There was nothing subtle about economic policy under New Labour. ‘We are getting into bed with business‘. Fingers to the hoi polloi. ‘You’ve got nowhere else to go‘. People in their millions voted blindly for it in 1997. A significant proportion got wise by 2001 and placed their ‘X’ elsewhere or decided ‘None of the above‘. The message ‘politicians – they are all the same‘ went viral. Labour’s vote dropped from 12 million to 8 million. Another million walked away in 2010.
By then it was clear the New Labour policy was bust. Greed and criminality at the heart of the world’s banking system plunged the global economy into recession. But five years on that New Labour lust to remain close to business lingers, contaminating the Labour offer under party leader Ed Miliband.
Political discourse and commentary is polarised, you are either for or against the neo-liberal consensus. But examine Labour’s policy making processes and a very puzzling and troublesome state of affairs is revealed. The big bad trade unions, the scourge of New Labour’s business pals, are signed up to current Labour economic policy. At least what an account of Labour latest national policy forum revealed here on Left Futures in a piece headlined Trade unions vote against ending austerity in 2015. Strange, but true.
Yes, the very same institutions that are backing strikes and protests against ConDem austerity policies stood aside when it was suggested to Labour’s three-day national policy forum in Milton Keynes that Labour should not stick with Tory spending cuts in 2015/16. The central idea was that Labour needs to introduce an emergency ‘anti-austerity’ or ‘Growth4All’ budget to set its key economic policies in place as soon as possible after Labour wins the 2015 election with an overall majority..
Instant reactions tended to condemn the betrayal of those people Labour proports to represent by the very people who are paid to represent working people. More complex processes are involved. Those who want a positive message to be relayed to the electorate as soon as possible need to consider how to persuade the leadership sticking with ConDem austerity would be ‘mad’. That is how Polly Toynbee writing in the Guardian here on 7 February 2014 described current Labour policy.
Six months on ‘Growth4All’ thinking has not found favour in Labour’s shadow cabinet. Like rabbits in the headlights, they are all apparently mesmerised by the devastating effect of the Tories ‘Labour – tax bomb shell’ campaign that kept the Tories in power for another five years. But Labour under Miliband has already rid itself of the New Labour ‘no increase in income tax’ shibboleth (erected by the New Labour diktat ahead of the 1997 election and kept in place throughout the three Blair governments).
So how will Labour’s electoral opponents react? Tory campaign strategists are likely preparing their 2015 General Election ‘Labour – tax blitz krieg’ campaign already:
- Restoration of the 50p tax band (proposed by former Labour Leader Gordon Brown and his chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling in their 2010 budget);
- A £2 million mansion tax; and
- A repeat of the Bankers’ Bonus tax (again originally implemented by Brown and Darling).
Each of these devices is seen by Labour today as part of its tax fairness agenda. To counter the intense nastiness that will characterise the next election, Labour needs as many people as possible on its side now to carry its agenda for hope forward. To achieve that goal Miliband has to pre-empt the Tories on tax and be honest with the electorate now.
What is utterly tragic is that there was no debate at Labour’s national policy forum about this or any other issue. There was horse-trading over words to achieve a so-called ‘consensus’. What did Labour’s shadow chancellor Ed Balls reveal in his attempts to stifle debate about austerity? According to my sources at the NPF he admitted there will be an emergency budget. Of course, there is no mention of it in the party’s annals. That sort of dishonesty is what is weighing down Labour’s standing with the electorate. To quote Miliband: “We can do better than this.”
Peter Kenyon is chair of the City of London Labour Party and a member of Chartist’s Editorial Board
So given the level of austerity implicit in Balls commitment to balancing the buget by 2020 , what will the Local Authority finance settlements be for 2016/17 ? It can only be severe austerity which will cause mayhem & strife.
“It can only be severe austerity”
If you vote Labour, that’s what you’ll be voting for. Some say: “Labour is the only alternative to the Tories.”
But it’s clear: Labour isn’t an alternative to the Tories. Labour = Red Tories.
Labour’s ruling clique will only start listening when you stop voting for them. When they know they’ve got your vote they know they can ignore you.
Problem is that as their vote share drops they respond by shifting further right – not left. If Labour lose this one Progress will blame Miliband’s so called “radicalism” and drag the whole party further on to their territory. There now seems to be so little overlap between the inner clique and the CLP’s that Progress could eaily seperate off from the Unions and the CLP’s leaving space for a CLP based Labour Party funded by the unions. Maybe the best long term outcome would be a Labour loss and a good party bust-up (for old times sake). Can’t predict the future though and gut instinct says – fight the Tories at any cost, even if it means more Blairism.
One Nation labour party or is it the One Nation Progress party.
Labour’s not the answer as is the Tories, but why change now since labour would do the same or in cases hammer down more.
Not forgetting the 50p tax band labour loves to tell us about not forgetting what Ball’s stated to the rich do not worry it will not last long, about the time it takes to get into office I suspect.
New labour died and was brought back to life, Miliband as leader of this country forget it.
Yes, I am somewhat disappointed by Labours progress. If we are to weather the coming storm of the Tory campaign, backed by hysterical newspaper threats of the “end of civilisation as we know it”, then we need to start giving people some hope for their futures. Not more of the same, but with a kinder face.
Where is the hope?
Labour has to be the party of the small business person and entrepreneur and the hardworking, otherwise it is dead and has no future.
That picture of Balls could be Napoleon in Animal Farm. Scary.
Labour offers no hope. There is no real attempt to introduce a progressive tax system, just a few limited proposals that just scratch the surface. When will the left in the Labour party recognise that they have lost out to Progress and it’s supporters, with a few notable exceptions. In Spain, with a party list election, PSOE is in current opinion polls on 1% ahead of Podemos who with IU are 7% ahead of PSOE. Labour is a lost cause. We need a UKIP of the left to break the three party consensus.
There’s definitely a conspicuous lack of a left-wing party despite the miriad of Joranian People’s Parties we’ve had over the years. With Labour shifting inexorably right there’s a vacuum on the left begging to be filled. But it needs to be moderate-left as history shows that there will never be large sustained support in the UK for a hard-left party. But of course new parties always start off radical and take time to bed in and gain wider , more moderate, supporters. Peoples Assembly ?