Back to our roots to move Labour forward to power

By William Bain

The most positive development of the leadership election has been the renewed involvement and ownership of our party democracy by the membership. Supporters have become members, members have become activists, activists have taken part in hustings and in the various campaigns with great energy and enthusiasm. Like many of my colleagues, over the summer, I have held social and discussion events for young members and new members in my constituency who have joined Labour since our election defeat. People of all ages, races, and backgrounds, who want to get organised, and to get Labour back into power. Membership up 25% in Glasgow North East, desire to fight the Tories and Liberals up 100%.

An expanding party membership is crucial to Labour’s recovery. But so too is deepening the relationship between our membership and the communities they come from, and whose causes they champion. During the recess, I’ve met organisations across the North and East of Glasgow who have created the institutions of the good and involved society, challenging market and social failure by drawing the best from local civic society, charities and the third sector, together with the power of central and local government to make a contribution. People like Harry Young, the project co-ordinator of Royston Youth Action, who is working to take young people off street corners in areas like Royston, Germiston, and Blackhill, with unemployment levels twice the Scottish average, by providing both useful recreational facilities and activities and educational and behavioural support too. Harry couldn’t do this without his army of volunteers from the local community, but neither could he do it if government simply left them to it, and withdrew vital financial support. Harry gave powerful testimony to the benefits that the Future Jobs Fund brought in giving young people the opportunity of rewarding work with his organisation, and the wider social benefits it brings to people in the Royston corridor. People in north and east Glasgow have no time for Cameron’s concept of a hollowed-out state and soaring inequality of wealth, power, assets and life chances, but offer powerful testimony to the desire to build a decent society, where civic activism is allied to the supportive power of government at every level.

Royston has a rich social capital, and as a party we need to be there organising on the ground with the active community groups to empower people to bring about real changes to their daily lives. This is where Movement for Change under the auspices of David Miliband’s leadership campaign has been incredibly successful. Local members have been trained with the community organising skills to become future leaders. People like Morgan Cole, who has been tackling the problems of under-aged drinking in Royston with local community groups, shops, and the local police. People like Maggie Carey, who has been organising a campaign against the littering of the main shopping thoroughfare in Springburn in North Glasgow, gaining support from local residents, local schools, and businesses. And people in other areas are interested in how they can get organised too, to tackle social problems in their areas, and gain the power to take on the powerful vested interests in the Tory-led Government which would hold them back.

Maggie and Morgan joined David Miliband and 1,000 participants from across the UK at the Movement for Change National Assembly at the Emmanuel Hall in Central London on Monday to share their experiences, and to gain support for the even bigger challenges ahead, when the scope of the Tory-Liberal economic vandalism and the looming leap in inequality become clearer. But community organising was not only important in building the Democratic Party fightback before the 2008 elections, it has a great history in our party too. If we are to rebuild trust, not just with voters in Tory-held marginal seats which we must win back to regain power, but also in communities from East London to North Glasgow too, nurturing our roots matters, and David’s candidacy for leader of our party offers us the best vision to do exactly that.

William Bain is Labour MP for Glasgow North East and Shadow Transport Minister

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