This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/26/labour-party-give-people-hope
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Labour must once again be the party to give people hope | Labour must once again be the party to give people hope |
| (1 day later) | |
| As a teenager, I wanted to change the world so I joined the Labour party. In the age of Thatcher, that was the obvious path for political activists. Would I do the same as a teenager today? | As a teenager, I wanted to change the world so I joined the Labour party. In the age of Thatcher, that was the obvious path for political activists. Would I do the same as a teenager today? |
| It was not just leadership or policy that wrong-footed Labour at the election. Today’s politics is defined by the gnawing sense “we’re all the same”. People do not just feel they can’t trust us – they doubt the ability of politics to tackle big issues such as terrorism, inequality and housing. | It was not just leadership or policy that wrong-footed Labour at the election. Today’s politics is defined by the gnawing sense “we’re all the same”. People do not just feel they can’t trust us – they doubt the ability of politics to tackle big issues such as terrorism, inequality and housing. |
| Related: Jeremy Corbyn might just be able to unite Britain’s progressive parties | Letters | |
| Traditional political parties seem terrifyingly small in ambition and ability. When everything feels so complex, the choice people make today is less between left and right, but more insider or outsider, authentic or inauthentic. Between supporting those who take on the establishment or those who maintain the status quo. | Traditional political parties seem terrifyingly small in ambition and ability. When everything feels so complex, the choice people make today is less between left and right, but more insider or outsider, authentic or inauthentic. Between supporting those who take on the establishment or those who maintain the status quo. |
| There is no rule that Labour has to exist or has a monopoly on the hopes and dreams of Britain’s progressives. Just as in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, we are at a crossroads. But the direction is less left or right and more about our relevance to the modern world. | There is no rule that Labour has to exist or has a monopoly on the hopes and dreams of Britain’s progressives. Just as in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, we are at a crossroads. But the direction is less left or right and more about our relevance to the modern world. |
| Those who want change aren’t standing still. Energy is directed elsewhere, to the kinds of causes and campaigns Labour candidates were told not to run so as not to dilute the “brand”. | Those who want change aren’t standing still. Energy is directed elsewhere, to the kinds of causes and campaigns Labour candidates were told not to run so as not to dilute the “brand”. |
| Mass movements, on and offline, are on the move, whether the SNP and Ukip, the Women’s Institute or Citizens UK. Where Change.org or Greenpeace and Oxfam are flexible about how involvement will make a difference, Labour is still issuing press releases from the centre to tell people we have solutions to questions they haven’t asked. Newer social movements, unencumbered by messy structures, are creating havoc – they are more likely than Labour conferences to effect change. | Mass movements, on and offline, are on the move, whether the SNP and Ukip, the Women’s Institute or Citizens UK. Where Change.org or Greenpeace and Oxfam are flexible about how involvement will make a difference, Labour is still issuing press releases from the centre to tell people we have solutions to questions they haven’t asked. Newer social movements, unencumbered by messy structures, are creating havoc – they are more likely than Labour conferences to effect change. |
| Acknowledging we have a problem is just the first step on the road to recovery and unless we are able to keep making this journey together, the risk is that the left will talk itself out of action and collapse completely into antagonism and anguish. Our inboxes shouted “sell out” on the welfare reform bill – as though it is already law and there is no fight to be had on its future shape. | Acknowledging we have a problem is just the first step on the road to recovery and unless we are able to keep making this journey together, the risk is that the left will talk itself out of action and collapse completely into antagonism and anguish. Our inboxes shouted “sell out” on the welfare reform bill – as though it is already law and there is no fight to be had on its future shape. |
| This is not a matter of procedure or better use of websites. It is fundamentally a question of purpose. A movement starts with a why, not the how. We must show how in the world to come we have answers that can transform markets, cultures and opportunities through political activism. That faced with a global economy ripping through national institutions, insecurity and social transformation of a kind never imagined a decade ago, we offer more than sympathy. To be again an insurgent force for progress, by helping make people power a reality. | This is not a matter of procedure or better use of websites. It is fundamentally a question of purpose. A movement starts with a why, not the how. We must show how in the world to come we have answers that can transform markets, cultures and opportunities through political activism. That faced with a global economy ripping through national institutions, insecurity and social transformation of a kind never imagined a decade ago, we offer more than sympathy. To be again an insurgent force for progress, by helping make people power a reality. |
| For someone so focused on the future, it may be confusing that my inspiration is the tradition of mutualism. But in this epoch of rapid change, never more have we needed an operating system for social justice that starts not with servicing institutions, but empowering individuals and collective organising. So let’s look at using the fines paid by utility companies to purchase their stock. Held in a co-operative for their customers and workers, this could in effect gradually return utilities to public control. | For someone so focused on the future, it may be confusing that my inspiration is the tradition of mutualism. But in this epoch of rapid change, never more have we needed an operating system for social justice that starts not with servicing institutions, but empowering individuals and collective organising. So let’s look at using the fines paid by utility companies to purchase their stock. Held in a co-operative for their customers and workers, this could in effect gradually return utilities to public control. |
| We can best guarantee the future of Britain’s public services by directly giving them to the people. Not only could mutualisation make privatisation impossible, but it would also put public interest tests front and centre of any reforms, not profits. | We can best guarantee the future of Britain’s public services by directly giving them to the people. Not only could mutualisation make privatisation impossible, but it would also put public interest tests front and centre of any reforms, not profits. |
| Labour also needs to empower its grassroots, and be more willing to work with those who share our values, but not our membership cards. We should experiment with offering “pay what you think it’s worth” for the first year of membership. Not holding policy events as a form of party management, but using participatory techniques on and offline to together debate, disagree and decide our way forward. | Labour also needs to empower its grassroots, and be more willing to work with those who share our values, but not our membership cards. We should experiment with offering “pay what you think it’s worth” for the first year of membership. Not holding policy events as a form of party management, but using participatory techniques on and offline to together debate, disagree and decide our way forward. |
| Attlee once argued that Labour is what its members make it – our future is in our hands. We can either rage against the dying of the light of the parties of our youth or get ahead of these trends and return to our roots. There are plenty of politicians who want to give people a grievance; let’s be the ones to give them hope. Let’s make Labour a place where the next generation of political activists want to join. Let’s become a movement again, not a machine. | Attlee once argued that Labour is what its members make it – our future is in our hands. We can either rage against the dying of the light of the parties of our youth or get ahead of these trends and return to our roots. There are plenty of politicians who want to give people a grievance; let’s be the ones to give them hope. Let’s make Labour a place where the next generation of political activists want to join. Let’s become a movement again, not a machine. |
| Stella Creasy is MP for Walthamstow and is standing for Labour deputy leader | Stella Creasy is MP for Walthamstow and is standing for Labour deputy leader |
Previous version
1
Next version