SHA SE England has agreed to submit the following contemporary motions to Labour Conference through the CLPs we are affiliated to.
Tackling child poverty 247 words
Conference notes the call to end the two-child benefit limit issued by 15 anti-poverty leaders including from Save the Children and the Trussell Trust on 12th August.
Conference notes the child poverty emergency detailed by the Children’s Commissioner’s recent report containing evidence of children ‘condemned to Dickensian levels’ of poverty in Britain.
Conference further notes that families suffered from the Tories’ freezing of child benefit over many years and from the imposition of the two-child limit.
Conference welcomes, in the first year of this Labour Government, the expansion of breakfast clubs, school meals, family centres and the increase in the national minimum wage, but knows that to reduce child poverty from the currently unacceptable record numbers of 4.5 million, and from what the Child Poverty Action Group estimates will be at least 4.8 million in 2028/09, improved financial support for children is needed.
Conference further welcomes the Government’s establishment of the child poverty review and agrees with 73% of the public that all “children deserve a good childhood, even if it costs the government more to support families that need it”.
Conference calls on the Government to find the resources needed to abolish the two-child limit by:
allocating £3 billion from a levy on the undertaxed online gaming and offshore betting industry
allocating a further £3 billion from restoring the 8% levy on the profits of commercial banks or ceasing to pay interest on some of their funds held at the Bank of England
Meaningful action to end atrocities in Palestine (250 words)
Conference notes:
On 8 August, the Israeli government announced plans to militarily occupy Gaza City.
In response, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the plan was “wrong” and Germany halted arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza.
On 10 August, the UN Assistant Secretary General said the plans would “likely trigger another calamity in Gaza”.
On 10 August, an Israeli airstrike killed five Al Jazeera staff in Gaza City, including prominent journalist Anas al-Sharif.
Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, including 18,000 children; destroyed most health and education infrastructure; blocked food and aid from entering Gaza, causing widespread starvation; and escalated violence in the West Bank.
Israel is on trial for genocide at the ICJ and last year was found to be in violation of the international convention against racial segregation and apartheid.
Conference believes:
The conditional recognition of Palestine, including by the UK government, will not stop Israel’s illegal actions.
The Palestinian people have inalienable rights to return and self-determination, independent of externally imposed conditionality.
Accordingly, conference calls on the government to:
Do everything in its power to secure an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Gaza, and the unrestricted provision of humanitarian assistance.
Immediately end all arms trade and military cooperation with Israel.
Ban trade that aids or assists Israel’s violations of international law, including with illegal settlements.
Impose comprehensive sanctions on the Israeli government.