 This September, Brighton will host the first Labour Conference since Keir Starmer became party leader. That's because the last one took place just online. It was just speeches online. The conference is expected to be a stage-managed affair with less time set aside for policy battles and with all the attention intended to be focused on the leader's speech from Keir Starmer. But the overbearing management from Labour's bureaucrats in what is supposed to be a democratic party has already got under the skin of some key players. Jess Barnard is the democratically elected chair of young Labour, which represents every Labour member under the age of 26. Take a look at what she tweeted this week. A few months ago, myself and Lara McNeill, who's the NEC Youth Representative, met with David Evans, that's the party's general secretary, once we were told the party would not be holding a young Labour conference this year, despite it being a rulebook requirement. We tried to negotiate, made the case for democratic engagement, but were outright refused. I asked David Evans if he would inform young members that this was his call and if he would provide young Labour with more resources at national conference to make up for it. He agreed to both. Months ago, the entire young Labour committee submitted our proposals for young Labour day at conference well within the deadline given. Everything we do and all our speakers have to be approved by the party. I have been pushing for an update on this multiple times a week with no joy. The most concrete information I have been given is that anyone from Palestine Solidarity campaign will be refused as a speaker, as will Jeremy Corbyn. I have requested this in writing with reasoning. Appalled that PSC, who have had a space at conference for years, would be silenced. So in short, according to that, Fred party bureaucrats cancelled Labour conference, then came to a compromise, which was that young Labour could have an increased presence at the national Labour conference. Then they didn't reply for months and then said only that Jeremy Corbyn and people from the Palestine Solidarity campaign would be banned from speaking if that had all happened under Jeremy Corbyn. I'm sure the press would be decrying such behaviour as Stalinist, yet because it's Starmer, they don't give a damn. Well, we at Navarra Media do. And I'm joined now by Jess Barnard. Jess, could you talk me through some of the interactions you've had with the party that led you to write that, Fred? I mean, it's been a real hell of a few months for us. And for me in particular, because I guess as chair of the committee, a lot of the duties pulled on me to be the one that is negotiating with the party and kind of the party bureaucracy. And it has been a very much one-sided relationship of me pushing and pushing and pushing and feeling quite like I'm harassing the staff members for answers, which they either can't answer or won't answer. And so whether that is a factional decision or a matter of incompetence or just lack of resources, I know the party are going through a tough time. But increasingly, it does feel like a factional situation and that because we're a left-wing committee, because I'm a socialist and we've made it really clear that we are going to organise our socialists in the Labour Party because that's what young members like us to do. We're being given not just the cold shoulder, not just the cold shoulder, just complete silence. And I think it's increasingly disappointing as well because I think we have really, really tried to approach the relationship with good faith, particularly the meeting with David Evans that I referenced. We were really, really disheartened and really upset that we were told outright that our conference would be refused. But we agreed to it. We acknowledged the challenges that the party was facing. We acknowledged the challenges of the pandemic and all we asked in return was a little bit more resources. To make sure that after two years of everything that young people have been going through, the demographics most likely to have lost their jobs or had to work on the front line during the pandemic, that we make sure that there is a space for them to organise and discuss their politics in the Labour Party in a safe and supported environment. Let's talk a bit more about the Palestine Solidarity Campaign because that's what I found most shocking from your Fred and I think what lots of people did. The reason I found that strange is because one, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign is the most prominent Palestine organisation in this country in the same year. There has been a brutal attack on Palestine, on Gaza. Also, people who are currently in the leadership of the party have been fairly open to working with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the past. I want to bring up a tweet from Lisa Nandy. She signed up to the pledges put forward by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign during the leadership campaign. I haven't always will support Palestinian rights. That's why I oppose Trump's plan and have campaigned against British businesses profiting from the occupied territories and support any embargo on arms deals which violates human rights. I'm happy to back these Palestine Solidarity Campaign commitments. Keir Starmer has also spoken at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign hustings in 2015. What's going on there then, Jess? Did they explain why they thought that the Palestine Solidarity Campaign shouldn't be able to speak at Labour Party Conference? No, I mean, this is, I guess, probably an ongoing situation. PSC have confirmed that they will be given their usual stool at conference. They will have their usual fringe event. We have since heard that there won't now be a blanket ban on PSC through due diligence checks as we were initially told. I stand by my account of what I was told by the party but we have since received an apology. What I'm taking from this is, hopefully, this was a mistake but this does need to mark a point in which the party starts to acknowledge they cannot continue to make arbitrary decisions like this. There needs to be accountability. There needs to be due processes. I hope that they reach out to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to apologise and make amends because obviously this has been a really stressful time for them not knowing where they stand with the Labour Party which