Anticipations - Summer 2010 (Taster Edition) by Young Fabians

YOUNG FABIANS

ANTICIPATIONS Online Taster Edition | Summer 2010

? Where now for Labour? Leadership candidates Diane Abbott, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, David Miliband and Ed Miliband set out their stalls...

YOUNG FABIANS

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FROM THE EDITOR

WHERE NOW FOR LABOUR?

Policy alone isn’t enough; the Labour Party must rediscover its driving mission

ike most Young Fabians I came of age politically under a Labour government. From my first opportunity to vote in the 2001 General Election, to standing for Parliament in the last one, Labour have been in power. For many of my generation, opposition is less a distant memory than someone else’s memory. A throwback to a time of militancy and long suicide notes, when the Labour Party debated and the Tory Party ruled. Labour’s return to the opposition benches will no doubt be met by infighting and recriminations. While we must understand what went wrong, we must also learn from the factionalism of the 80s and avoid the worst excesses of introspection. The coalition’s recent regressive budget serves as a pertinent reminder of why the country needs Labour back in power as soon as possible. Those that we represent cannot wait another eighteen years for a Labour government. However, it is crucial that we do not let the mistakes of the past stop us engaging in meaningful reflection for the future. Let’s be clear: we lost the last General Election conclusively. That the Tories failed to secure a working majority should not mask the fact that we gained the lowest proportion of the vote since 1983. Our party is in need of root and branch reform and Young Fabian members have a crucial role to play in shaping that new direction. We must use the

leadership race to renew our movement and rediscover what the Labour Party stands for. To do that we must first understand why we lost the election. That means learning not only from what went wrong but also from what went right. Labour made incredible gains in Barking and Dagenham, ousting the BNP from the council and humiliating Nick Griffin in the process. As HOPE not Hate organiser Sam Tarry argues in this edition, sustained targeted grassroots campaigning can be devastatingly effective. This was equally true in other parts of London as Labour regained control of councils across the City including Ealing, Camden and Islington. London Young Labour Chair Christine Quigley is right to highlight the important role that strong, highly localised campaigns played in these elections. However, despite these notable successes, the overall picture was deeply concerning. As new Labour MP Emma Reynolds points out, the skilled working class, who make up a fifth of the electorate, left us in droves. South of the Severn to The Wash, as Progress Deputy Director Richard Angell notes, we held only 10 seats out of a possible 209. We lost hard working Labour MPs up and down the country and we now, as Compass General Secretary Gavin Hayes highlights, face the very real threat of a long spell in opposition at the hands of the first coalition government since the war. So what went wrong?

First and foremost we failed to offer real change in what was always going to be a ‘change election’. As many of the leadership candidates rightly argue in this edition, Labour is at its best when it is a radical force for change. Yet far too often in recent years we tried to hedge our bets and in so doing fell between two stools. We were tough enough on the banks to earn the wrath of the City but failed to take the bold steps required to convince the public that we understood their anger. We took action on MPs’ expenses but came too late to the wider political reforms needed to regain public trust. Worst of all we became managers and technocrats who seemed more concerned with process than with a driving Labour mission. In many ways New Labour was right to reject the dogma of the 1980s in favour of the mantra of ‘what works’. However, while pragmatism was crucial to our electability, at times it led us astray. From the minimum wage to civil partnerships, we were at our most successful when we allowed our values to lead us. That is the real lesson of the election. To renew our party we must go back to first principles and articulate our values afresh in a way that resonates with those we seek to govern. Only then can we regain public confidence and build the coalition that will bring us back to power. James Green Anticipations Editor

ANTICIPATIONS • SUMMER 2010

FROM THE CHAIR David Chaplin Chair, Young Fabians

On the future of the Young Fabians and Labour

his edition of Anticipations will be sent out to a record high group of Young Fabian members. We have seen our numbers grow every day since May 6th. The Fabian Society membership is increasingly dominated by Young Fabians and nearly half of the new members to the Fabian Society since the election now come from the under 31 section of Society and therefore qualify as Young Fabians. These are exciting times for the next generation of progressive Labour activists. It’s a shame that it has taken the massive electoral defeat of the Labour Party for the progressive youth to mobilise and join the Labour movement through the Fabian Society. But as Chair of the Young Fabians I now intend to put that commitment from our newest members to good use. I want all our members to feel that they have come to the right place to effect real change and I commit to giving every Young Fabian member a voice; firstly in our Society; but secondly in the Labour movement. At the Young Fabian executive’s July meeting we voted in a set of radical and exciting reforms which will do just that. You’ll hear more about this in the next couple of weeks but the executive has decided to dramatically expand the number of local Young Fabian groups and, to support that growth, has proposed to create a dedicated space on the executive for representatives of our new local branches. For too long the process of nomination and election to the Young Fabian executive has been confusing and off-putting to our

