CSM Youth Residential: On Earth as it is in Heaven

Am taking a bit of a break from packing for party conference and realised that I hadn't blogged for a while. Wanted to write a bit about the CSM Youth Residential that took place a couple of weekends ago now but also thought I'd draw your attention to this article written by Tristram Hunt in the New Statesman about the contribution of Protestantism to the Labour movement. He ends the article by urging a return to Christian Socialist principles and is well worth a read: http://www.newstatesman.com/200709060025

So onto the residential - I really enjoyed this weekend, probably even more than last year and a wide-range of people bringing quite different perspectives to our discussions. We had several key-note speakers, including Skills Minister David Lammy. Sorry to bring up Jon Cruddas again but Jon also joined us and I was impressed by the way in which he was able to engage everyone there, particularly those who were Christians on the Left, but not members of either CSM or the Labour Party. Jon talked about churches in his consituency being 'on the frontline of political action' and drew on the work of London Citizens in addressing the issue of migrant workers who need to have their immigration status regularised in order to work legally. The Lib-Dems have actually just agreed to a one-off regularisation for people who have been here for more than ten years. This is laudable but is really too long. We're not talking about people on benefits - we're talking about people who want to work, often with children who have been born in this country, who cannot earn a living legally. Ten years is too long to live in limbo - for more info visit the Strangers into Citizens campaign website: www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk