Snippets from the Progress Rally

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Progress has never been an organisation unsure of its beliefs, but tonight’s rally has inspired a dogged sense that all is to play for – if the Labour party can tap into its values again.

It brought together a number of cabinet ministers – Peter Mandelson, David Miliband, Tessa Jowell, Jack Straw, John Denham and Ed Miliband amongst them – who each spoke of the Labour values of fairness and social justice as British values.

Peter Mandelson, in particular, received a huge cheer as he began the rally. Here are some of the choicest remarks:

Peter Mandelson

We’ve responded in the right way to all the key issues and challenges. Economy, jobs, welfare,

We’re not ideologically divided in the way we were in the 1980s. We remain firmly anchored in the centre ground.

Cameron is a shallow, flibbety gibbet) if anyone can explain what this means, please do).

We’re in a fight, but our job is to show that we’re up for it. It’s the biggest-choice election we’ve seen for a generation.

Andy Burnham
This is a ’92 election, not a ’97 election.

Daniel Hannan is not unrepresentative of the opposition: there speaks a good portion of the Conservative Party.

We go into the election with an NHS that is clearly better. Schools are better. Crime is down. We have a more tolerant, more ethical society.

We need to make it clearer what we stand for, particularly among younger voters. So the next election is a moment of renewal for the Labour party.

Now is the time to move beyond the debate of new and old Labour.

We havne’t finished our job – because where you were born does still matter to you life chances.

Liam Byrne
Our values survive contact with reality and make a difference in the real world. The help we put in place over the last year is making a difference.

None of that happened by accident: we used our values as a guide.

If the Labour party is not about organising people who are hungry for change, we’ve lost our way.

We have to be self-confident: this election is there for the winning. We are the party of change: internationally, nationally, but also in our local communities.

David Miliband
We owe it to ourselves to speak about how hard it’s going to be.

We have three clear tasks:

1 – To puncture the negativism about Britain and about our record.

2 – To address, head on, the public doubt about whether any politicianss have convincing answers to the change in people’s lives.

3- To start to expose the sham of the Tory offer.

We need to take on the narrative that Britain is in decline.

We have to use the economic crisis to pivot our politics forward in the way the Tories are using the econmoic crisis to pivot their politics backwards.

How can communities give protections against shared risks?

We have to stand up clearly for a diverse Britain.

We’ve got to make sure that at every stage the policy details reflect the values.

Safety First won’t do.

Tessa Jowell

Where is the Tory Clause 4 moment, that shows they’ve changed?

Related posts:

1. Brown became PM as Labour’s most towering figure – the party must rally round him if it’s to stand a chance of winning
2. Prime Time: The new Progress campaign for Labour primaries
3. News from the PLP meeting and Progress fourth term event
4. Progress conference: Campaigning for the net generation
5. Progress is not just about reform – it’s about social justice