members. The current executive voted overwhelmingly at our July meeting to completely open-up this process and publish a new ‘how-to guide’ on our website for Young Fabian members who are interested in standing for election to the executive. We’ll also be holding special events throughout the year where current executive members will share their experiences and advice with Young Fabian members to encourage them to stand for election. We recognise that we need to broaden our pool of talent and we want all our members outside of London to be supported in their work at a local level in the Fabian Society. We’ve seen some brilliant efforts this past year by local activists such as Sam Bacon in Manchester and the reforms we’ve just approved aim to encourage more people like Sam to set up their own Young Fabian branches across the UK. This change is an organic development of the Young Fabians. The progressive youth movement is agitating for change and, as a member of the Young Fabians, you are ideally placed to take part. Now more than ever there are opportunities for you to get involved in our work and shape the direction of Labour Party policy. As a Young Fabian member you get an extra vote in the Labour Party leadership election. The jointly hosted Young Fabian hustings in London in June will hopefully be followed by online and outside of London events through August and September, so watch this space for more details. The reforms taking place in the Young

Fabians are also part of a wider need and desire for reform within the Labour movement. The Party can sometimes seem like an out of shape machine which is not fit for purpose in the world of 21st century campaigning. The Party needs to adapt and react to our electoral defeat. It needs to realise that Labour supporters, member and activists are all looking for different ways to get involved and that we should think of new ways to facilitate that enthusiasm. Not simply asking people to come a long to branch meetings or CLP AGMs. This challenge has been recognised by some of the leadership candidates and the Young Fabians have been asked by the Party to start a unique Policy Development Group to look specifically at the issue of Labour Party reform. You can find out more about this by looking at the Policy Development Group pages on our website. Finally, I’d like to encourage all Young Fabian members who have thought about getting involved but who have felt unsure about how to contribute to get in touch with the executive in the coming weeks. The Fabian Society and the Young Fabians will be asking for nominations for election to their executive committees in July and August and it is vital that a strong field of candidates come forward for those elections. If you have questions about the process please get in touch with me. I look forward to speaking with as many members as possible about our reforms and also how to reform the Labour Party in the run up to our party conference in September.

WHERE NOW FOR LABOUR?

> THE YOUNG FABIAN INTERVIEW

LEADING LABOUR Nick Maxwell, Schools and Networks Officer

n politics, as in life, it’s not always about winning - it’s about how you respond to failure. This edition of Anticipations brings together the Labour leadership candidates who are vying to lead the process of renewal for the Party. They hope to shape how we learn and grow from the experience of electoral defeat and how we rebuild a sense of purpose and enthusiasm. We’ve asked our leadership hopefuls three big questions - What are the lessons of the past thirteen years, what is their vision is for Britain and why they should be leader of the Labour Party. The challenge of renewal is never easy. And, in many ways, the 2010 General Election offers a confusing context for a leadership election. The Labour Party was defeated, yes. But it was hardly the crushing hammer blow the 2009 polls anticipated, or the Tories expected. Indeed there was much to celebrate - an increased share of the vote in Scotland, keeping key Tory and LibDem target seats across the country, and impressive local government wins. However, while the election result didn’t annihilate the Labour Party, complacency about the need to learn the lessons of our defeat would miss a fantastic and rare opportunity to do things better, to re-imagine our party and to take the fight to the coalition with energy and determination. And there’s appetite for it. In the week after the General Election almost 10,000 people joined the Labour Party. Fabian Society membership has likewise spiked. The jolt of defeat and horror of the realities of the coalition has woken our support – people who want to see genuine compassion and fairness in our politics, respect and concern for the most vulnerable and the instincts of the Left to prevail. For those that sit on the front line of coalition cuts, for those who see the damage that lack of investment and a reliance on the private sector provision can have, for those that abhor taxes on the poorest – the time is short to articulate a credible opposition to the Lib Con cuts. Who is up for the challenge? Who has learned the lessons of the thirteen years of Labour government and of electoral defeat? Who can meet the expectations of a new generation of Labour supporters? You decide.

