Labour pledge to 'put country before party' in new membership card promise

07 October 2023 , 21:30

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Labour's new membership card design

Labour members will pledge to put country before party, with a redesigned membership card to be unveiled on Sunday.

The new card keeps the Clause IV wording adopted by the party in 1995 under the leadership of Tony Blair. But large letters above it will read: "Putting the country first."

A Labour Spokesperson said: “Labour is a proudly patriotic party. That is why we are so determined to deliver a better future for our country and the working people that make it what it is. These updates to our membership card mean that every single Labour member will carry that commitment with them. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, this changed Labour Party is ready to get Britain’s future back.”

Mr Blair's changes to Clause IV of Labour's constitution, which removed the pledge to keep the "means of production, distribution and exchange" in public ownership, was approved in 1995 in the face of opposition from the left of the party.

The current wording of the section of Clause IV written on Labour membership reads: "The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect."

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