The campaign to beat the pandemic

Support the Zero Covid motion in the Momentum Policy Primary. Vote for the motion 'Covid-19 Pandemic'. Ballot open 24-31 March. peoplesmomentum/policy-primary. zerocovid.uk/momentum

Vote for Zero Covid in the Momentum Policy Primary!

21 March 2021 / zerocovid

Momentum is running a Policy Primary to select motions to take to the next Labour Party conference. The Zero Covid campaign’s motion calling for an elimination strategy is on the ballot!

Covid has dominated all our lives for the past year, and it’s not going away. 150,000 have died and hundreds of thousands are facing grief, loss and long-term illness. This is social murder and it has to be the number-one topic for discussion at the Labour Party Conference this year. Unless there is a change of strategy, tens of thousands more will die. We cannot ‘live with the virus’.

Most of the Covid-19 deaths in the UK could have been prevented by Boris Johnson’s government if it had adopted a different approach. A decade of austerity and privatisation left the NHS under-prepared. The outsourced Test and Trace system is not working, despite costing billions. And a year into the pandemic, sick pay is still abysmally low, making self-isolation impossible for many.

Real opposition means an elimination strategy.

The alternative is an elimination strategy. That means driving down community transmission and using a local Test and Trace system to stop new outbreaks. The vaccine rollout is vital, but cannot end the pandemic on its own. Other countries have charted a way through the pandemic and eliminated the virus, saving lives and livelihoods.

Make sure that Labour is committed to an elimination strategy by voting for the Zero Covid motion in the Policy Primary this week! You can read more about how the Policy Primary works on the Momentum website

The Zero Covid campaign’s motion is on page 9 of the motions document under the title ‘Covid-19 pandemic’.

How the Primary works

Electronic ballot papers will be sent out to all Momentum members on Wednesday 24 March and the ballot ends on Wednesday 31 March.

There are two steps to supporting the ‘Covid-19 pandemic’ motion:

  • Select ‘Yes’ in the Yes/No checkbox
  • Rank your choices according to the priority you think they should be given. Please rank Zero Covid in your top three!

Our motion 

Title: Covid-19 pandemic

Conference notes:

  • The appalling loss of lives and livelihoods due to the Tory government’s incompetence, corruption and refusal to adopt and implement effective measures to drive down community transmission and eliminate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
  • That this has been exacerbated by a decade of austerity, privatisation and cuts to public services, especially the NHS and local authorities.
  • That the expensive failure of the outsourced SERCO Test and Trace system has contributed to this disaster.
  • That individuals have been consistently blamed for systemic and policy failures and not provided with sufficient support through decent sick pay, grants, loans, benefits and other wide-ranging assistance in order to be able to self-isolate, shield, work from home and/or home-school.
  • That climate change and ecological destruction make future pandemics more likely and that the pandemic is a global issue that demands international solidarity.

Conference applauds:

  • The commitment of the millions of workers and volunteers, in the UK and globally, who have supported their communities, provided dedicated healthcare, and demonstrated scientific and medical brilliance.
  • The UK’s vaccine programme, rolled out and administered by the NHS and local volunteers.

Conference calls for:

  • Labour to adopt now and in the event of any future similar pandemics policies aimed at the elimination, rather than the containment, of the spread of the disease, working with trade unions and public health experts.
  • A forward-looking recovery plan based on the Green New Deal.

Submitted by Zero Covid

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