Labour to review language of Tony Blair's clause IV amendment

Labour has promised to look again at clause IV of its constitution, which sets out the aims and values of the party, leading to speculation it could revert to its pre-Tony Blair commitment to socialism.

The party’s ruling body, the national executive committee (NEC), said it will set up a working group to look at updating the language in the clause controversially replaced by Blair in 1995, in what was seen as a milestone moment for the direction of Labour.

However, the NEC will only do so if a constituency Labour party (CLP) motion on the matter which has been tabled for the party’s conference in Brighton – which begins on Saturday – is withdrawn.

A Labour source said it would be premature to say clause IV was being redeveloped but that the party would set up a group to consider its wording on the proviso that members of the Dundee CLP drop their motion.

Related: Clause IV: a brief history

The Scottish activists want “the restoration of the pre-1995” version which includes the line: “To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.”

Blair changed the 1917 wording as part of his New Labour vision, to instead talk of a “dynamic economy” to produce the wealth the nation needs. It was seen as a signifiant break from leftwing economic thinking.

A Labour source said: “This is jumping the gun. The NEC is asking the proposers to withdraw the motion. If they do not, the NEC will recommend it is opposed.”

Withdrawing the motion avoids it potentially dominating discussions at conference, which Labour’s leadership may find distracting from its main policy areas.

However, the fact the NEC has decided it is willing to discuss the clause in certain circumstances is in itself a significant development for members who are keen to see the historic elements of the constitution return, such as a commitment to nationalisation.

Labour is keen to stress that any changes to clause IV would be a rule change, and may not get the endorsement of the NEC, or in future be put to a vote of the membership at a party conference.

The former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson told the Times that going back to the old version would be a “final triumph over Blairism” for the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

He warned the former clause was a product of 1917 and would not be fit for today’s party.