Michael Harris is wrong about young activists

By Ben Soffa

Are the ‘anti-everything rabble’ of G20 protesters the antithesis of the model Young Labour member? Michael Harris’ post “What’s the point of Young Labour?” suggests so, but I fear it’s exactly this sort of dismissive attitude that risks limiting our youth movement to the tiny minority already won over to the norms of party politics.

If we’re to re-build support for our party amongst progressive, political young people we have to reach out and engage in the movements where they’re found. These may frequently be chaotic, will often lack structure and almost certainly be hostile to some area of Government policy – but isn’t this last point the key issue we should expect to argue through with people? Who ever got involved in politics or joined a party merely to support the status quo? We need to turn their critique into a desire to campaign within the party on that issue, whilst also advocating for the party where we hold aspirations in common.

From the most devout Labour Student (visibly excited by Ed Miliband’s every word at the Youth Day), to their contemporary sitting in a tent at the G20 Climate Camp, we all want progressive change of some kind. We’re almost certain to have differing levels of ambition and demand a massively different pace of change, but if we dismiss people on the basis that they’re not going to be content with just making an NPF submission and maybe attending a ministerial Q&A then we consign our party to a slow decay towards becoming an irrelevance, unreflective of anyone beyond a narrow political class.

Environmental action is an obvious example. Michael says that whilst “they chant slogans, we help out in our local communities” but I can think of a string of people who camped outside the European Climate Exchange much more involved in community-based action than many Young Labour members. They might be helping shops discourage plastic bag use, volunteering in schools to provide education on environmental sustainability or perhaps be part of their local ‘Transitions Town‘ group working towards a low-carbon community. They may lack a comprehensive policy package, but in the immediate sense, they are no less effective for that. Some may be tempted to dismiss these initiatives, often isolated from a broader, coherent movement, but are they really any less valid than a Labour activist campaigning for a new pedestrian crossing or to remove graffiti? In isolation, the actions of the environmentalist won’t save the planet, but nor is socialism to be delivered merely through the actions of one borough council.

Many dismiss those working outside of the established, ossified structures of politics as being irrelevant, or as Michael did, describe them as ‘anti-everything’. Sadly, this thinking dominates much of our party, generally overlapping with those who would wish CLPs to focus on ‘bread and butter issues’ and not debate world events or discuss what kind of society we seek to build. But Young Labour, and the party more generally could learn a great deal from the dynamism and the comparatively huge numbers who take part in single-issue campaigning where global events are often taken down to a very local level for action. Such organisations should not be regarded as a threat or a distraction, as several speakers at Youth Day seemed to suggest, but as hubs around which most of the political energies of our generation are being built.

Michael is of course right to say that government isn’t easy, especially in terms of inspiring those with no memory of anything but Blair and Brown, but this is not to let our leadership off the hook. It is not enough to say that tough decisions had to be made, the problem was that frequently it was the wrong decision that was made. From Iraq to the relatively modest adjustments to taxation policy, the reason it is so difficult to inspire young people to vote for our party, let alone join it, is the sense that lessons have not been learnt and that we lack a forward-looking vision of a significantly transformed society. This desperately needs to change if we are to have a future as a party.

Given that every last member of Young Labour opted to join the existing party of government (there can be no members of Young Labour of an age where they could have joined the party before we came into power), it’s encouraging that we can elect a Chair not only with a record of opposing the Iraq war and tuition fees but with a plan to revive the organisation into a political force within the party. I may have only a couple more days until I become too old to be considered as ‘Young’ Labour, but with the changes initiated last weekend, I feel confident that voices who understand the need to engage with, rather than dismiss broader progressive movements will be able to shape the future of Young Labour – a process that is vital to salvaging not only the future of our party, but to building a fairer, more equal society.