Tagged with Compass

Where do we go from here? Notes on a contribution from Compass

The left think-tank Compass recently published an extended essay Mayism without May: the crisis of the Regressive Alliance and the challenge of Corbynism. It is offered as “an analysis of the dominant bloc that determines the common sense of our society” and as a contribution to finding a path to alliances of progressive forces inside and outside the Labour Party. It was written by Ken Spours, Professor of Post-Compulsory Education at the London Institute of Education. He previously wrote The Osborne Supremacy and The Very Modern Prince: the 21st century political party, both published by Compass.

The essay is based on four propositions: (1) Tory dominance continues but in changed circumstances opening new possibilities; (2) The Tory-led regressive alliance is in crisis but will adapt; (3) Corbyn’s Labour has achieved much but now needs to develop a “progressive combinatorial politics”; (4) the progressive bloc must be led by Labour but will require new alliance-based politics and popular mobilisation. Continue reading →

An Osborne Supremacy?

Cameron and Osborne“The best things are when you get your opponents to end up agreeing with you because then you’ve really won the argument. When you finally agree – that’s when it’s going to last, that’s when you’ve won’.”

It is statements such as that which have earned George Osborne so many plaudits in the press recently, from the left and right, and his thinking put into practice which has the Tories polling at over 40%. The claim is that the Tories are stealing ‘the centre ground’, with their ‘National Living Wage’, workers’ party rebrand, and rhetoric around ‘fairness’, and has been made by everyone in Labour from Owen Jones’ belief that Osborne is making “an audacious raid on Labour territory” to Dan Hodges obvious trolling that David Cameron is now the “leader of the British left”.

But the most well-argued and detailed analysis of this new ‘Osborne Supremacy’ is a publication by Compass bearing that title. Written by Ken Spours, a Gramscian Professor at UCL and now Compass Associate, the “The Osborne Supremacy” uses the concept of ‘hegemony’ to argue that the conservatives have embraced progressive values and rhetoric, posturing in hard hats and using the language of a ‘living wage’ to eat into Labour’s support base.  Continue reading →

On Lawson’s letter, jargon and how not to unite the left

Compass's Neal LawsonMost readers of Left Futures will by now have read the letter from Neal Lawson (he of Compass fame) and others in yesterday’s Guardian. The purpose of the letter is said to be to stiffen Labour’s resolve to be radical and not to try coasting to power on the back of Coalition failure. So far, so good. But we haven’t got further than general intent.

The problem is that as soon as you further and try to understand the nature of the radicalism proposed, it crumbles to dust. The letter proposes five so-called principles to act as the basis for stiffening Labour’s resolve to be radical. Let’s consider each of them in turn. Continue reading →

Navigating to Welsh unity against austerity

The call was for ‘Plan B’ but unity was the dominant theme at Compass Wales’ panel debate in Cardiff this week. A fine array of speakers, led by Guardian columnist, John Harris, came together to debate Compass’s ‘Plan B’, their alternative to austerity.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, the Green Party’s Anthony Slaughter and John McInally, vice president of the PCS union all spoke convincingly but it was Mark Drakeford who made the first challenge to the Compass project by claiming there is no alternative. Continue reading →

Compass’ Plan B has useful ideas, but doesn’t cut the mustard

Today Compass formally launches Plan B to kickstart the economy. Typically, however, it has already been fully leaked in yesterday’s Observer. It has some helpful (though not particularly original) ideas. It wants to stop the cuts, start a new round of quantitative easing but giving the money direct to businesses, raise benefits to ease poverty and increase demand, make tax more progressive through a financial transactions tax and a multi-tiered income tax as well as a land value tax, establish a national investment bank to make loans and lever in private investment, and green the economy by decarbonising buildings and investing in green transport and infrastructure as well as achieving a better work-life balance. All warm words from the Centre-Left perspective. But it avoids the hard issues: How is it to be paid for? How is the economy to be rebalanced from finance to industry? And how is manufacturing to be revived? Continue reading →