Beware when Labour supporters get fast and furious

By Vincenzo Rampulla

If Daniel Hannan thought his rise to fame was fast when he had a bash at Gordon Brown in the European Parliament this March, then he should be stunned by how quickly his comments on the NHS has made him a figure of hate in the UK.

Usually an ‘eccentric‘ MEP speaking in the US wouldn’t be of much interest in the UK. But all it took was for Labour members and supporters to voice their outrage at his attack on the NHS and the whole country suddenly remembered its love for the NHS.

The best thing about this has not just been to show the speed and how effectively Labour members can organise themselves (as the #welovethenhs Twitter campaign has shown) but also how it has reached well beyond the usual ‘politico’ circles. Suddenly Labour politicians found themselves following where the membership was leading and making in-roads into the bogus Tory ‘we’re best for Britain’ narrative in a way that chimes with the general public.

Admittedly it took Gordon Brown a day to join in and show his backing of the campaign. But incredibly it took three days for the usually slick Conservatives to bring out a visibly annoyed David Cameron to try and convince the public that he wasn’t leading the same old Conservative party who would dismantle the NHS from day one.

Now we’re looking at a topic where the Conservatives thought they were strong crumble beneath their feet. This is good. Political debate has, for a little while at least, moved from which politicians has the nicest smile to the more substantial topic of what kind of levels of healthcare we want in this country.

The key feature, for me at least, of this whole furore has been the personal stories from which the campaign has grown. Supporters have crammed Twitter with their personal experiences of the NHS. One Tweeter‘s contribution was indicative of the tone: “Saved my life, saved my wife’s life, beat my brother-in-law’s cancer and embodies a compassionate civilized ideal #welovetheNHS”. People have phone radio stations to talk about their experiences of the NHS and how much pride they have in their health service.

As a Labour activist I sometimes wonder why we don’t make more of our personal experiences under this Labour government on the doorstep. Think back to minimum wage, trade union legislation, equality rights, Sure Start and, yes, massive NHS investment. How can we hope to convince others of the benefits of a Labour Government if we can’t say why we would vote Labour ourselves?

You can’t find it on the internet but one trade union published a booklet of 100 achievements by this Labour Government and flicking through the book it was amazing to see just how many of those achievements had meant a better life for me and my family. But that knowledge is no good kept to myself.

One of the Conservatives’ main arguments has been that we are a failed government. But through our own stories we can help people remember just what we’ve accomplished and why there’s still more to do. It is a powerful message to let your supporters tell their own stories and help people remember the very personal ways they have benefited from the changes Labour has made to this country.

Take Ed Mayne‘s personal cancer story. It makes Labour’s case for rights for cancer sufferers more powerfully than Andy Burham could. If we’re clever, we’ll learn from this impromptu NHS episode and let people make the case for a Labour Government in their own words.