DIANE ABBOTT

Diane has served as Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. She was the first black woman ever to be elected to the British Parliament.

ED BALLS

Ed is MP for Morley and Outwood and Shadow Education Secretary. He was Chief Economic Advisor to the Treasury during Labour’s first two terms.

ANDY BURNHAM

Andy is MP for Leigh and Shadow Health Secretary. Over the past 25 years he has represented the Party at every level, from CLP Secretary to Secretary of State.

DAVID MILIBAND

David is MP for South Shields and Shadow Foreign Secretary. He was head of the Prime Minister’s policy unit during Labour’s first term.

ED MILLIBAND Ed is MP for Doncaster North and Shadow Climate Change Secretary. He was Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer during Labour’s first two terms.

ANTICIPATIONS • SUMMER 2010

Q. What are the lessons of the past thirteen years? DA: There are a number of lessons to be learnt. One is what a

our eye off the ball in education and anti-social behaviour. We didn’t think seriously about the way we do politics. The corrosive culture of briefing and counter briefing put good people off.

EM: The biggest lesson of the last 13 years is that we are at our best

when we put our values to the fore. That is what we did in 1997 and it led not just to big victory but also to great Labour achievements like the minimum wage. Our difficulties began when we lost that sense of direction and purpose and became more like managers. We became technocrats and lost our willingness to change, and fell into the trap of thinking that the economic model that was right for 1997 was still right a decade and more later. As a result, by the time of the 2010 election, too many people were telling us that they didn’t know what we stood for and didn’t think we had the answers to the problems of today. This leadership election is our chance to put that right. To do that we have to rediscover the will to apply our Labour values to the priorities of Britain.

determined Labour government can do using the resources of the state to change people’s lives. But another is the need to listen to your own party. Many of New Labour’s mistakes would have been avoided if they had only listened to their own members, supporters and their own MPs. If the government had listened to its own supporters, it would never have abolished the 10p tax rate or gone to war in Iraq. We must also learn the danger of too much central control. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown spoke at public meetings in London to insist that electing Ken Livingstone as mayor would be a disaster. In fact he was able to defeat the New Labour machine and become a hugely popular mayor. But, because they could not control Ken Livingstone, they feared him.

EB: Like most party members, I’m very proud of what we achieved.

What is your vision for

But too many working people were not sure they could support us this time. They thought we just didn’t ‘get it’ on jobs, immigration, housing and tuition fees. Too often our policies and language suggested we didn’t understand that the 21st century was not offering them a fair deal. And we got some things wrong. Who can now doubt that, despite the tougher measures we brought in, financial regulation was not tough enough? What we did get right is that you cannot have a strong economy without the right role for government. That means a new industrial policy to support growth in every part of the country; but also a minimum wage and proper protections for agency workers, all vital for fairness in the face of new global economic pressures.

AB: There has been much to be proud of during the past 13 years. Just because we lost this General Election should not devalue all of those achievements. We did, however, begin to take our supporters for granted. There are few things more difficult for politicians than admitting they were wrong. But we were. We were wrong not to listen to the concerns of our supporters. We were wrong not to take those concerns seriously and respond accordingly. I share the responsibility for that as a senior Party figure. Now I want to learn from those errors, to reconnect with our members and supporters and galvanise the Party into the powerhouse it can and should be. All six declared leadership candidates agree that we need to listen to our members and supporters. But we need to do more than that: we have to act on what we have heard. DM:

Labour in power changed people’s lives. Our first job in opposition is to stand up for our legacy. But there are lessons to be learnt. One of my biggest frustrations was that we failed to renew our movement. Too often we were a party machine, rightly focused on winning elections, but sometimes casual about involving others. The command and control leadership, necessary for the 80s, is anachronistic now. And it is young people who are leading the way, strengthening our movement from the bottom up. But just as we didn’t renew our party, we didn’t refresh our policies. We were late in the game on climate change and political reform. And we took

Britian? DA: Part

of my vision for Britain is that we can all be proud that people can come from all over the world to live here. So I am concerned by the commentary by some leadership contenders that implies that immigration lost us the election. There is no doubt that it was a concern. But in constituencies like mine in Hackney, where there is a very big and established immigrant population, I heard hardly anything about it. Invariably, the fewer immigrants there were in an area, the more the issue came up. This is partly because anti-immigrant feeling is fundamentally a proxy for other issues. It reflects a concern about lack of affordable housing, lack of jobs, low wages and general working class insecurity. We need to deal with these issues, rather than use language that risks making immigrants scapegoats. I want a Britain that is full of hope and possibility for all of our citizens.

