Labour's Renewal Must Point To The Good Society

2006-08-03T19:22:00.000Z

The past few weeks have contained a number of dispiriting events and reports for Labour members, but for me two in particular stand out. Firstly, party membership has now officially fallen below the psychologically crucial mark of 200,000. Secondly, according to a recent Mori poll nearly a quarter of Labour voters want their party to lose the next election to`rethink what they stand for and what their vision is for the... country'.

For a progressive party this is genuinely distressing- people are starting to believe we can progress no more. The choice that now lies before us is to achieve renewal in government or do so in opposition. Additionally, as we face a more confident and assertive Conservative Party we must be surer than ever of the dividing lines.

At the centre of Labour's renewal must be the creation of a new narrative, one that ties what we have done to our core values and one that articulates a vision of the good society that we can work towards. Sustainable progressive politics requires a consistent long-term vision for it this that motivates members and supporters in the wake of short-term difficulties.

A vital component of this must be equality. Of course the minimum wage and tax credits have made great strides in ameliorating inequality, however, too often Labour has failed to tie such measures alongside programmes like Sure Start into a wider framework of equality. We have allowed our opponents to set up a false dichotomy between equality of opportunity and a greater equality of outcome, when in practice any meaningful opportunity for all requires at least some lessening of wealth and income disparities. Wealth remains a crucial determinant of employment opportunities; think of the advantage enjoyed by those who supported by a wealthy family can afford to live in central London early in their careers.

Labour has shied away from promoting equality for fear of being seen to begrudge success or put a cap on aspiration. Instead, we should have the confidence to argue on the basis of the aspirations and potential blighted by poverty. As the Fabians have stated we should put the honest case for a rise in the top rate of tax, with the top 1 per cent now holding a greater proportion of wealth than at any time since the 1930s we must surely question whether such wealth could not be used more productively elsewhere in society. Such issues must be wrangled with if we are to have any chance of making child poverty history by 2020.

The party should also put the case for a reactivated public realm within the good society. Conservatives often remind us of the inevitability of self-interest and individualism as distinct from co-operation and collectivism. However, self-interest and the common good should not be seen as antagonistic but as mutually dependent. It is in all of our long-term interests to be part of a flourishing, just, cohesive society, for the products of a failure to secure this such as rising crime can easily rebound on us as individuals. The slogans of the last general election campaign appeared too much as a shopping-list of self-interest, notions of the good society and the common good were conspicuously lacking.

We must also be clear that any good society requires state intervention and here lies a potential dividing line with Cameron's Conservatives. When Cameron argues that there is such a thing as society, it's just not the same as the state, he is missing the reciprocity between the state and society. The faith he places in the voluntary sector has left his policy prescriptions inevitably vague. Gordon Brown showed an appreciation of this in The Hugo Young Memorial Lecture, `fairness can be advanced by but cannot, in the end, be guaranteed by charities, however benevolent, by markets, however dynamic...but guaranteed only by enabling government.' It is a message we should hear more often from Labour.

Cameron has sought to move the political agenda onto cultural issues such as happiness. Yet here too there is a role for the state, the Nordic countries, the most equal societies in Europe, are also shown by polling to be the happiest.

It is right for us to have these debates now, for the challenge of renewal after nine years in power is unprecedented for Labour. The quest for the timeless values of justice, freedom and equality is never over, it must be renewed by each generation in turn. We cannot duck the challenges that follow from this if we are to ensure thatLabour's achievements to date are to the foundations of the good society, rather than the footnotes of a divisive Conservative future.

The First Challenge?

2006-07-08T23:46:00.000Z

The idea of a 'coronation' for Gordon Brown as Labour leader was surely always a rather naive one. Such thoughts neglected to recognise the significant minority in the PLP who saw Brown as as much of a representative of New Labour as Tony Blair, and whom were quite prepared to put forward an alternative view of Labour values.

Yesterday that alternative view lifted itself above the parapet once more in the form of John McDonnell (pictured left), MP for Hayes and Harlington, and Chair of both the socialist Campaign Group of MPs and the Labour Representation Committee. As McDonnell declared at the annual Old Labour jamboree that is the Durham Miners Gala: "Some are saying that there needs to be a smooth transition, a coronation, but that would mean no change because Gordon Brown is the architect of many current policies...There will be no coronation." Although McDonnell refrained from personally declaring a leadership bid, using the old Bennite aphorism, "It's not about personalities but policy", it is implicitly accepted in left-wing circles that McDonnell, with his formal bases, will stand.

It would be easy to dismiss McDonnell as another token 'hard left' MP but the reality is somewhat more complicated. Up to a point it may be politically expedient for Brown to contrast his centrist views with a left-wing alternative, as in his recent support for Trident, but the articulate and confident McDonnell with the chance to put forward a distinct programme could well win support from outside traditional hard-left circles. Centre-left MPs such as Clare Short, who following Brown's Trident declaration will no longer back him , Frank Dobson, Michael Meacher and Glenda Jackson may in the end chose to rally behind an anti-war, anti-privatisation, anti-Trident platform. McDonnell has also been cannily laying the groundwork for potential trade union support (40% of leadership contest votes), chairing the Public Services Not Private Profit campaign backed by 16 unions.

While still very unlikely to win, McDonnell may well be the MP to open up a real debate about the direction forward, bringing an end to what Blair in The Guardian called 'coded critiques'. May a challenger from the left also inspire the re-emergence of a Blairite outrider?

The potential situation reminds me in a strange way of the dispute over Labour's candidate for London Mayor. That time it was a left-wing alternative in the form of Ken Livingstone who won through in the final contest. Interestingly enough, Livingstone's deputy on the old GLC? John McDonnell.

George's Blog

Labour's Renewal Must Point To The Good Society

The First Challenge?