How wonderful to be able to start this message by adding SERA’s congratulations to Sagal Abdi-Wali’s win in Holborn and St Pancras, defeating the Greens’ leader Zac Polanski in the process! This is a significant win for the Party as a further endorsement of Andy Burnham’s leadership and his momentous speech at Conference. We must now be confident that Labour policies resonate with voters – including our commitments and progress on the environment.
And nowhere more was support for Labour’s nature and climate action seen at Labour Party Conference than at SERA’s annual rally, Environment Hub, Nature Day and Young SERA’s reception.
I have had so many members and stakeholders reaching out to tell me how much they enjoyed our Conference events. I’ve been told that the rally was ‘one of the most impressive events’ of Conference, that our events were ‘the best attended all week’ despite being outside the secure zone and that this year there was a tangible shift in relation to nature conservation at Conference ‘due in no small part to Nature Day’. MPs also told me that it was great to see SERA back at the heart of the Party. These are heartening comments that are testament to our member-led policy agenda.
Speakers at the rally included DESNZ Secretary of State Miatta Fahnbulleh, and many from her experienced team of ministers. They also included DEFRA Secretary of State Angela Eagle who was joined by some of her new ministerial team, but who were keen to be in the audience to listen rather than speak this year. This is noteworthy in again representing a marked change in how this Government wants to engage with us and is welcome. In addition, MPs who champion the environment spoke, including SERA Exec member Mike Reader, Environmental Audit Committee Chair Toby Perkins and Chris Hinchliff MP.
The packed agenda of our hub on Monday was matched by a packed room. Audiences gathered to hear from experts and MPs on waste fires and crime, water pollution and reform, the future of North Sea oil and gas, the People’s Emergency Briefing and to join the launch of the Labour Councillors Environment Network – which has 150 members already.
From start to finish, our Nature Day on Tuesday matched beautifully with the theme of hope at this year’s Conference. But more than the hope that we need, Nature Day delivered on the solutions we need to restore and protect nature and reverse its freefall. Our Nature Day partners – the Campaign for National Parks, the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, Mott MacDonald, National Trust, the Woodland Trust and the Wildlife Trusts were a pleasure to work with and our seamless partnership showcased the best of collective advocacy and SERA’s role in this going forward. Nature Day’s solutions shall now be turned into a Nature Policy Roadmap that we shall present to Nature Minister, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, who attended the day, and which shall be the basis of our nature advocacy to Government in the forthcoming year.
Young SERA’s first reception with Labour Staff Environmental Network was also popular. Speakers included Minister Emma Hardy, Mike Reader MP, Anna Gelderd MP, Perran Moon MP and Octopus EV’s James Court. Young SERA are filling a vital gap in the Labour ecosystem and it is wonderful to see them grow their events and membership.
A huge thank you to all of you who tried to get the SERA/Mainstream contemporary motion on water reform debated at Conference. While Andy’s speech and commitments may have contributed to the motion being knocked back, we welcome his pledges and will continue to push for the urgent systemic changes needed across England’s waterways and water sector.
Thank you, too, to all of you who spoke at our events and helped to make our programme such a success.
In solidarity,
Laura Clarke, National Organiser