EB: My vision is the opposite of David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s

neo-liberal coalition. The thing that unifies Clegg and Cameron is that they believe the state is a problem and that the liberation of individual potential happens through liberating the individual from state intervention. I believe in a Britain where we show how we can deliver more high-skilled and green jobs, and narrow inequality – not just leave people to sink or swim. That means actively promoting fair chances – not just equal opportunities – and tackling vested interests to do so. We need to understand the vital role government must play and honestly recognise the limits to markets in both the private and public sectors. We will not win the next election in seminars, party forums or university halls. But we will win if we persuade the public to campaign for us on a vision for the future that is credible, green and fair to all.

AB: Opportunity should not be a postcode lottery: it should be available to all. Yet there are still too many for whom opportunities are

WHERE NOW FOR LABOUR? out of reach. I want Labour to become the People’s Party once again. We must move forward on the national minimum wage and develop it into a real living wage. Unemployment is the worst blight on equality, bringing with it the worst health outcomes and the worst prospects for those born into jobless households. For the vast majority, it is not a lifestyle choice, it is a downward spiral from which there appears to be no escape. That is why I am fighting to save the Future Job Fund, which offers real opportunity to young people. The new coalition government does not see this fund as a priority, but without it we run the risk of returning to an era when unemployment is inevitable from the time someone leaves education until they draw their state pension.

DM:

During this leadership campaign, I want to listen and understand. I want to find out from people why we lost and how we can meet the challenges we face. During the meetings I have had already, there were some clear themes. People are saying they want to have more power over their lives. They are saying they want to feel secure in the face of uncertain economic times. They are saying they want to regain a sense of belonging and live in communities where everyone lives out their rights and responsibilities. People want to see whether we have learned the right lessons of the economic crisis, not just that we need government to anticipate market failure and try to prevent it, but also that our economy needs to be rebalanced between financial services and other industries. Whether we have understood the degree of alienation with the political system after the MPs’ expenses crisis.

EM: My vision for Britain is of a country with a just economy, a fair society and an environmentally sustainable way of life. Economic justice is about an economy that works for everyone not just a few. Our economy has been good at creating jobs in the last decade but not good enough at ensuring that we create good jobs at good wages. We must change that and further develop an active industrial policy. Fairness is at the heart of our party’s mission. Fairness is not only about the distribution of resources according to need but also about a commitment to fairness based on contribution. That means rewarding work, which is why I have launched a campaign for the living wage. But the strength of society comes from how we look after each other as well. That is why we must emphasise issues of time with family, care for the elderly and community cohesion.

Why should you be leader? DA: I bring to the role life experiences that are a pointer to modern

Britain. I am a well-paid MP but I am also a single mother. So I have a better idea of some of the struggles millions of our fellow citizens face than the other candidates. The new leader will need to revive and rebuild the party. I have exhaustive experience of the party from top to bottom. No other candidate has my experience at every level of the party. Precisely because I am in touch with the grassroots, on the big issues that mattered to them like Iraq, I called it right. Finally, in the age of 24 hour news we need a leader that can empathise and communicate. I have a proven ability to do that. All the other candidates are ‘continuity’ candidates. But the Labour Party needs to build on the best of the past, but also move on. I am the candidate best

placed to help the party ‘turn the page’.

EB: I don’t think I’m the only person who can do this job. And I will back whoever wins 100%. But I think we need a leader who understands the big global economic forces and how we need to respond; who doesn’t just listen but hears, acts and takes people with them; and who speaks the language of people, not politicians. Above all we need a leader who knows what they stand for, is rooted in the values of the Labour, co-op and trade union movements, and who understands that being a tough opposition are the three vital ingredients we need to win again. My track-record shows that I’m a decision-maker who’s made the right calls on big issues - on Bank of England independence, keeping Britain out of the Euro, or Haringey and Baby Peter. I’m a tireless campaigner who can win when the heat is on. And I’m a team player who’s backed by many people who have worked closely with me. AB: The Labour Party is in my blood. I am proud of our achievements and will fight to ensure our legacy is not trampled by the new government. But that does not mean I will dwell on the past. Labour must be forward-thinking and open to new ideas. For too long we have been afraid to debate tough issues, with stage-management sometimes taking precedence over open discussion. I have more faith in our members than that, which is why I want members to be more involved in policy-making. Let me be clear: the Labour Party is not broken. That thousands of new members have joined since our election defeat is testament to the faith that people still have in us. I want to harness that and make our party stronger than ever, working with our members to ensure Labour listens and responds to their concerns. My values are Labour’s values: equality, fairness, progress. DM: A leadership election is of course about leadership. We need to

