The problem within the modern Left
Previously I saw blogging, perhaps because of my experience of others' work on the internet, as a means of being sharp and witty about a subject and attacking narrow-minded people for their inability to think like me. Many journalists believe this is also their job, the Guardian is a prime example of a paper full of people writing to feed their own sense of intellectual superiority. The intellectual left has become ugly; completely detached from the hopes and fears of many ordinary people struggling in hard times. I will always consider myself a socialist and I will always be on the left, but I think that because many left-leaning political commentators argue about things very detached from real people's everyday concerns (yesterday the Sunday broadsheet sister paper to the Guardian, the Observer, ran a full page article in the main comment section arguing that Fifty Shades of Grey promoted the wrong sort of submissive sex) that they end up forgetting that they are living in a world where they, supposedly on the side of the working-class and vulnerable, are as clueless about the needs and the lives of ordinary people as the Tories are. This is why the Guardian ended up backing the Liberal Democrats at the last General Election, their liberal mindset cannot fathom that immigration is a real issue, or that higher education is a privilege not a right by it's very own nature. If we on the left dismiss every man and woman on the street that complains about too many foreigners as simply narrow-minded idiots we will never get the sort of Labour government we want.
To address my own personal issue I have decided to devote blogging from now on not in the interests of (debate-ably) sharp or witty attacks on those I disagree with, but rather to spell out where I think there are real issues to be addressed and what I think Labour needs to do as a party to make itself electable as a force for real social justice and equal opportunities. Witticisms are for the dinner table. So I've deleted my previous posts, not that they were huge in number, and rededicated my writing to uncovering the issues and hopefully coming up with some answers. My point about the intellectual left in the media and on the internet is that we cannot dismiss people as idiots or totally lost because we do not agree with them. The concerns of many Sun readers are very real and serious, it is only their analysis of the problems and their solutions that I often disagree with. I do not mean by this that there are not a great number of left-wing bloggers and journalists who address these issues across the media and understand, probably better than I do, the concerns of working people. My only concern is that they are being drowned out by 'intellectual' liberals on their own side. We are letting the right win over working voters who's interests we claim to represent because right-wing papers address their concerns and don't treat them like idiots.
A chance for Labour
Enough has been said on this, I feel, and it is time to move on to the task facing the Labour party, which is the only alternative we really have left to cling to. Thinking on that statement, it makes me wonder at just how far we've come. People used to vote Liberal to keep out the Tories, now even seasoned Labour supporters lack enthusiasm for the party and vote simply because there is no alternative. Herein lies the real issue, Labour needs to be positive in its message to the electorate, come up with fresh, innovative ideas that inspire hope, not just confidence. The Tories are in a mess, their leadership is dithering and reactionary to the point of total incompetence, their MPs are gathering in revolt and some, like Louise Mensch, are fleeing what is becoming increasingly a sinking ship. Their economic plans are ill thought out and are dragging us back into recession; the figures are difficult to argue with (as are the experts but, being British, we tend not to trust anyone with such a title). Public opinion is ranged against what were once seen as the cornerstones of our society, the trusty helmsmen keeping us on the right path whilst politicians fight it out in self-centred power struggles. I am of course speaking about, bankers, big businessmen and, crucially, the media. The public feeling on the issue is clear: they are disgusted at the culture within the banks and within the press. Labour has a huge opportunity here to gain support by coming up with real policies to tackle these issues, not to mention to take on a whole host of arch-enemies, with the public at its back. When New Labour was in government they made the bankers and the Murdochs their allies; the events since 2008 have shown us that they are not our friends and should not be trusted again. The media especially believes its own hype ("The Sun wot won it" comes to mind) and politicians have come to believe it too. The true power, however, lies with the people. They hold the votes and whilst the established powers are disgraced Labour can harness public support to take on its old foes and change the culture at the heart of our largest industries. Most vitally the party must start building momentum now whilst the opportunities are there. November will be a crucial month in British politics, the Corby by-election especially. Labour has opportunities in that election but also major challenges, and not all from the enemy we know.
British jobs for British voters
Within 12 hours of the news of Mensch's resignation as the Member of Parliament for Corby and East Northamptonshire, myself and my colleagues at the Labour Party national communications centre (which is a rather flashy name for a small, dingy call centre where the issue of the day is always the supply of teabags and milk) were already bothering the good people of that Midlands constituency asking them if they were going to vote Labour. The response was mixed, as was to be expected from an urban-rural constituency with both historically Labour and Conservative areas. What struck me most was the response to the question about what they felt was the most serious issue in the country. Almost all said "the economy" as one might expect, but many, including a majority of self-professed long-term Labour supporters, cited the number of foreign workers in the area as the biggest local issue. This is something I believe that Labour's candidate Andy Sawford, and indeed Ed Miliband, needs to take seriously, and I'm sure they don't need me to tell them that. I lack local knowledge on the area but the main issue seemed to be the number of Polish workers in Corby. One man told me how he was concerned that they were paid less than minimum wage (and he rightly identified that as the reason that employers chose them over local British workers). He also said that, concurrently, they were paid in cash a therefore paid no tax and that they sent much of their money back to their families in Poland. He did not get irate or go into "foreigner bashing mode", which many did, but calmly articulated his valid concerns. The fault, if there is any, lies not with the Polish workers but with businesses and the culture of business to pay as little as they can get away with to employees. I am happy to accept that Poles work hard and work for less, but I do not believe for a second that they, as a rule, work harder than the British.
