Road To The Manifesto Ballot

EDM number 201 in 1996-97, proposed by Peter Bottomley on 18/11/1996.

That this House notes the four questions put by Tribune, Labour's independent weekly, to Alastair Campbell about his claims for the ballot on Road to Manifesto; is interested in knowing how a postal ballot ended as a mass telephone canvass reaching 8,000 people which increased a desultory turnout of 30 per cent. to over 60 per cent. in 10 days, in knowing whether Unity Security Balloting Service passed details of those who had not voted to the Labour party, in knowing the independence of the ballot scrutineer and in knowing what happened to the information concerning who had not voted used by the Labour party's deputy leader; and agrees with Tribune that these pedantic points are vital to a healthy democracy in the Labour party and that the use of plebiscites is an old communist device.

This motion has been signed by a total of 2 MPs.