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| Reducing inequality benefits the many, not the few. Labour has to show that | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| While picking ourselves up from our terrible defeat, we must not chuck out everything from the past five years. And dusting off the old playbooks from 20 years ago won’t cut it either. We need fresh ideas for the 2020s, not reheated New Labour. Labour is at its best when we understand how the country has changed and we adapt to new circumstances. That means learning from what we got right since 2010, as well as identifying what we got wrong. | While picking ourselves up from our terrible defeat, we must not chuck out everything from the past five years. And dusting off the old playbooks from 20 years ago won’t cut it either. We need fresh ideas for the 2020s, not reheated New Labour. Labour is at its best when we understand how the country has changed and we adapt to new circumstances. That means learning from what we got right since 2010, as well as identifying what we got wrong. |
| And contrary to what some prominent Labour politicians would have you believe, we did get some things right: our London results showed both that we made progress, and how much further we still have to go. One of Ed Miliband’s lasting gifts to the party was putting reducing inequality back at the heart of our economic strategy and firmly on the political agenda. The country is facing many future challenges, and we’ll only be able to meet these if we do something about inequality on housing, education, health and in many other areas. It is these issues which define us as Labour, and it is on these we must continue to focus. | And contrary to what some prominent Labour politicians would have you believe, we did get some things right: our London results showed both that we made progress, and how much further we still have to go. One of Ed Miliband’s lasting gifts to the party was putting reducing inequality back at the heart of our economic strategy and firmly on the political agenda. The country is facing many future challenges, and we’ll only be able to meet these if we do something about inequality on housing, education, health and in many other areas. It is these issues which define us as Labour, and it is on these we must continue to focus. |
| But clearly a commitment to reducing inequality alone isn’t enough to get us into government. Yet neither will banging on about aspiration as though it’s something only people who shop in Waitrose have or understand. It was because of their aspirations that my dad worked every hour of overtime he could get as a London bus driver, while my mum worked as a seamstress. It was their aspirations that meant they encouraged us to do well at school and go on to university and on good apprenticeships. | But clearly a commitment to reducing inequality alone isn’t enough to get us into government. Yet neither will banging on about aspiration as though it’s something only people who shop in Waitrose have or understand. It was because of their aspirations that my dad worked every hour of overtime he could get as a London bus driver, while my mum worked as a seamstress. It was their aspirations that meant they encouraged us to do well at school and go on to university and on good apprenticeships. |
| But it was also their ambitions for the wider community that meant my brothers gave up their free time to run the local boxing club, as my nephews do now. And it was because of my parent’s aspiration for our country that my siblings work as teachers, public servants and in the NHS. A sense of community, which is so important regardless of income, requires a sense of responsibility from everyone. Labour just didn’t talk about that enough. | But it was also their ambitions for the wider community that meant my brothers gave up their free time to run the local boxing club, as my nephews do now. And it was because of my parent’s aspiration for our country that my siblings work as teachers, public servants and in the NHS. A sense of community, which is so important regardless of income, requires a sense of responsibility from everyone. Labour just didn’t talk about that enough. |
| Like most people, my parents were only able to fulfil their dreams because there was support. A council home so they could save for a deposit to buy a home of their own. Fantastic local state schools where my own daughters go now. Affordable university places and good quality apprenticeships. Opportunity must be underpinned by security – and Labour must offer that security. | Like most people, my parents were only able to fulfil their dreams because there was support. A council home so they could save for a deposit to buy a home of their own. Fantastic local state schools where my own daughters go now. Affordable university places and good quality apprenticeships. Opportunity must be underpinned by security – and Labour must offer that security. |
| Labour allowed ourselves to be painted as anti-business for talking about insecurity, when the opposite was true | Labour allowed ourselves to be painted as anti-business for talking about insecurity, when the opposite was true |
