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Conference convinced me that Labour can rescue the NHS – and our nation Conference convinced me that Labour can rescue the NHS – and our nation
(about 3 hours later)
When I was a lad, Britain was empty of real words. It was much like it is today, because the nation was hungry for both bread and hope. Growing up in the rough-and-ready streets of 1920s Barnsley, I stumbled from morning to night in both desperation and fear that I wouldn’t make it to adulthood. Now I am an old man, and both my knees and elbows have been scraped by the history of my generation. Though I obviously have my own views, I don’t consider myself “political” as such – it is not in my DNA to be faithful to a party as I would be to a spouse, because politics is a fickle lover that will always desert the idealist for the pragmatist.When I was a lad, Britain was empty of real words. It was much like it is today, because the nation was hungry for both bread and hope. Growing up in the rough-and-ready streets of 1920s Barnsley, I stumbled from morning to night in both desperation and fear that I wouldn’t make it to adulthood. Now I am an old man, and both my knees and elbows have been scraped by the history of my generation. Though I obviously have my own views, I don’t consider myself “political” as such – it is not in my DNA to be faithful to a party as I would be to a spouse, because politics is a fickle lover that will always desert the idealist for the pragmatist.
So don’t think I came to the Labour party conference without my eyes wide open. In fact, I expected to be disappointed by the machine that is called New Labour.So don’t think I came to the Labour party conference without my eyes wide open. In fact, I expected to be disappointed by the machine that is called New Labour.
But I wasn’t, because I spent much of my time with the young delegates and people who are lobbying for ways to improve the party’s goals and message. It was heartening to see so many individuals from diverse cultures, regions and economic backgrounds engaged in finding ways to make our nation better for us all.But I wasn’t, because I spent much of my time with the young delegates and people who are lobbying for ways to improve the party’s goals and message. It was heartening to see so many individuals from diverse cultures, regions and economic backgrounds engaged in finding ways to make our nation better for us all.
I was energised by talking with people and sharing my life story. I heard their own troubles and triumphs, and the tales of their ancestors struggling through the great depression as my family and I did. I came away from each conversation emboldened by a shared history that is both tragic and heroic. I didn’t feel I was meeting politicians; I felt I was meeting people.I was energised by talking with people and sharing my life story. I heard their own troubles and triumphs, and the tales of their ancestors struggling through the great depression as my family and I did. I came away from each conversation emboldened by a shared history that is both tragic and heroic. I didn’t feel I was meeting politicians; I felt I was meeting people.
I was also impressed when Ed Miliband reached out and asked to meet me the day before I gave my speech on the NHS. He wanted to learn first-hand about my history and about life in Britain before the welfare state was erected. I told him of the great social victory that occurred for the working and middle classes when Labour was elected in 1945 to build a social safety network that would protect the vulnerable and inspire the safe to do great things for our country in the spheres of medicine, education and business.I was also impressed when Ed Miliband reached out and asked to meet me the day before I gave my speech on the NHS. He wanted to learn first-hand about my history and about life in Britain before the welfare state was erected. I told him of the great social victory that occurred for the working and middle classes when Labour was elected in 1945 to build a social safety network that would protect the vulnerable and inspire the safe to do great things for our country in the spheres of medicine, education and business.
I am not accustomed to being in the presence of people with great influence, power or wealth. but I was pleasantly surprised by my first impressions of Miliband. I found him to be warm, engaged and genuine. He never forgot during our chat that I am a person who in early life witnessed and experienced terrible events. He listened, he enquired and he was kind when I became emotional over my oldest sister’s death from TB.I am not accustomed to being in the presence of people with great influence, power or wealth. but I was pleasantly surprised by my first impressions of Miliband. I found him to be warm, engaged and genuine. He never forgot during our chat that I am a person who in early life witnessed and experienced terrible events. He listened, he enquired and he was kind when I became emotional over my oldest sister’s death from TB.
I think I have lived long enough and broken bread with enough people over my lifetime to be a good judge of character. What I gained from meeting Miliband is that I believe he can lead, that he does care, and that he will be engaged with the everyday concerns of everyday people as long as he remembers to rub shoulders with us as many times as possible.I think I have lived long enough and broken bread with enough people over my lifetime to be a good judge of character. What I gained from meeting Miliband is that I believe he can lead, that he does care, and that he will be engaged with the everyday concerns of everyday people as long as he remembers to rub shoulders with us as many times as possible.
For me, the hardest task this week was to walk to the conference hall podium and stand before the crowds and the media and lay bare my life, and my loss. Still, I did it because I believe that our country is sailing towards national destruction, and that we will founder on the rocks of austerity and politics that are dictated by the caprice of the City over the will of the people.For me, the hardest task this week was to walk to the conference hall podium and stand before the crowds and the media and lay bare my life, and my loss. Still, I did it because I believe that our country is sailing towards national destruction, and that we will founder on the rocks of austerity and politics that are dictated by the caprice of the City over the will of the people.
I am an individual who looks for the political party that can best deal with our country’s problems. Because of my history I was always going to be a man who supports more leftwing causes than right. But I have always given politicians of all leanings their due if they are the right person for the right time, and that is why I supported Churchill during the second world war to lead us in battle, and Attlee after the war to lead us in peacetime.I am an individual who looks for the political party that can best deal with our country’s problems. Because of my history I was always going to be a man who supports more leftwing causes than right. But I have always given politicians of all leanings their due if they are the right person for the right time, and that is why I supported Churchill during the second world war to lead us in battle, and Attlee after the war to lead us in peacetime.
Today, I believe that Labour can be the party that wins the next election and that it can be the tide that raises all boats – as long as it listens to the heart of its young and the head of its old. We as a nation have to regain our sense of pride and purpose, and there is no better way of doing that than by protecting and preserving the NHS, building sustainable communities, creating an education system that is affordable, and safeguarding proper wages. It won’t be an easy job for our politicians – and that is why so many shy away from it – but the alternative will be far more difficult for us to shoulder.Today, I believe that Labour can be the party that wins the next election and that it can be the tide that raises all boats – as long as it listens to the heart of its young and the head of its old. We as a nation have to regain our sense of pride and purpose, and there is no better way of doing that than by protecting and preserving the NHS, building sustainable communities, creating an education system that is affordable, and safeguarding proper wages. It won’t be an easy job for our politicians – and that is why so many shy away from it – but the alternative will be far more difficult for us to shoulder.
• Harry Leslie Smith is the author of Harry’s Last Stand, available from the Guardian bookshop