they have always felt was a place at which they could organise. So the story is perhaps more what about chaos within the Labour Party than sort of a Stalinist purge of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Is that correct? I guess time will tell. It's really hard to know. I think it's a bit of a turning point and definitely a turning point for us in that young members have a constitutional right to organise within the Labour Party as do people who want to support Palestinians. We have in the rule book that we have a right to hold our conferences. We have the right to organise within Labour and it doesn't say young members can only organise within the party if they agree with Keir Starmer. That's not what it says and the party have a decision whether they keep looking over their shoulder, keep looking to control, keep looking to shut down and that will eventually just disenfranchise all their young members, not just left-wing ones, all of them, or they can say, right, we've won power, we've got control of the Labour Party, let's use the space to put forward our vision, whatever that is, start looking forward and stop looking over their shoulder at what young members are doing. I want to go to some responses to your Fred. The most dramatic was from Oliver Kahn. We've had our own altercations with Kahn before. He's come from a Navarra medium more than once. He's a Times columnist. If you didn't know that, all ready. And Oliver Kahn responded to your Fred. Good to see that Labour is getting a grip on this parasitic pressure group which has no members of its own as any young person who joins the party is deemed to belong and whose views are incompatible with Labour's values and traditions. He followed that tweet up with the following. Labour supports a two-state solution between a secure Israel and a sovereign Palestine. Young Labour urges the abolition of Israel which could only be accomplished by means of the Second Holocaust against the Jewish people. Hence, young Labour's views are alien to the parties. That second tweet particularly grotesque. How would you respond to Oliver Kahn, though? I'm still in shock that he's getting away with writing this in the public domain. Obviously, I completely refute that. Everybody knows that that's just an absurd thing to accuse young Labour of. Young Labour is a broad organisation. We have not adopted an official position on a two-state solution. So the initial part of that tweet doesn't even make sense. And absolutely, of course, we are not supporting it or calling for a second Holocaust. It's one of the most vile things I've actually ever seen written on Twitter, let alone about young Labour. And so obviously, I will be taking legal advice about this. He has since, I don't know if you've seen, written another article where he's doubled down on the accusations against both myself and young Labour. And we have approached the party for legal support as well. So we will see where that takes us. But I think we are at a point where we have to start pulling together to challenge these people. There is absolutely no way it's acceptable that someone who calls himself a reporter in the times should be allowed to get away with writing completely defamatory, made up lies about young members. This isn't people who are elected MPs on 80k wages who can go and fund their own legal battles. This is young members who are all volunteers, myself working a full-time job on a very minimal wage. And he has just completely taken his position of power to spread hate, lies and fear. And I think that's the worst bit of fear amongst young people in society, which is actually just about a group of young people who are trying to fight for a better, fairer world. I have a very relevant super chat, actually, from Sol, Solidarity Jest, and on a different matter entirely, if there's a crowdfund to sue, Cam, I'll donate. So if the Labour Party don't stump up the money, because I think they're probably more keen to stump up their money, when it's against their factional opponents, rather than to defend them, then you might do well on a crowd funder. Finally, I want to ask you about, I suppose, young Labour's strategy more generally. From this interview, it sounds like Labour is slightly all over the place when it comes to how they are dealing with you. It also seems pretty clear they're not keen on you having much voice or say within the party. What can you do to challenge that? Obviously, it seems like potentially this tweet, Fred, was quite effective, but what else will young Labour be doing to challenge the manoeuvres by Keir Starmer to basically silence young Labour, because you're too left-wing? Yeah, and that's a really good question. I'd just like to say, for the record, the tweet threads are always a last resort. I hate having to bring it into the light of day because it's not pleasant, and I guess there's a lot of staff who are also deeply unhappy in the middle of all this, and it's not nice, but it does feel like a last resort sometimes, and lo and behold, things are moving now. But I think in the future, we are looking at other options. So, obviously, this year for the first time, we're partnering with the World Transformed to deliver some panels at their events. So, look out for those. Do make sure you come along and support us, including one on Palestine. So, please be there. A little plug, but we're also looking to build our relationships with lots of other left organisations, including the trade unions, just solidifying at those links. Because, obviously, if you understand the structures of labour, we're entirely financially dependent on Labour Party. We have no funds of our own. We don't have any staffers that are directly accountable to us. There is one staffer in the Labour Party in Southside who works on Labour. That's it. So, you have an organisation that is entirely dependent on the Labour Party, and so I think we need to start thinking about how we broaden our connections with other left organisations, and we're working really hard to deliver that. And also, you know, just making sure that we are, like, delivering face-to-face actions. We are, when there is, you know, key issues arising, when people are organising on the ground, young labour is going to be focused on being in those spaces where members are, rather than, you know, wasting more of our time in party bureaucracy and trying to fight barriers that are just put up to kind of silence, you know, young socialists.