This problem needs to be addressed, firstly because unemployment is a serious social issue and one that we should tackle on moral grounds, and secondly because, politically, there is an opportunity for a new enemy to gain ground. UKIP should be underestimated at our own peril. They may be narrow-minded and even further to the right than the Tories, but their solutions to problems, such as unemployment in areas like Corby, appeal to a lot of people angry about their situation. There will always be bad eggs and nutters, there will always be racists and nationalists, but ignoring the threat of UKIP would be unwise and dangerous. With the Tories greatly discredited they can steal their votes, and if Labour fail to come up with policies and solutions to promise to the voters they may also find their votes going to Nigel Farage's party. When I googled the by-election in Corby and UKIP I found this article: http://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/local/ukip-candidate-reveals-her-priorities-ahead-of-corby-and-east-northants-by-election-1-4171021
If you look at it the candidate says a lot of things that Sawford is also saying, that apprenticeship schemes are needed to tackle youth unemployment. UKIP has the advantage politically because it is for withdrawing from the EU, whose laws prevent us from legislating to promote the employment of British workers over continental ones (a law which also allowed me to work in France for two summers). Labour is also still seen as little better than the Tories and a member of the old order "that got us into this mess". UKIP on the other hand is a relatively new player and we should not dismiss the fact that this works in their favour. Everyone on the ground knows the big local issues better than I do by far, however I think that to make sure we win in Corby and win convincingly we need to start rebuilding ourselves as a national party and striking out from our past decisively, in the way that we did back in the nineties after Kinnock's defeat. That brings me on neatly to my next point.
My grandfather recently lent me a book by former chancellor Alistair Darling on his experiences during the crisis. He lays out in an easily understandable way the problems that cause the banking crisis and explains things that I had no understanding of before, such as sub-prime mortgages and the Libor rate. It is an easy, if sometimes dull, read and his account highlights just how crucial the last government's actions were in the crisis to the safety not only of our economy but the world banking system. Gordon Brown's famous, and perhaps Freudian, slip in Prime Ministers Questions when he claimed that Labour had "saved the world" is perhaps not as shy of the mark as one might think. His leadership in convening the G20 and almost forcing the leaders to come to a decision may well have saved the global economy from cataclysm. Reading Darling's genuine account, which is full of as much criticism for Brown as it is praise (if not more), shows the need for the party to take the initiative away from the Tories on the narrative of the economy. We should admit mistakes on regulation but also remind people that compared to this government's actions post-crisis, the Labour government showed decisive leadership in the face of disaster. Most importantly we should make people realise that it was not our spending on the NHS or schools that caused the debt and the deficit, but our bail-out of an industry that never accepted responsibility and now foots half the bill of the Conservative party.
But Darling also represents New Labour's obsession with sticking to the middle ground. In 1997 this may have been the right choice politically, but arguments about Left and Right are not important to ordinary people. They want to see jobs, growth and a change of culture within the media and the banks. Ed Miliband should pursue these concerns and come up with progressive policies. The mantra of "greed is good" should be put to death. Competition should be tempered in the private sector and co-operation made the priority for the public sector. Competition has two outcomes: success and failure. We can live with a few failed supermarkets and car dealerships, we can't live with failed schools and hospitals. The way to make every single one a success is to get them to work together. And we can't live with failed banks; competitiveness in our key industries needs to be matched by responsibility and effective regulation. To listen to people like Tony Blair, a man who made it his aim to destroy socialism for good, would be a mistake. He cares about Left and Right, the British people care about right and wrong, fair and unfair.
I do have plenty of ideas that I'm mulling over and will discuss in the future. What is important right now is that Labour comes up with a definite plan for a progressive future, to change the culture of wealth for wealth's sake and to restore the sense of responsibility within our major industries. The party conference is only one month away and Labour may never get a better chance to set out a plan to tackle the issues that have dogged this country since Thatcher. Public mood will change in a years time: they'll forget the Milly Dowler scandal, the Brooks cover up and the Libor fraud. Let's come up with a plan to inspire people. Floating voters are not won over by floating parties. We need to become a real alternative to the Coalition and rebuild ourselves anew. It doesn't mean changing our name or our constitution, it means taking our central values and coming up with a fresh plan to make them reality. And it means doing it now, rather than later.
