I warn you, Labour...

An open letter to my Labour party colleagues

Dear Labour friends

I stood as Labour’s candidate in a school mock election in 1987 and joined the party as a 19-year-old in 1994. As a grassroots member, I have canvassed for Labour and been active throughout its structures, attending many party meetings and conferences. I have also supported our party across the wider labour movement, including as a trade union activist and official. Naturally, I have voted Labour at every election.

I watched despairingly as we mutated from a party of the working-class into one almost exclusively for middle-class urban progressives, social activists and graduates. I watched, too, as we abandoned the belief that a Labour government should use all the levers at its disposal to shape the economy in the interests of working people and instead placed undue faith in market outcomes and bought into the idea that key decisions were best placed in the hands of bankers, business chiefs and technocrats.

In 2019, we suffered our worst general election result for 84 years. I was one of the few voices within our movement who saw that crushing defeat coming and had warned about it publicly. The following year, I wrote a book about how and why it all went wrong.

Now, almost unbelievably, we are back in government, elected on a landslide.

But as one commentator remarked last night, it appears to be a ‘loveless landslide’. We should not be under any illusion that our party’s victory owes itself to any great affection for us. In reality, it was driven by a near-universal loathing and contempt for the Conservative party. We performed so well because the Tories performed so badly; that’s pretty much the long and short of it.

Against that background, I offer the following warnings. I would be lying if I said I believed that many within the party were likely to pay heed to these warnings, but I will state them all the same.

I warn that we must not backslide on our commitment not to rejoin the EU. The damage done by the suicidal call for a second referendum in the run-up to the 2019 election cannot be overstated. It was a catastrophic error which resulted in millions of our traditional supporters turning against us.

I warn that Reform UK is at the door. That party won substantial support across working-class constituencies yesterday - higher than anyone predicted. The moment we look as though we might renege on our pledge to respect Brexit, or if we fail working-class voters in other ways, Reform will pounce.

I warn that we must not turn a blind eye, as Tony Blair’s government did, to the gap between rich and poor. Trickle-down economics do not work. We must, of course, encourage private enterprise, but if we want to see an end to the hideous wealth and income inequality that disfigures our nation, we need to be willing to intervene in the economy with bold measures designed to bring about redistribution.

I warn that we must end the prioritisation of financial services over the productive sector – the real economy – where goods are made and wealth is recreated. Deindustrialisation has been the cause of significant economic and social ills in our country. We must seek to revive our industrial base and substantially increase manufacturing as a proportion of GDP.

I warn that we must reverse the decision taken by the Blair government to hand control over monetary policy, including interest rate setting, to the Bank of England. These decisions – crucial to the overall performance of our economy – should be in the hands of elected politicians, not faceless officials. On the same theme, full employment, rather than the deficit or price stability, should be the prime goal of economic policy.

I warn that we must address the chronic housing shortage, which is now a national emergency. The post-war Labour government built over a million new, affordable homes – all at a time when the country was recovering from the ravages of conflict. There can be no excuse for not being similarly ambitious.

I warn that we must not leave our essential utilities and services – particularly, rail, water and energy – in the hands of private companies (many of them foreign-owned), who have run them into the ground and always elevate the desire to make profit over what is right for the consumer and country.

I warn that we must act quickly to get a grip on the broken immigration and asylum system. Immigration has become a running sore in our society again because previous governments allowed numbers to get out of control, causing pressure on wages and public services, and undermining cultural cohesion and social solidarity. If we fail to reduce numbers quickly and noticeably, we will pay a huge price electorally.

I warn that we must not obsess about Net Zero or listen to only the most strident voices in the environmental movement. We need moderate, not militant, environmentalism. In these uncertain times, we must secure our energy independence. That means allowing for reasonable oil and gas exploration, fracking and nuclear power. Britons cannot be expected to pay a disproportionate price - through higher energy bills, unreliable supply, and the destruction of thousands of jobs - for a challenge that is global.   

I warn that we must reject the destructive creed of identity politics, which has done so much to divide and fragment our country. High-trust and harmonious societies are built around common bonds, not by constantly promoting the separateness of, and differences between, assorted groups.

I warn that we must restore the police to their proper mission of preventing and detecting crime, not acting as social workers or social activists. Not every crime has a sociological explanation, and we must not shy away from the language of punishment. Offenders who continually blight the lives of their fellow citizens should be locked away. It is not ‘reactionary’ to say so.

I warn that we must stand against militant trans ideology and defend the reality of biological sex. We must reject all attempts to undermine the integrity of single-sex spaces. A woman is an adult human female, and we should not be afraid to say it. Anything less makes us look like a bunch of cranks in the eyes of much of the public.

I warn that we must oppose the spread of cancel culture and the belief that there should be one established view on contested issues. Traditionally, the Left in Britain has stood against censorship of alternative opinions. Too often these days it supports it. That must change.

I warn that we must end our hostility to the nuclear family and unashamedly promote it as the foundation stone of a civilised society. That does not mean ‘stigmatising’ alternative models. But all the research shows that children achieve better outcomes when they are brought up within a secure and stable family home with two parents. That we fell into the trap of being afraid to state this simple truth is inexcusable.

We have been handed a second chance by the electorate. It is more than we might conceivably have expected and, frankly, more than we deserved. The trust that these voters have placed in us will quickly dissipate if we fail to recognise and act upon their desire for both economic and cultural security.

We went badly wrong last time because we forgot that our historical mission was to speak for the mainstream working-class. Far from speaking for them, we ended up regarding them with contempt.

We must never make that mistake again.

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