| And let’s be clear: that insecurity reaches right up the income scale, which is why our commitment to fair rents and secure tenancies spoke to many middle-class professionals in London. Even Tory candidates attacked the Tory’s lack of policies on housing as a factor in why they struggled in the capital. | And let’s be clear: that insecurity reaches right up the income scale, which is why our commitment to fair rents and secure tenancies spoke to many middle-class professionals in London. Even Tory candidates attacked the Tory’s lack of policies on housing as a factor in why they struggled in the capital. |
| It’s got to be a deal though: economic growth, and lower inequality will only create a better life for all if we are straight that this will require shared effort and sacrifice. We promised things to ease the pain now for the “squeezed middle” without outlining what the economy might be like if we were in charge. And we suggested these would somehow be “pain-free” – paid for by someone else. The British public just didn’t buy it. | It’s got to be a deal though: economic growth, and lower inequality will only create a better life for all if we are straight that this will require shared effort and sacrifice. We promised things to ease the pain now for the “squeezed middle” without outlining what the economy might be like if we were in charge. And we suggested these would somehow be “pain-free” – paid for by someone else. The British public just didn’t buy it. |
| So it allowed our opponents to use the crash as a symbol of our economic mismanagement. But this is far from the truth. Let us be clear: the deficit in 2007 did not cause the crash, and the Tories were fully signed up to our spending plans. We should not cede this ground. | So it allowed our opponents to use the crash as a symbol of our economic mismanagement. But this is far from the truth. Let us be clear: the deficit in 2007 did not cause the crash, and the Tories were fully signed up to our spending plans. We should not cede this ground. |
| There were, however, bigger issues about our economic approach. We failed to regulate the banks and financial sector. We subsidised employers who paid low wages, placing a burden on the taxpayer, rather than encouraging them to pay a living wage. We tackled the effects rather than the causes, and that made it harder for us to tackle inequality. Since 2010 we began to address that and we must not go back on that now. But we have to paint a picture of what it means for people beyond the very low-paid, and how they’ll benefit personally if we tackle this. | There were, however, bigger issues about our economic approach. We failed to regulate the banks and financial sector. We subsidised employers who paid low wages, placing a burden on the taxpayer, rather than encouraging them to pay a living wage. We tackled the effects rather than the causes, and that made it harder for us to tackle inequality. Since 2010 we began to address that and we must not go back on that now. But we have to paint a picture of what it means for people beyond the very low-paid, and how they’ll benefit personally if we tackle this. |
| Related: The Blairites are back. But if Labour falls to them, the party may as well give up | Owen Jones | Related: The Blairites are back. But if Labour falls to them, the party may as well give up | Owen Jones |
| Labour allowed ourselves to be painted as anti-business for talking about insecurity, when in reality the opposite was true. The high cost of finding a home and getting to work are big concerns for employers. By giving people more security, we also give business what they need and make it easier for them to grow and succeed. In the future we must make the case that security is good for business too. | Labour allowed ourselves to be painted as anti-business for talking about insecurity, when in reality the opposite was true. The high cost of finding a home and getting to work are big concerns for employers. By giving people more security, we also give business what they need and make it easier for them to grow and succeed. In the future we must make the case that security is good for business too. |
| We weren’t able to make this argument because we spent too much time talking about taking things away from other people. In reality, economic growth only happens with shared effort. That means acknowledging the efforts made by everyone, from the supermarket shop floor to the City trading floor. Everyone has their role to play, and we need everyone to succeed for our country to succeed. | We weren’t able to make this argument because we spent too much time talking about taking things away from other people. In reality, economic growth only happens with shared effort. That means acknowledging the efforts made by everyone, from the supermarket shop floor to the City trading floor. Everyone has their role to play, and we need everyone to succeed for our country to succeed. |
| Our first opportunity to show we have learnt these lessons is the London mayoral elections next May. We have to win. That means telling a story of our future that offers real solutions to the problems of insecurity, isolation and inequality. And it means being a party firmly rooted in the future, not the past. | Our first opportunity to show we have learnt these lessons is the London mayoral elections next May. We have to win. That means telling a story of our future that offers real solutions to the problems of insecurity, isolation and inequality. And it means being a party firmly rooted in the future, not the past. |
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