I was wrong about Jack…

By Philip Honour

Jack Straw’s performance on Question Time yesterday evening could have been a lot worse, but choosing a sitting minister very nearly worked to Nick Griffin’s advantage. By being tied to carefully crafted government lines, at times Jack Straw came across as the archetypal New Labour bad guy – full of spin and lacking substance on the key issue of the night, immigration.

Although Jack (and Labour in turn) came across as the party that stands up for equality, the lack of clarity on this key issue caused me to cringe. Although it’s crucial that we do not form knee jerk policies with catchy tag-lines (we don’t need another British jobs for British workers incident) it is time for an open and honest debate on immigration that covers all the concerns of the British public.

Our silence on this issue cannot continue. Jack Straw’s long winded answer proved that, on immigration, we are lagging behind the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the fight to engage with the public about an issue that is always going to prove controversial.

It’s also important that we all accept that the rise of the British National Party has happened on Labour’s watch. There is no point shrugging our shoulders and blaming a lack of trust in politics or the recession or rising unemployment. I am not saying it is entirely our fault but we need to stop denying any responsibility.

If we start to be honest with the electorate about our shortcomings, conversations can begin on the doorstep and we can start to form policies that will bring people back to Labour. If we continue not to have these difficult conversations both internally and with our supporters (past and present) we may as well admit defeat now.

The next election will not be won and lost on which party talks the toughest on fascism and the BNP, but it will be on the issues that make people vote for extremists. Question Time showed up the gulf between the thinking in the Cabinet and the Labour grassroots but, more importantly, the gap between Labour and the public.

If we aren’t concerned by Jack Straw’s performance last night when it came down to the nitty gritty discussions on policy – and that same wider problem within Labour – then we are not fulfilling our role as grassroots activists – holding our party to account on the issues that are crucial to the public.

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