elect a leader who can fire the imagination, unite different talents and be a credible Prime Minister. The process is important too. How we conduct ourselves over the coming months will show the public the sort of opposition we will be and whether or not we are a government in waiting. My leadership will be informed by my values. I am an idealist – about Britain, about political change. I believe that you judge a country by the condition of the weak not just the strong, that we are joined by humanity and self interest with people around the globe. I believe we need a market economy but not a market society. There are values beyond markets that it is our duty to nurture. I believe injustice is real but not inevitable, and it is the job of politics to attack it. As leader, I can bring Labour together and lead Labour to power.

EM: I believe that I have the values that can help us to win and the power to inspire people to join and support us in communities up and down Britain. If Labour is to win and govern effectively again, we will need a different recipe for the future to the one we provided in the past. I believe I am the candidate best able to chart that new course. I want to build on the best of the past but make sure we are not bound by old orthodoxies. I believe that people want a party and leader that stands for clear ideals and beliefs. I also believe that politics has the ability to inspire people. I believe I can reach out and communicate with people across the country, from whatever walk of life they come from. I have shown in manifesto meetings I have done throughout Britain an ability connect with people. I want to bring this to the leadership of the party and I believe I can.

ANTICIPATIONS • SUMMER 2010

FOCUS ON...

ALASTAIR STEWART Alastair Stewart OBE is one of the UK’s most experienced and respected presenters, having anchored national news bulletins since 1983. He chaired the first ever Leader’s Debate on British television.

On young people and the TV debates

n the early 1970s, I had the honour to serve as Deputy President of the NUS. All was clearer then: Soviet Union bad, the forces of international capital worse. Even the Communist Party members, pace Hungary and Czechoslovakia, admitted that nirvana was no longer likely to be found in the long shadow of the Kremlin. The ‘Trots’ remained wedded to their ‘transitional demands’ as sure-fired ways of exposing parliamentary democracy for the bourgeois sham they believed it to be. The Tories were all for wrecking the NUS, with Lord Forsyth playing a leading role, while the Liberals were keen to play but seldom found even a foothold. Not a misspent youth, then, but a fine hot-house in which to hone my love of democracy and passion for politics, in all its varied and fissiparous glory. But the big issues then were like magnets for young men and women; and getting them involved was nowhere near the challenge it has become among debtburdened students who see East and West at relative peace, and ideological conflict broadly replaced by a contest over managerial skills. Thus I approached the 2010 General Election with a little trepidation. Was it really to be a 1945/1979/1997 ‘changer’? All the polls had suggested people were pretty fed up with Gordon Brown but not yet wedded to the notion of David Cameron. And when the pace of public spending cuts was a principle point of disagreement rather than the notion of cuts, it didn’t have the makings of a real tiff. Of course there were other issues schools, immigration, some aspects of

defence - but this wasn’t feeling very vibrant. Then along came the debates. Like it or not, our parliamentary politics have become presidential. The debates didn’t make it so they merely reflected and confirmed that reality. And they were conducted on television, the medium of the age and the medium of young people. Add to that the whirlwind of discourse, exchange and interaction witnessed on the internet. In chat-rooms and on social network sites, you saw a battle royal being played out by young people, with the toys and tools they love and understand. Of course the bulk of the 9.6 million people who watched the first debate, on ITV, were not young people. But 1.8 million of them, who watched the full ninety minutes, were in the 16-34 year-old range; and, of that age group, 2.9m watched at least some of it. Amazingly, 400,000 under 16 year old ‘children’ watched and I have anecdotal evidence from my primary school teacher daughter to confirm that. Overall, the ITV ratings boffins tell me 2.2 million under 35 year olds watched our debate - that is nearly a quarter of the total audience. I have no idea how many participated on line but the traffic was extraordinary and our newsroom staff found it impossible to keep up with. So it was a hit with younger people. But did that matter a jot? One result was a slight increase in voter turn-out, which both disappointed and surprised me - I had expected and hoped for better. But voter registration surged, in part thanks to a parallel campaign on

