National Policy Forum

The first NPF evidence session of the year for our commission, Reconnecting Britain, took place on Monday the 22nd. Up until now, sessions have been focussed on organisation and understanding how these evidence sessions will be structured – this was, therefore, the start of the ‘real’ work.

The session opened with a briefing from Louise Sander-Jones, the Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People. Louise opened with an update on the war in Iran. She explained the government’s position of striving to protect both the safety of Britons in the region as well as our strategic interests. The government had ‘prepared for this scenario and was working to stay on the front foot.’ Britain would ‘not enter the war but continue working on rebuilding our diplomatic profile.’ On an unrelated note, here an article from The Economist this week for those who have access.

Following this, the evidence session began. Mark Leonard, Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, and Prerana Joshi, Research Fellow at RUSI, joined us to share their perspectives.

Mark highlighted where Britian is today: Greek levels of debt, Italian fertility and Japanese growth. These, he stressed, are not separate phenomena but intrinsically linked with one another. Great power competition, weaponised interdependence, and international crises have contributed to an increasingly fragmented world – a perspective shared by Preran, Mark, and Louise – who declared the old world order ‘dead.’ He proposed closer collaboration with Europe, specifically on the single market, which was received well by members of the commission. I challenged that if we do wish to argue for more closeness with EU and are prepared to take the PR hit that might come with that, why not go all the way and rejoin? This sentiment was echoed by other NPF members and Mark admitted this would be the optimal way forward.

Preran focussed on the risks around AI. She would like to see the UK investing more to ensure we build on our strengths in the sector and focus investment on key areas where we already have an advantage. I challenged this, recalling Mark’s ‘weaponised interdependence’ point. A number of trade union NPF members agreed that building further reliance on US controlled models creates another choke point. With the US increasingly lax stance on regulation and disregard for global cooperation on tax, real questions should be posed about our digital sovereignty risks. I advocated for closer collaboration with Europe – highlighting France and Germany’s agreement with SAP and Mistral (European businesses) to build a sovereign AI for public administration.

Evidence sessions will continue in the coming months. Please send any issues you would like raised to [email protected].

This year’s National Policy Forum (NPF) consultation will open in the March – the Labour party wants all members to be involved.

🗓 Consultation opens: Thursday 5 March
🗓 Consultation closes: Thursday 11 June

This year’s theme is “national renewal” – focusing on how a Labour government can:

• Bring pride back to our communities
• Support young people to get on in life
• Bring healthcare closer to home
• Restore our natural environment
• Secure our borders
• Rebuild Britain’s standing in the world

This is members’ opportunity to help support our Labour Government and look ahead to future challenges.

For more information head to the National Policy Forum website, which will be updated on 5 March.

 

How you can help

We’re asking CLPs and branch officers to:

• Share details of the consultation with members
• Encourage branches to discuss and submit responses
• Consider holding a policy discussion meeting during the consultation period
• Signpost members to the consultation materials

Even a short discussion at a branch meeting can make a real difference to ensuring members’ voices are heard and is a great way to get members engaged.

Recording and resources

If you weren’t able to attend the recent NPF briefing for CLP Policy Officers and Political Education & Training Officers, you can now access the recording, links and the slides from the session at https://learn.labour.org.uk/the-2026-national-policy-forum-annual-consultation/. This session explained how the NPF works and how members can engage in a straightforward way.

In March we will have a session for all members, on getting involved in developing policy, explaining the process and opportunities for them to have their say. Registration is here and we will be in touch with members with more details soon.

The consultation runs for 14 weeks to allow time for meaningful engagement — but we encourage you to make plans early, as we know so many of you will be fighting crucial elections in May.