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A business party must be a better party

February 26, 2012 10:27 am

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Recently Alex Smith (formerly of this parish) asked me to write a response to LabourList columnist Rob Marchant’s chapter of the Labour’s Business pamphlet. Rob’s chapter, and my response, deals with how Labour as a party can become more receptive to business voices. You can read it below:

In his chapter for Labour’s Business, Rob Marchant argues – rightly — that Labour as a party needs to learn at all levels how to speak to and engage with business and the private sector. That’s a given — not least because that’s where most of the electorate work. However, what Rob cites as a problem with Labour’s membership — the party meeting — is in fact reflective of a deeper malaise within the party. It’s one that needs to be dealt with if Labour is to become a genuine 21st-century party.

Rob’s contention is that the average Labour Party meeting is likely to be full of people who are public sector workers and trade unionists, as opposed to entrepreneurs. Rob may well be right, although choosing to look at Labour Party meetings is itself flawed. The average CLP meeting isn’t in any way representative of the diversity of the membership in that area, no least because attendees are only a tiny fraction of the membership. That’s due to a number of factors — not least the lack of internal party democracy that leads many to believe that party meetings are pointless.

But there’s also another crucial factor — the Labour Party hasn’t adapted to the changing needs of its membership. I would contend that whilst the party may lack entrepreneurs, it doesn’t lack private sector workers — and lots of them — some unionised, many not. In fact a large proportion of party members I have known and worked alongside work in the private sector. Yet, unfortunately, “contend” is all I can do, as the party seems to have no knowledge of what our members do for a living — or any real knowledge of who they are. That makes my intention as invalid as Rob’s, but it’s something that should concern us both — and you too.

Within the next few weeks the party will employ — for the first time — a senior member of staff whose job it is to engage with members and take their concerns on board. One of their first items of business should be to find out who our members actually are, and how they want to be involved with the party. Through that we may gain some understanding of why the average party meeting is a grumpy, uninspiring, ill-attended affair in a local community centre — and how we change that. Because only once our membership structures reflect the lives our members actually lead — and are flexible enough to include them — will a lot of busy but dedicated party members (from businesses, the public sector, and yes, entrepreneurs) start to have the kind of involvement that works for them.

And that works for the party too.

Related posts:

  1. The Party of Business
  2. Good Business / Bad Business?
  3. In praise of ‘anti-business snobbery’
  4. Building the party: How do we increase membership and change the party for the better?
  5. Business – why the toothless debate?
  • Daniel Speight

    This is purposely getting very muddled. So what do we mean by business? Do we lump the big corporates, the SMBs and entrepreneurs all together? Do we want a future Labour government to have a cosy relationship with the City like the Blair/Brown ones did prior to 2008?

    Of course we have to talk with business and there isn’t any problem having entrepreneurs onside. (I would give one piece of advice which is to be careful of friendly entrepreneurs who have their eyes set on government contracts as we can see now where that leads. Short men in motor racing maybe ones to miss too.)

    But while doing all this we mustn’t forget who the party is meant to represent. If you give Rob and his mates a chance, Labour as a party would represent everyone from the aristocrats and millionaires to our core vote. Great! But that isn’t how it works. Let’s just take one thing from the Occupy movement. There is a 99% and there is 1%, and their needs are not the same.

    Now I’m happy saying this even though I’m not a state sector unionized worker. I was once an ETU union member working for GEC. After that I worked for twenty years all round the world in the oil business and since 1995 I have been an entrepreneur, sometimes successfully, in IT and the internet. (You don’t need to do many searches to find me.)

    Somehow I suspect neither Rob or David Miliband quite match up to my experience of business;-)

    • AlanGiles

      That over-used and irritating expression “one size fits all” comes to mind. I fail to see how Labour can ever reach the biggest of the big employers – I can’t imagine Stuart Rose, formerly the Mr Pooter of Marks & Spencer ever getting the vote Labour posters up. I was never convinced by Digby Jones, or frankly, Alan Sugar – it was a gig and won them a temporary bit of kudos. Something to fill in b etween pruning the roses and the next TV series.

