Finding common ground

By Joe Coward

Since Labour lost the General Election, most media attention on the party has focused on the internecine struggles of the New Labour era. New Labour’s sometimes conflicting strategies of appealing to both “core” and “swing” voters provoked strong tensions within the party with Compass and Progress emerging to represent the views of the left and right of the party. A new collection of essays produced by Soundings and the Open Left project at Demos has scoped out some common ground between Labour’s leadership candidates.

Contrary to the caricatures of the right-wing press, Labour is not descending into a period of introspective navel-gazing but rather engaging in a frank reflection of the achievements and failures of the New Labour era, laying the basis for renewal. Indeed, there has been a quiet revolution within the party with once warring factions converging on a new consensus.

A recurring theme throughout the essays is the need for Labour to recognise that whilst the state has the capacity to improve people’s lives, it also has the potential to overwhelm and disempower. Thus, authors call for Labour to rediscover its historic role as a movement in organising and mobilising civil society, drawing on Labour values of mutualism, voluntarism, and solidarity.

David Lammy urges Labour not to underestimate the popularity of co-operation between political parties, arguing that the Conservative Party’s willingness to work with the Liberal Democrats could prove a real boost to Tory modernisers, furthering the detoxification of the Tory brand. He argues that movements are not energised by the inertia of tribalism but rather “a willingness to work with people form other organisations and political traditions”. Lammy challenges Labour members to regain the progressive centre-ground by “opening up our political culture” encouraging the party to embrace a future of cross-party alliances and experimenting with open primaries.

James Purnell, who in government was often accused of promoting a right-wing pro-market agenda, offers a strong defence of the role of the state and acknowledges that New Labour was “too hands-off with the market”. Purnell argues that this hands-off approach left many people feeling that they were on their own against the forces of globalisation. In keeping with his reformist instincts Purnell posits that “voters want an effective state, which can reform both markets and public services”. He concludes that only a reformist state will enable us to shape change to progressive ends.

Neal Lawson, who as chair of Compass is an important spokesman for the liberal-left of the party, warns Labour that David Cameron’s Big Society presents an “existential threat” to Labour. He argues that New Labour, by embracing the authoritarian state, has abdicated Labour’s traditional role as a key organising force within civil society, enabling the Conservatives to occupy this territory. Lawson encourages Labour to adopt a “healthier and more sceptical view” of the state, urging a greater role for both workers and users of public services, which will herald a new era of “co-production”.

Jonathan Rutherford, editor of Soundings journal, argues that New Labour, by defining itself in opposition to old Labour, ignored the history and traditions of the British centre-left. Rutherford argues that despite the decline of homogenous class identities and cultures, New Labour continued to reach out to voters on the basis of narrow self-interest. He argues that this electoral calculation resembled a “transaction or contract”, lacking the cultural weight of an alliance based on shared values. By expecting people to always accept the demands of the market, New Labour did not uphold this contract, alienating large swathes of voters. He urges Labour to embrace a new era of “covenant politics”, embracing voters on the basis of a shared ethic of reciprocity”. For Rutherford, this will be the basis on which Labour can become a more “democratic…, open, and inventive organisations”.

Whilst the Labour leadership candidates seek to distinguish themselves at hustings around the country, the fissures which once threatened to distract the party are being overcome, and all wings of the party are engaging in a constructive debate on the purpose of Labour, the party’s record in government, and how Labour can return to power. This latest collection of essays is the one of the best guides yet to the likely direction of Labour’s renewal, whoever ends up as leader.