Labour’s Religion Problem

 It occurred to me recently that Labour might have a religion problem.

No, as a Party, we do not concern ourselves with the great theological questions of the 21^st Century. We have little quarrel with female Bishops and generally accept that abortion is a necessary evil.

These are not Party Political matters.

We instead  treat left wing politics as if it were a religion.

Not a terribly good one, at that.

I first came across this idea in Nigel Fletcher’s excellent book* ‘How to be in Opposition: Life in the Political Shadows’. In this manual for the recently ejected Political Party, he has a contribution from one of Labour’s most significant leaders. Not electorally significant, of course. But he was important because he stopped the Labour Party from continuing down a path from which it could not return. Electoral oblivion. Anyway, I digress. In this interview, Kinnock talks of Labour’s torrid time in the ‘80s:

“A marooned political party is rather like a religious sect – it takes comfort in the idea that one day those poor benighted people out there will see the true light, and understand that we, the Party, are correct. ‘We are the people with the insight’, the think, ‘we are the people with the wisdom, and therefore we should talk to ourselves, because no one else will understand us, poor things’. Or at least if you are a progressive party, you say ‘poor things’ – if you’re a regressive party then you say ‘curse them’ – that’s the only difference. In both cases it is nonsense, and irrelevant to the needs and aspirations of the public. But that’s where too many in the Labour Party were in the mid-1980s’.

(Kinnock, one could say, fell foul of this himself. “We’re Alright Labour” contributed to the loss of the 1992 election when we should have won; it is a tragedy that it took another 5 years to remove the tired, battered and broken Conservative Party from power)

If Labour is to be the one term opposition that the country needs us to be, then I fear that should these people get there way, we will do quite the opposite and will spend the next 20 years under the Conservative yolk. I spent the formative years of my life growing up under New Labour and I would like to see another Labour Government before I pass into the second half century of my life.

Of course, this is not just an affliction of Labour. The Tories, too, have their own bas****ds who obsesss over things that the public could not care less about, and who are, in some cases, toxic to the Conservative Party. The hard right people who think that the way to win an election is to withdraw from Great Britain (This is also why UKIP will forever remain a well funded pressure group until it can talk about something else coherently). The right libertarians/tea party types who talk of privatising the NHS, of the near abolishment of Government, and of Labour’s authoritarian past. These people are the reason that the Tories were roundly dismissed by the people on three occasions between 1997-2005. And they are, thankfully, the reason that Cameron failed magnificently at the 2010 election. Labour has expelled it’s militants. When John Redwood is no longer a member of the Tory Party, the New Tory project will be complete.

“We’re Alright Labour” is making a comeback.

I did not vote for the current Leader of the Labour Party. Like a majority of members, I voted for his brother. But then you do not always get what you want. I believe that Ed Miliband is capable of winning the next election, but I fear that the strength of the Conservative Party and the residual popularity of David Cameron would make it tough for any Leader, no matter who had won, to win the next election outright. I will keep the faith, meanwhile, and put as much time as I can into making that outcome a reality.

Meanwhile, amongst the membership I fear that there is widespread, if not well thought out trend towards the further Left elements of the Party. Speaking to fellow members recently, I have sensed that there is a general thought we should put some serious distance between us and the Tories.

It struck me, that actually, I agree.

Being ‘Tory light’ will not make us win the next election. With the Left, I agree with that statement. There have been some recent defections  to the Tories from so called ‘supporters’ of New Labour.

If you think that New Labour is politically similar to the New Tories, then I believe that to be as misguided as those that say that Labour now bears little resemblance to the “real” (whatever that may be) Labour Party.

Anyway, this trend of thought amongst my fellow members sees opposition as the holy grail of Labour when it is in Opposition. On free schools, on reforms to the NHS,  on academies, on the economy, in fact, on almost every issue, they see it as Labour to oppose. Opposition, as Dan Hodges points out, is not just about opposing. It is about articulating a real, relatable alternative and a different vision for the Country. Opposition is about being positive for the country’s future.

Left wing politics can thrive under those circumstances.

Just look at the Blair years. A record period of Labour Government.

Labour’s Business.

Many fellow members applauded Ed Miliband’s attack on “predatory” businesses at last year’s conference. A recurring theme of the last twelve months has been talking about building a new economy based around responsibility at the top and at the bottom. That is a good message. It is, I believe, right. I agree that the Government should be cracking down on those kinds of company. The kind that abuse their power to make a fast buck.

But that does not stop it from being wrong.

Beyond making a broad, sweeping and potentially irreversible statement on Labour’s relationship with business, it conveys little. As Fletcher eloquently points out in his book on opposition, there are two types of opposition: those that present themselves in great, broad brush strokes, and those who do every single little thing right. The latter is the one that makes for easy government after those long, difficult years of opposition. That should be what we aspire to.

