Today the Progress directors have given the green light for us to continue – having secured three years funding and substantially increased regular donations from our members and supporters. This means our important work of renewing the centre-left, stopping a hard-left takeover of local parties and fighting for the closest possible relationship with Europe will go on.
There has been an increase in membership since the news that David Sainsbury will end his support for party political causes in December this year – a clear acknowledgment of the importance of Progress at this time. Over 50 per cent of existing members have increased their contribution – some quite substantially. Together they have put the organisation on a sustainable footing.
Over 50 per cent of existing members have increased their contribution – and many others have joined
Progress now moves from being core funded by one generous individual to a living breathing movement of Labour party supporters committed to a centre-left progressive future for both the party and the country.
I look forward to leading Progress into this new chapter and transforming the organisation and our fortunes in the Labour movement. The renewal of ideas to change the country for the better will be our focus going forward. The last few years have not been easy for progressives but it is only when Labour is on the centre-ground that we can build a coalition of voters needed to win a Labour government. We still need your help to make that happen.
As the most transparent group on the left, we are proud to have continually been awarded Who Funds You?’s A-rating and will publish further details on our website.
Raising funds from our members and supporters will be a permanent part of our organisation from now on. We are hugely thankful to the thousands of people who have come forward and would like to thank David Sainsbury for 21 years of extremely generous support.
If you have not yet joined …
Please do so now: prog.rs/join
If you pay by direct debit and have not increased your contribution …
Please do so now: prog.rs/upgrade
If you have not yet transferred to direct debit …
You can do so here: prog.rs/future
If you would like to join the 100 Club …
Please do so here: prog.rs/100club
If you would like to join our newly-created Thousand Club …
It is easily done: prog.rs/1000
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Richard Angell is director of Progress. He tweets at @RichardAngell
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Progress is now financially secure for the next 3 years and if it wishes to rebuild the bridges, it has previously burned, would it not be a good idea to remove the McDonnell Amendment/The Trotfather icon from the home webpage?
This is now out of date because the compromise motion was passed at 2017 Conference, lowering the threshold to a reasonable 10%. This is a minor variation, over the past 7 years, of +- 2.5% around the level used to elect Ed Miliband and nowhere near the 5% (predicted), that has been historically used in leadership elections.
Baby steps, but if Progress genuinely wishes to reengage with the rest of the Party and make a constructive contribution you could also remove the rule changes link under Progress Editorial. This has has already happened and the Shami Chakrabarti recommendations, with the minor amendment (below), agreed between the JLM and the Shadow Attorney General were supported by Momentum and adopted.
https://skwalker1964.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/shami-jlm.png?w=470