      The fact is the biggest boardrooms and the Labour party are incompatible – unless they want to be pseudo-Tories like Blair and David Miliband. They got on so well with big business because they want to be one of them. You cannot really be seen sucking up to the board of Tesco, at the same time you are critisizing their “work experience” scheme – you either would have to go along with it, or turn a blind eye to it, which would be totally unprincipled. Say it was wrong and you would just lose their support – big business is fine as long as you don’t interfere and tell them when they are wrong.

      It really is a canard anyway that Labour ever was “anti-business”. Back in the 70s when British industry was struggling Harold Wilson came up with the  National Enterprise Board, which offered a lifeline to companies which had been badly hit by rising oil prices, Ted Heath’s three-day week, amongst other things. It benefitted many companies and even though it wasn’t always 100% successful at least it was more of an attempt to help than the current government could or would come up with.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=697126564 Paul Halsall

        Meanwhile certain New Labourites seem to be doing quite well out of business, and not paying much tax along the way.

        http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106313/David-Miliband-paid-70-000-just-days-work-advising-venture-capitalists-investing-green-technology.html 

        • AlanGiles

          I guess that he has received advice from his Master, Uncle Tony, Paul.

          One of the advantages/benefits of having insomnia  is that  you hear early morning press reviews, and, according to  Guido Fawkes in today’s Daily Star on Sunday, apparently David Miliband and his old chum James Purnell sit together at Arsenal football matches.

          I wouldn’t trust either of that pair further than I could throw  them. Yet another downside to the leadership of David Miliband in the future would be the return to Parliament of the scabrous Purnell.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

            Oh, and I thought DM was utterly committed to Sunderland these days…..seems as if being fickle is his most notable characteristic. I simply wish he would take one of these well paid jobs full time and leave politics for good. His presence gives false hope to the ultras and ammunition for our enemies

          • AlanGiles

            Couldn’t agree more Mike. I suspect if his next bid to win the leadership fails, he probably will, and somehow I think if they got to that situation they would go for a compromise candidate – the endorsement of so many of the soiled has-beens, like Mandelson and Darling would do his campaign no good

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

            Oh, I don’t think there is the remotest possibility of him succeeding Ed, no matter when there will be a vacancy – which isn’t going to be soon in any case. The party will hardly move from one Miliband to another.

          • jaime taurosangastre candelas

            Yes, you are right.  There probably won’t be a vacancy until 2015 after near certain defeat, and that vacancy in 2015 probably won’t include a Miliband challenger.  In terms of Labour actually winning an election, who do you propose?  The muppet is a busted flush.  By 2020 of course, the tories will have wreaked havoc and no doubt reset expectations, so whoever he/she is had better be good.

          • treborc

            It could be that the Tories may not do anything yet society fixes it’ self as it does often.

            We may see the country slowing repairing the mess made by labour by Thatcher , and sadly people will decide that it’s better to leave the that’s in power base alone, better then risking labour.

          • AlanGiles

            Hi Mike, The best news I’ve heard all week. I honestly believe that were DM ever to become the leader we would not only go back to the old faces of the past, but some of the dubious practices of the past as well.

      • JoeDM

         Most people working in the private wealth producing sector of the economy are not employed by the ‘big employers’.  They’re employed in small and medium sized businesses that are hit hardest by State and EU regualations and high taxes.  

        If you really wanted to support the growth of employment in the private sector you would support a major reduction in Employers NI – a tax on jobs.

        • AlanGiles

          Joe, with respect that wasn’t the point I was making. What I was commenting on was the notion that certain people (like Rob Marchant) has that somehow Labour can appeal to all businessmen, including the largest. They have this fantasy that they can be everybody’s friend.

          I certainly don’t disagree with your points, BTW

  • GuyM

    A report today in the Sunday Times shows that the top 1% of UK earners pays almost 30% of all UK income tax (half of whom live in London and the SE).

    90% of all income tax is paid by half the working population.

    People in the 40% band pay 34% of the total income tax take.

    And the lower earning 50% of the population pay just £17 billion in tax, less than the UK housing benefit bill of £21 billion (let alone all other government spending).

    For every £1 million bonus a banker gets, the banker takes home £480,000 and the state gets £658,00 (including NI), that’s on top of corporation tax and the bank levy.

    And yet still many on the left are visceral towards business, high earners, the “1%” and even those in the 40% band. Yet these are the people who are paying for your welfare state, the benefits and all the public sector largesse Labour so love.

