Standing proud for fairness, peace and justice – why Labour must learn from the Greens, or die

By Mathew Hulbert / @mathewhulbert

As we prepare to exit the first decade of this new Century, British politics may be on the verge of a significant shift. For almost a decade, since the near death of the old Liberal Party, our politics has been largely a two-party system-with Labour and the Conservatives beating all before them.

Of those two, as we know, the Conservatives were dominant in terms of the number of years they had in power, with Labour achieving important but only relatively short periods of office.

Despite what some people on the Right may tell you this wasn’t because “Britain is a Conservative country”. Quite the opposite in fact, as even at the height of Mrs Thatcher’s Government a majority of people still voted for other parties, notably those on the Left/Centre-Left. The problem was that for most of the ’80s Labour was in disarray and therefore the Left-wing vote was split.

Now, after 12 years of Labour Government, British politics is much more of a multi-party system than it was before. It’s true that the next Government is likely to be either Labour or the Tories, but look outside the box and you see a transformed political landscape.

Part of this is as a result of Labour’s devolution programme, with the Scottish Nationalists enjoying their first period in office in their long history and, similarly, Plaid Cymru in coalition with Labour in Wales.

But in England times are a-changing too, as proven with UKIP and, sadly, the BNP garnering votes and seats in the recent European and Local elections.

So, does that mean the Right is dominant in England?

Well, no it doesn’t.

I want to concentrate on a party that has been – slowly but surely, and under the radar of publicity – gaining people’s votes and, significantly, their trust: the Green Party.

In the European election the Greens garnered a million votes, returning two MEPs. The Greens also have more than 100 principal authority Councillors and two members of the London Assembly.

I believe Labour, as it tries yet again to renew itself in office, can learn some important lessons from the Greens.

Recent polling has shown that the Greens, over and above even the Liberal Democrats, are the most trusted party in British politics.

I believe this is because they uphold the highest standards in public office.

Another reason is that the Greens stick to their principles and are prepared to advocate policies which are much needed but might be unpopular with some vested interests and socio-economic groups. And in Caroline Lucas, their leader, they have an inspiring and powerful advocate for the environment, justice and peace.

I’m sure some people reading this will perhaps think, “Ah well, it’s easy to be idealistic in opposition…it’s a of a bit tougher show in Government.”

Well, my answer to that would be this: if we’ve got to a stage where we no longer believe that we can have principles and idealism from our Government, where we can’t expect high standards from our politicians, then our body politik really is in trouble.

Labour, traditionally, has been a party of principle but there’s surely no doubt that some people feel let down. Rightly or wrongly, they feel that the party is no longer as committed to helping the poorest and weakest in our society as they once were.

In actual fact, as you know, Labour has done a lot but, because it consistently appears to be running scared of the right-wing press and the middle class, it tends to try and keep its attempts at wealth re-distribution quiet. On the other hand, the Greens are winning increasing numbers of votes by standing proud for policies that aim for fairness, peace and justice.

If Labour isn’t to go the same way as the old Liberal Party, slowly dissolving into a political shadow of its former self, it could do much worse than learning the lessons of the Green experience.

There really are votes to be won in being true to yourself.

Mathew’s blog can be found at mathewhulbert.wordpress.com.