the European Parliament will host a conference on ‘The responses to the European crisis, proposals from the Appeal for a European Socialist Alternative’.
More details and a registration form are available here.
Belgian local elections – don’t miss your chance to vote!
Mar 5th
The next communal elections in Belgium will take place on Sunday 14 October. Did you realise you can vote?
Electoral law in Belgium recognises the right of all EU citizens to vote in – and stand for – local elections, and casting your vote could make all the difference in your commune.
But you have to register. If you haven’t done so yet, then don’t delay!
Brussels Labour strongly urges you to take up this opportunity to support the socialist candidates in the Brussels communes, who will include candidates from other EU member states. At least two Brussels Labour members will stand.
Your registration form has to be submitted by 31 July 2012 and copies are available at the electoral registration service (service électorat) in your commune, with specific details provided on their websites. If you registered for the 2006 elections, then you don’t need to do so again.
You can find out why your commune matters to you here.
Visit by Joan Burton, Irish Labour Party deputy leader
Feb 16th
Our comrades in the Irish Labour Party would like to invite Brussels Labour members to two meetings with Joan Burton TD, Irish Minister for Social Protection & Labour Deputy Leader, this Friday, 17 February:
“Ireland’s Future in a Changing Europe, Developing a Mutual Understanding”
Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) Brussels Branch
Permanent Representation of Ireland, Rue Froissart 50, 1040 EtterbeekFrom 12.45-14:00 – Snack lunch is provided but pre-registration essential via email to the IIEA.
Meeting with the Irish Labour Party Brussels & friends
Place de Londres, 13 Place de Londres, 1050 Ixelles – map
Meeting starts at 18:00
Guest blog from Julian Priestley: Opening a New Front in France
Feb 9th
The election campaign now well and truly underway in France probably matters more directly to us in Britain than the razzmatazz of the American elections in November (providing of course that the more gruesome Republican candidates are weeded out in the primaries).
François Hollande may not have been the first choice for many socialists – his very ‘ordinariness’ places charisma outside his range; his programme is cautiously social democratic, not transformative; other more exciting contenders have – how can we put it delicately? – fallen by the wayside. But he was the democratic choice of three million Socialist party members and sympathisers in an open primary which gave the Left a game-changing kick-off in the campaign.
His assured performance at the rally at Le Bourget in late January, addressing 25,000 supporters (that’s ten times the size of the Sheffield rally and without the gaffes), on TV and in a programme which rightly places all the emphasis on jobs and growth have given him a head-start. In the French presidential and legislative elections in April and May of this year Europe’s Left has its first chance of re-gaining power in a major EU member state since 2004.
This matters. First it means that at the top table in Europe there will be at least one significance voice opposed to the technocratic imposition of continent-wide austerity which is the mantra of the currently all-powerful centre-right. Hollande is committed to re-negotiate the ‘Fiscal Pact’ to be agreed in principle by 25 member states in March.
The French socialists do not reject budgetary discipline but want, quite reasonably to avoid arbitrary straight-jackets being imposed on member states without any accompanying measures for growth, and without adequate parliamentary safeguards. And their party has started working out a coordinated economic programme with German social democrats in the fairly confident expectation that ‘Merkozy’ will be seen by 2013 as a kind of historical aberration. More >
Brussels Labour’s 40th anniversary – help us celebrate!
Feb 6th
2013 marks the fortieth year of the UK’s membership of the EU, and it marks 40 years of Brussels Labour.
At the start of 1973, a group of enthusiasts formed what was then called the British Labour Group (BLG) to bring together Labour Party members and supporters in Brussels. The driving force was Alan Forrest (at the time an official at the ICFTU), who became the first Chair. Right from the start, the BLG attracted high level speakers: on 29 March 1973, George Thomson, the first British Labour Commissioner, spoke on ‘Socialism, Internationalism and the Common Market’. And over the years, the Party headquarters came to acknowledge the value of Brussels Labour (though it took some twenty-five years of campaigning to get formal recognition).
We plan to mark this milestone through a number of interlinked strands, including:
- a project to capture the memories of those forty years through the voices of Brussels Labour members and others;
- a series of events throughout the year; and
- a gala dinner (as we did for the 25th and the 30th anniversaries).
We will associate the Party, including our MEPs, in these activities, as well as other sister parties notably from the other countries – Ireland and Denmark – which joined the EU in 1973.
Work is now starting on these three different strands so if you would like to get involved, please let Belinda Pyke know. The intention is to complete the first strand this year so it can be launched at the start of 2013 and we need help in particular:
- to identify contact current and former members/office holders/speakers (including in the UK);
- to interview, to photograph, to edit contributions; and
- to turn all this into an online presentation, maybe also in printed form, linked to narrative about history of BL and also about development of UK and/or Labour Party attitude to the EU.
We will report regularly to branch meetings and in Germinal on the preparations for Brussels Labour’s 40th.
Belinda Pyke
belinda.pyke(AT)skynet.be
Next Branch meeting: Ken Livingstone’s campaign team
Jan 22nd
The next Brussels Labour branch meeting takes place this week:
Peter May - London Labour Party
‘The London Mayoral elections’
Wednesday 25 January - Square Ambiorix 6, 1000 Brussels – 20:00
The meeting begins at 20:00. As this event is not in a bar or restaurant, there will be no food served, and you are invited to bring a bottle.
Forthcoming meetings include:
Sister Parties meeting & reception – Preparation for Communal Elections
Wednesday 29 February - Further details tbc
Brussels Labour Annual General Meeting
Wednesday 21 March - Further details tbc
Does Your Commune Matter To You?
Nov 28th
The Parti Socialiste – in collaboration with sister parties – has produced a new leaflet (click here to download the PDF) on the communal elections in Belgium. These elections will take place on 14 October 2012, and all EU citizens can register to exercise their right to vote.
Download the leaflet to find out why it is important to vote in the communal elections and please share the leaflet with your friends.
FEPS Next Left debate on 3 October
Sep 30th
PES Progressive Convention: invitation from PES Activists
Sep 23rd
PES Activists are pleased to invite you to the PES Progressive Convention, which will take place in Brussels on 25-26 November 2011.
Recent world developments, the economic crisis, the uprisings in the Arab World, the youth protests, all show that citizens are eager to participate in society and for their views to be taken into account. So, this year, the PES will organise a different type of event: outward looking, participative and interactive.
Based on the new PES Declaration of Principles, claiming the PES values and principles guiding PES policies, the aim of the Convention is to launch a deep policy review building up to the Fundamental Programme that will be adopted at the 2012 PES Congress. The Convention will be a unique open space bringing together progressive politicians, trade-unions, NGOs, associations, academics and artists. It will be a two-day brainstorming, with simultaneous and innovative debates, workshops, panels and cultural activities such as a film festival, a political bookshops and concerts.
A half-day in-depth reflection will be dedicated to each of the following crucial challenges:
A new fair growth model – inventing a new growth paradigm built on economic, social and environmental progress, with a new governance concept.
A just society, equality for all – developing new policies for inclusive societies overcoming inequalities and ensuring decent jobs for all.
New global answers to new global challenges – formulating a new global deal to shape globalisation in a progressive way.
Democracy and active citizenship – conceiving a dynamic society where everyone is involved.
Registrations can be made through the PES website. If you are a PES activist, there is limited accommodation available, for which you can apply here.