Facebook. Another was a surge in opinion poll support for the Liberal Democrats - the largest 48 hour leap ever recorded. It didn’t translate on polling day itself to more seats for Clegg - quite the reverse - but it happened in the wake of the first debate. A third possible result was that it may have contributed to the hung parliament we now have. I say ‘may’ because, in all honesty, no one yet knows for sure - we’ll have to await the full consideration of the psephologists and a library or two of MPhils, and PhDs. I’d hazard a guess, however, that it did. If the debate helped young people engage or re-engage with politics, that is an absolute good. If what they found was not to their liking, that is a fundamental challenge both to the practitioners of elective politics and the media that reports their practice. As a piece of TV, it was both fascinating and compelling to be involved in. Having watched it back, I do not think the ‘rules’ neutered the discourse. You saw three men, jousting for the most powerful position in the land, without notice of the questions and without too much mediation between them and the questioners. It was lively, engaging and elucidating. In the future I’d like the questioners to have ‘come-back’. I’d like less ‘rebuttal’ time and more open debate. And I’d like applause - or a chilling lack of it. That so many young people watched and appear to have been influenced one way or the other, is surely a cause of celebration.

WHERE NOW FOR LABOUR?

OONA KING Q.

Why did you join the Labour Party?

I joined when I was 14, so I really wanted to be a member. I was political from early on. I hated Margaret Thatcher and I strongly believed in social justice. I was a member of the United Nations Association too, and with a belief in internationalism, joining the Labour Party seemed like a natural compliment on the domestic front. Mind you, to return to Maggie, I wanted to see her ousted so much that without her I would never have wanted to be Prime Minister (which is how all political careers start isn’t it?). So she was an inspiration of sorts.

What are you most proud of?

There’s my two kids of course, but politically speaking it is getting rid of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT). CCT allowed employers to slash wages and employment benefits by forcing councils to consider the outsourcing of services. It was my Private Members Bill on employment rights and equalities that was incorporated into government legislation and outlawed CCT. At the time I was a backbencher and I think the experience also goes to show that you don’t need to be in the cabinet to achieve social change. That’s the same set of skills a London Mayor needs too – to persuade others to see your point of view.

What is your top policy priority?

There’s a question. If I was choosing, I think that the London Mayor needs to focus their energy on tackling crime in London – but what we need is a new approach. My philosophy, if you like such a grand word, is that prevention is better than cure.

So I want to see family intervention to support mothers under pressure and proper opportunities for young people. I want internship schemes and apprenticeships to give young people of all backgrounds a chance to get professional and skilled jobs. Opportunity and a sense of purpose should lie just a few stops down the Tube line. Too often though, it does not.

is your political Q. Who hero? Sylvia Pankhurst, the suffragette. She was an East London woman, just like me (there’s a blue plaque outside Woodford tube station). She fought for women’s votes, but was always opposed to violence. And she was closely involved with the Labour Party in the early days – there was a close personal relationship with Keir Hardie I gather. Together they helped established the East London Federation of Suffragettes. And of course she eventually ended the absurdity that prevented women from voting from which we all benefit today. That was nearly 100 years ago, but there are still not enough women at the top of politics.

is your vision for Q. What the future? That’s easy. I want a fairer London and fairer Britain. To get there is a little more complex, but I believe we need to rethink how we do politics (and remember there’s a lot less money around). I’ve already talked about how I believe that prevention is better than cure when I talked about crime policy – but here’s two other principles. I think you will only improve public services by improving human relations – so, for example, community policy can only succeed when there is a genuine relationship of trust established between police and local residents. And, last but not least, we need to recognise that a modern democracy gives power to the people – across the board we need to give an increasingly sophisticated public more control. If we change our thinking, I think we can change Britain for good.

