Labour party activists need to stop bullying one another and learn to be nice to new members, according to a member of the party's ruling executive.
NEC member Joanna Baxter said that in one constituency, which she would not name, their biggest problem was "bullying". She was speaking at a fringe meeting hosted by the blog Labourlist, where activists were discussing changes to the party.
Delegates voted through a series of changes to Labour's constitution yesterday, including a rule change which will allow non-members, known as registered supporters, to vote in leadership elections. But activist sources indicated that they were slapped down by unions when they attempted to allow this new class of supporters to also vote on motions at conference.
At the conference debate on Refounding Labour on Sunday, union representatives criticised the party's introspection in making the changes at a time of nationwide cuts.
Unison representative Wendy Nichols told delegates that while she supported the changes, "Refounding Labour isn't exactly top of the agenda for many of our stressed-out members."
"We understand why the party has to modernise... for us in the trade union we can't have an academic debate about what we would like in a few years' time. We're under the cosh now."