Anyway, back to the point. Praying at the alter to a Socialism that has been twisted out of all recognition does not We need business to win the next election, and that should be recognized. Labour’s prawn cocktail offensive under Kinnock, Smith and Blair was successful for a reason.

This does not, of course, mean that we should take the attitude of the Tories. Non-existent regulation, markets that have been disfigured by years of monopoly, profligate spending are all as much signs of the modern Tory Party as they are of Labour (Mrs Thatcher was not really a Thatcherite. Spending in real terms increased by more than 30% between 1979-1991)

As I said above, Ed’s message was correct, and politically I agree with it. I’m sure that most people would. The trouble is, it can be too easily misrepresented. Attacking business is code for attacking success, aspiration, and leaving your children better off than you are, they say. That isn’t true.

Rewarding success, helping the typical family improve their standard of living, and leaving the world a better state than the one into which you were born are all reflective of Labour values in a modern setting.

And that, simply, is why we are afraid of articulating that message. We could be attacking the Government, and articulating a clear, Labour message on these issues.

We could say that we will provide tax cuts to small business where they take on new staff or train a young apprentice. We will make the banks in which we own a share lend to small business in contrast to the present Government’s failure to do just that. We will reward people who create jobs, train young people, develop new technologies and improve their community.

That should be Labour’s business.

And indeed it is. This excellent pamphlet  entitled “Labour’s Business” was edited by Alex Smith.

Free Schools – A chance for self renewal.

Labour’s cutting edge academies programme was one of the great successes of the last Government. It turned around failing schools in the areas of greates deprivation through a collaboration between the State and the teachers at the School. It allowed teachers rather than some far off official to decide what was best for the children and community that was served. The extension of this programme (minus that extra money) that this Government is making would seem to be the logical step.

Now, more controversially, we have free schools. I saw this week that there was a discussion going on in the great discussion chamber of the modern Labour Party, Twitter, suggesting that we should ‘nationalise’, or even close all free schools and return them to the control of the state.

This seems, rather conveniently, to forget that they never left. They remain as much a part of the education system as comprehensives or other maintained schools. What we might call the first free school was funded, and encouraged by a Labour Government. A group of parents saw that their community lacked a school, forcing them to send their children miles away. They were allowed to set one up, much in the way that free schools can now be established.

Of course, this does not mean that the Government’s free school programme is a good thing. I do not think that it is. It allows some  people with peculiar values and companies to establish schools in very odd places that no sane person would say is suitable for a school.  No free school can be selective, save for choosing the children of a founder over those of a normal parent.

Abolishing what may well be popular schools in order to make a rather tenuous polical point would be foolish in extremis.

When in Government, Labour could transform the free schools programme into something more in line with Labour’s values. Peter Hyman, a former staffer to Tony Blair has set up a free school in Stratford, London, one of the most deprived areas of our nation. It’s name is ‘School 21’ in recognition it will take children from a very deprived background, and take many who have not had quality education up until that point (including some children who are illiterate), and prepare them for life in the 21^st Century. Having a school which has the capacity and flexibility to reflect, and adapt, to the community that it is sited in seems to be me to be a rather good idea. This week, the National Autistic Society has announced that it will be opening a free school – Sure to be a valued institution when it opens.

This is, of course, in contrast to the West London Free School, set up by Toby Young, who has a particular interest in how the teaching of Latin and Ancient Greek can prepare children for the 21^st Century. Michael Gove, in particular is enthused by that proposition.

What miserable little pipsqueaks.

Of course, pledging to abolish free schools fits very nicely into We’re Alright Labour’s platform. Those that pray to that particular alter are living in the past as much as Toby Young and Michael Gove.

That sort of nicely summarises the problem with sections of Labour Party today. Looking in on ourselves, and viewing the world through our own viewpoint. A very attractive view it may be. But it is often at odds with the majority of the country.

Without our values, we would be meaningless, managerial drones.  Just look at the Liberal Democrats. A Party that is fundamentally split between Left and Right; a divide that voters will never again travel in great numbers. We can offer so much more than that kind of politics – politics that, at its best, is cynical and divisive.

Labour’s future can be bright. In these austere times, we can offer hope,  but onlyif we are willing to be radical enough. If we can come to terms that there is a Tory Government, and that we will have to deal with the country as they leave it. Deal with the country as it stands, not as it what in the ‘60s, ‘70s, or ‘80s. Or, even, the New Labour years.

Those years are behind us and we must instead be radical – push ourselves outside of our comfort zone. In order to be the one term opposition that we have to be, the Party needs to get its act together. 2010 was traumatic, but it is not the defining moment for our Party.

* If you are interested in how Labour can be a one term opposition, you should read this book. Buy it here.