    How much more exactly do you want to take and do you really think that in a global economy the UK won’t start losing some of these taxpayers elsewhere?

  • Dave Postles

    Why should I rejoin the Labour Party?  Every time I hear a Coalition commentator on the radio (as this lunchtime) addressing the NHS, s/he simply declares that it is continuing the work of Tony Blair.  Gove has declared himself a Blairite.  I’d sooner sponsor 38-Degrees, thank you.

    Big business is either sitting on billions in reserves and not prepared to invest or is overwhelmed with indebtedness from the 90s.  Some big business exports jobs or avoids tax.  Some big business simply engages in A&M of SMEs, further concentrating the industry.  I’ll support business which adds value in this country and employs my neighbour, not the tossers who avoid tax or export jobs.

    • AlanGiles

      Hi Dave, There can be no doubt that by employing his pet polecat Milburn as Health Secretary Blair certainly made the coalitions work easier for them, because like Lansley and Hewitt they have vested interests in the private health industry.

      In the same way, Purnell started the job Duncan-Smith and Grayling are continuing and all three shared the same political rent-boy, David Freud.

      You ask why should you rejoin the Labour party, and that is exactly how I feel, especially when you sense quite a lot of the PLP would like to  have Blair back in the shape of David Miliband as leader

      • TomFairfax

        I appreciate the difficulty.

        However, in my mind if you roll over and let the crooks win, then they succeed and see no disincentive for their methods and ideas.

        They can’t write off criticism as simply old Labour dinosaurs if the criticism focuses on their personal integrity and graft. The policies derive from the moral bankruptcy of that crowd, not the other way round.

        Dave has a point about 38degrees. Much more effective, and because they aren’t after comfy chairs and soft cushions in Whitehall can focus on making things difficult for the coalition, not on internal manoeuvring.

        • AlanGiles

          Hi Tom, There is the old joke about the threat to a club audience that if they don’t calm down “we’ll bring the comedian back on”, and what constantly worries me about Labour at the moment is that Ed Miliband isn’t strong enough (in any sense) to take on and defeat the remaining Blairites, and if he fails then we will see the “ultras” – David Miliband, Purnell, Milburn, Mandy and Blunkett all returning from the political grave.

          It is probably an unreasonable demand on my part, but I want to see Blair’s friends removed, bag and baggage, before I could rejoin the party.

          At the start I had hopes for Brown but I think he betrayed the party by giving Purnell his head and dragging Mandelson back and having the gall to actually reward him with a title – it just seems to have been years of betrayal, unrelieved

          • Tom Fairfax

             I think I was at that club last Thursday.

            Despite the appearance of a complete grouch on occassion, I do think if Ed can get stronger. He’s shown more signs of life recently than the economy.

            He needs to, because the vipers you mention would end up running an exclusive club with very few members interested in anything but lining their own pockets, and persuing power for it’s own sake, as opposed to a tool to achieve something like governing for the people and not those with the bestPR and lobbyists.

            It’s difficult to traduce those who have been found already profitting from their past roles and contacts for no ones benefit except their own. For ‘Respect’ you need first something worthy of it.

          • treborc

            I think Blunkett Purnell are not the problem a lot of the New intake are easy pickings to Blair and his gang.

            Simple because they are like Blair themselves coming from the same area of society.

          • AlanGiles

            You certainly have a point. I can see Purnell returning to Westminster  one day, though to wreak more havoc, though Blunkett, I suspect, is now washed up.

  • Amber Star

    I think that Labour does need to find out what its members do for a living; they also need to find out what skills members have or would like to develop. There is probably a huge, untapped skills base within the Party which Labour could be tapping into.

    Anecdote doesn’t = data but I’m a private sector employee, an analyst for a global corporation which is the market leader in its industry. I’m not a ‘job snob’ & I’m happy to spend time putting leaflets into envelopes & through letter boxes but I do sometimes wonder: Could the Labour Party not make better use of my time & skills? I have a feeling that there’s a wealth of talent & experience which would be available to the Party through our members, if we would reach out & ask about it.

    • http://twitter.com/gonzozzz dave stone

      As a member, I get the feeling they want only passivity from the membership.

