21st Century Labour

By Harriet Yeo

I have thought about this for a long time and, with the present news, really thought that it was about time that I started to share my thoughts.

Allegiance is professed to ‘old’ or’ new’ Labour, but politics must metamorphasise, like Dr Who, if it is to survive – and once again it is time to regenerate. ‘Old’ Labour freed working women and men to start to begin to make the most of their lives with education and medical care free at the point of need. Then came ‘new’ Labour, slightly different but still bearing the hallmark of defending workers’ rights.

However, nothing much is new after 15 years or so, and what was needed then to bring things up to date is now ready for its next stage – 21st Century Labour.

There is a lot of hostility towards politicians and politics at the moment but this is in itself an opportunity. I can’t remember the last time so many were talking about politics. The electorate are hungry for a fresh dynamic way in politics; they want a system that they can be confident in and that is accessible to them.

Is the branch structure really accessible to everyone? I know that talk about changing the branch structure is something of a poisoned chalice but in the main it is not working and we need to find a system that is. Digital media has been harnessed in the US, bringing glittering success to the Democrats. Maybe we could have some version of a virtual branch meeting. We mustn’t be afraid of changing things – because if we don’t change them they will wither and die and for the sake of the ordinary working person this must not be allowed to happen to the Labour Party. We need new activists and supporters but it is necessary to make the idea of working with the Labour Party fun and rewarding in both theirs and their communities’ lives.

We need a more transparent policy system, we certainly don’t want to go back to interminable compositing meetings, but still a lot of branches do not fully understand the policy process. So we must find a way to make sure that all Labour supporters and members can feel fully integrated and interconnected, but through a system that recognises that important link with the unions: after all, it was the unions who became ‘old’ Labour. So if 21st Century Labour is the child of both old and new Labour then the trades union movement is the grandparent of 21st Century Labour. Like all families there are bound to be times when we fall out – but we are still family and still belong firmly together.

Some members give so much in terms of time, but as a party we do little to recognise those people who put in hours and hours of work and who donate the use of their houses as committee rooms. Yet if we give £1,000 a year, we get special recognition. Well I for one am not against donations of money and showing our gratitude – but we must extend thanks and new opportunity to those who give so much in terms of work at ground level.

This process may be painful, but it is necessary. All plants need a good pruning and we must not be afraid to do whatever is necessary to become a party that the electorate can respect and vote for. After the last few weeks there is a thirst for a new way in politics, if we act now and seize the moment, it is us, the Labour party, who can quench that thirst and be rewarded with a new and invigorated party to march confidently on and grasp that holy grail of a fourth Labour term.