NEC/Minutes/1st May 2011
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Contents |
Attendees
Finlay Archibald Graeme Lambert Loz Kaye Peter Brett Phil Cooke
Minutes of 24th April
Approved unanimously.
Campaign update
Bury campaign moving on -- have been canvassing today, targets likely to be met. Labour support is solid. Reception has been positive among swing voters. Main issues are lack of awareness of the party & of the candidates. Andy H is helping out, as is Jack A.
Scotland: last few days, getting rid of last few leaflets. Definite improvement on the streets from GE2010. Some recognition when out and about (e.g. stalls). Expenditures have mainly been on leaflets.
In Manchester, correlation between Labour supporters and opposition to AV in referendum.
Dealing with results: how to manage media?
Action: Loz will have a discussion with Finlay & Peter about media management during/after count.
Treasurer vote
Nominations have closed; when should vote open? Should it wait until after 5th May election? General agreement that it should begin ASAP. John, Phil & Stephen are on team.
Ideally should start tomorrow.
Action: Loz to talk to John and get the ball rolling.
Pre-emptive arrests
Before royal wedding, some pre-emptive arrests were made. Loz said that we should definitely condemn this, as it might provide an opportunity to carve out a stance in the civil liberties debate. Graeme and Peter were keen to point out that it was important not to state the case in a way that would make the party look anti-monarchy.
PPUK member held up by police for wearing PPUK t-shirt
On Twitter:
alexander_p_y: Held up by police on the Strand for wearing a @PiratePartyUK shirt. What. The. Fuck.
Peter tweeted to ask him to e-mail NEC with full details -- none have yet been forthcoming. Very cut and dried case of unacceptable police behaviour. Not much that can be done at this time about this particular incident, but Loz suggested investigating complaints procedures in case a similar event happens in the future.
4th May “Day Against DRM”
Part of FSF campaign ("defective by design" etc). Finlay will print out some cheap anti-DRM leaflets to give out on the street along with normal party leaflets. Also volunteered to write a blog post for party website.
6th May Campaigns Officer nominations
Spoken to Board -- generally supportive of promptly opening nominations & subsequent vote. Peter very keen to step down both due to pressures of PhD work & desire to do more local campaigning, and unwilling to nominate himself for re-election. He will stick around to lend expertise & advice to successor.
Loz sees Campaigns Officer as very key role on NEC, moving on over next year or two, and has lots of ideas.
Graeme expects to contest the election.
Party Administrator
A job description has been drafted by Gavin, John & Peter. Peter is discussing it with the Electoral Commission, so as to ensure that reporting regulations are complied with. Currently looking as though the work will need to be reported as a non-monetary donation.
Graeme suggested providing an expenses account for the administrator. Peter said it was on the radar, but that it needed to be discussed with John & Miah.
Finance
Peter said that we cannot file the paperwork we need to without the files etc from Pete L. Graeme said that apparently Pete L. had sent it to Loz. Bank holiday weekend, so no post until Tuesday.
Loz noted that the BNP has not filed accounts for two years, but still has not had its status as a political party removed. But added that we don't want to be like them.
Action: Miah to report to NEC on outcome of Tuesday's meeting with the Police.
Site update after May 5
Need some new front page buttons after May 5. Phil recommended having some generic "default" items such as membership drives. Peter suggested something on DEA, and on CD ripping.
Loz: need something that is simple and accessible to people unfamiliar with the party.
Other business
Phil disappointed by small core of web team (Ed T, Phil & Chris M), and this may cause some problems moving forward. Made distinction between forum administration and moderation, and suggested that the Member Communications Officer should perhaps be involved in the organisation of moderation.
Phil says that they are nevertheless able to proceed with a code review & audit on website, as it's a bit of a confusing mess at the moment. Planning to use old server as staging server while running working version of site on new server.
PP Ireland don't seem interested in continuing as a party; PPI wondering if we can salvage them. Answer: probably no. Peter said "Irish politics is like a third rail: touch it and die."
The Board have also requested to be kept informed on the Pete Liddell situation. In a Board meeting it was suggested by Will T. that it might be more appropriate to contact lawyers than the police. Peter suggested that it was better for Miah to concentrate on getting things sorted than to get distracted by trying to explain the situation to everybody, and also that at the moment there is not a lot that the Board can practically do to help the situation.