      Just imagine if your, and others, expertise and experience was let loose within the Party – those at the top would probably be shown up for their lack of it.And then what…

    • treborc

      Yes but that has never worked ever has it, the three MP’s I  know from my time, have been all outsiders elected to the local party not by going to local meeting or being associated locally but by being dropped into the safe seat.

      none of them have ever lived locally all lived in London and worked in London.

  • Quiet_Sceptic

    Case in point – the post here on Labourlist today by David Lammy attacking the New Routemaster bus  project.

    Here’s a UK manufacturer in conjunction with TfL producing a cutting edge, stylish new product, something we should hope will be a success and generate export sales and jobs.

    Instead we’ve got a Labour MP attacking it based on the spurious basis that the production models will cost the same as the prototypes, when the prototypes include all of the design and R&D costs of bringing the new product to market.

    It’s not surprising Labour gets thought of as anti-business.

  • JoeDM

    Well Labour seem to be carrying on in a very anti-business way in taking every opportunity to attack the wealth producing sectors of the economy.

    • treborc

      What banks and the financial sectors, something has to be done to these, what is surprising me is this down turn is massive yet car production is holding up, which means people are still buying vehicles

  • GuyM

    Prudential looking like they may jump ship and leave London for HongKong.

    Be careful of getting what you claim you want. If the Financial Services sector and wider corporate world feels the UK is anti business just watch the capital and companies flow out of the UK to a very grateful recipient somewhere abroad.

    All the hand wringing then won’t save the lost jobs and tax revenues.

  • AlanGiles

    I was discussing with a friend today a project which is currently being undertaken to provide very cheap computers to educate children in computer programming – a skill many youngsters picked up in the 1980s, but which has largely become a lost skill (just Google “Raspberry Pi”.

    Originally it was intended to be a British manufactured project, but…..

    Briefly, there is an E-Petition available to make it cheaper and easier for British manufacturers to import components:

    http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/27158 

    Things like this don’t get much publicity sadly. I have no personal connection with the project, but this is the sort of thing that Labour should be supporting.

    See what you think

    • Dave Postles

       Thanks, Alan.  I’ve signed it.  Raspberry Pi will be available later this week.  There have been problems sourcing some components in China (irony).  An interesting aspect for me is that the OS will be a remastered Fedora (Linux) 14 – which is interesting because the One Laptop Per Child also uses remastered Fedora.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZPXYLRVP4XOIGGDJWAL6HUO7U4 David

      Raspberry Pi is a brilliant idea.  I’m personally very keen to pick up one and have a fiddle.

      However the ePetition you reference is not so good.  ”Change import duty rules to encourage British manufacturing” sounds a lot like saying: “encourage national protectionism”.

      • Dave Postles

         PC purchases.
        It’s possible to buy kit which is assembled in this country for prices below or comparable with High St prices.  I recommend PCSpecialist or Novatech.  I recently had fantastic service from PCSpecialist.  It’s also flexible – you can, within limits of course, adapt the specification online.

      • AlanGiles

        You might be right, David, but British manufacturing is in such a parlous state,  and our economy so weak, I feel it could be justified

    • Dave Postles

       Raspberry Pi.  Gove might have considered a central purchase of them to distribute to schools in a package with his KJBs.  As it is, the initial batch is 10k, I believe, so there may be many disappointments first time round and the potential for educational distribution may be limited.  Educationists will have to have an induction to Linux, of course, too – not hard, but there may be resistance.  We could have had the equivalent of OLPC which has specific aspects of Python programming (Pippy Python) as an introduction to coding.  Every child could have had a colourful netbook with appropriate apps and introduction to programming.   

  • treborc

    Not a lot people can do if they want to go to the Asia market which they are already listed , then fine .

  • Francis Deutsch

    Yes:Public  Sector workers are usually committed to the public good, to community development, and to public empowerment. They accept that being abused and relatively low paid is the result of the success of the Tory and mass media machines. For the first three reasons they are in the  Labour Party. Sadly the party no longer reflects this. With people like Clarke, Blunkett and the rest of the New Labour gang, they desire to turn the party into a Cameron twin with a (near-)human face. They do not need to learn to speak to the Institute of Directors or the CBI, because all they need is two words:
     ”Yes master”. 

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