ANTICIPATIONS • SUMMER 2010

...THE TV DEBATES

TOP TEN TIPS FOR LABOUR’S FIGHTBACK John Prescott

2 4 6 8 10

SHARON

Defend the record. I felt that in the last election we should have given a greater emphasis on what we achieved under Tony and Gordon – the minimum wage, a stronger economy, new schools and hospitals, a better NHS and thousands more doctors, nurses and teachers. We must highlight our achievements as it’s a record to be proud of. Engage new members. New members are normally invited by their local ward to their next meeting. But in some areas, our wards are either moribund or the structure of our meetings put people off. We must look at other ways of reaching them, through social networks and regional events.

Empower young Labour. Young people have an absolutely crucial part to play in rebuilding Labour as a campaigning party. If elected as Treasurer, I intend to work closely in supporting them through training and building capacity. We need to empower young people to drive campaigning. For example, crowdsourcing the party’s ad was actually a good idea. Get the best candidates. The longer you have a candidate in place, the more likely they are to win. We must stop last minute standdowns by sitting MPs. Also, we should make all candidates sign up to a list of campaign goals to ensure they continue to work hard on keeping the seat, even when elected.

Sort out the finances. If elected as Treasurer, I intend to work closely with the new Leader and the General Secretary to help put Labour CARR-BROWN on a stable financial footing. These are tough times. We have to cut our cloth accordingly.

1 3 5 7 9

Set the agenda. We must set a clear progressive agenda to show how we will tackle the issues that matter to people now – jobs, health, crime and economic stability. But all our policies must be grounded in our values of fairness, equality and social justice. Build a mass membership party. We must build a vibrant mass membership party in opposition. Tony Blair and I pioneered this in the 90s, doubling party membership to 400,000. 20,000 have already joined since our defeat but many more would join if we cut the fee. How about associate membership – join for £1 but with no voting rights. Make the most of new media. We must make better use of social media platforms for twoway communication. Not only to speak directly with the public but to allow members to shape our party, our policy making and campaign. I got 30,000 people to sign an online petition against RBS. Let’s see regional training sessions in new media campaigning. Get organised in our communities. For too long, we’ve been a bit inward, looking in on ourselves when we should be turning out into our communities. We should do more to reach out and talk with voluntary groups, local charities and community groups. Not only to learn more about our area but to source potential activists.

Be an effective opposition. We must hold the coalition to account with a constructive and effective opposition. I spent 18 years on the opposition benches. We must relearn the art of effective permanent campaigning so that it permeates through the party at every level. Time to enjoy the fun of Freedom of Information requests.

John Prescott was Labour’s deputy leader from 1994-2007 and is currently running to become Party Treasurer. You can find out more about his campaign at www.prezza.org.

YOUNG FABIANS

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THE STORY OF THE POLLS

THE TV DEBATES

Ben Page, Chief Executive of Ipsos MORI, analyses the polls throughout the General Election and reflects on the defining moments of the campaign.

New Labour MP and former GMTV political editor Gloria De Piero MP reflects on the television debates and how they will shape future elections.

TOP 10 LABOUR MOMENTS

WHERE NOW FOR REFORM?

Paul Richards looks back at the ten most significant moments in Labour history including the birth of the party, the creation of the NHS and Blair’s ‘Clause 4’ moment.

Vote for a Change campaign director Willie Sullivan reflects on the campaign for electoral reform and discusses what the Con Dem coaltion means for its future.

THE NEW RECRUITS

LESSONS FROM LONDON

Labour’s newest MPs Pamela Nash MP, Rachel Reeves MP and Emma Reynolds MP reflect on the General Election and what it means for the future of Labour.

London Young Labour Chair Christine Quigley reflects on the election successes in London and discusses what they mean for future Labour campaigning.

PROGRESS VS. COMPASS

YF CANDIDATES NETWORK

Progress Deputy Director Richard Angell and Compass General Secretary Gavin Hayes go head to head about the real lessons from Labour’s election defeat.

Members of the Young Fabians Candidates Network share their experiences as Labour council and parliamentary candidates at the last General Election.

WHEN HOPE WON THE DAY

SOCIETY NEWS

Young Labour Chair and HOPE not Hate organiser Sam Tarry shares his experiences from the successful campaign to defeat the BNP in Barking and Dagenham.

All the latest from the Young Fabians including an update on the Society’s campaigning during the election and the latest from its Policy Development Groups.

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ANTICIPATIONS • SUMMER 2010

YOUNG FABIANS

ANTICIPATIONS ANTICIPATIONS YOUNG FABIANS

Online Taster Edition| Summer 2010

Volume 13, Issue 4 | Summer 2010