Compass

In the next instalment of TANKED, LabourList’s focus on the think tanks, pressure groups and campaign organisations that make up the movement of the centre-left, we profile Compass.

NAME:
Compass – Direction for the Democratic Left

ESTABLISHED:
Founded in September 2003, the pressure group Compass was formed by some of the best known left-of-centre thinkers in British politics. The driving force behind Compass in those primitive days was former Editor of the Labour journal Renewal, and now Chair of Compass, Neal Lawson. Alongside the late Robin Cook, academics David Marquand, Andrew Gamble and Ruth Lister, Progress Director Robert Philpot and the Fabians’ then General Secretary Michael Jacobs, to name just a few, Compass sought to rejuvenate and give direction to not only the Labour Party, but the progressive politics of the centre-left.

After meeting the arrival of Tony Blair as Prime Minister with a renewed optimism for progressive politics, the founding statement of Compass spoke out against the ideological malaise gripping the party after the electoral landslide in 1997. Although the individuals who came together to form Compass regarded Blair’s modernisation of the Labour Party as necessary in order to reconnect with the electorate after the failures of the party in the 1980s, the ideological timidity displayed during its first term had left the party lacking any defined purpose beyond a ‘what works’ philosophy. Hope had turned to disillusionment, and Compass called on the democratic left to draw on public action and investment in order to rediscover both its pluralism and its egalitarianism for a radical reorientation of capitalism towards human need, rather than managed as an unstoppable force.

PHILOSOPHY:
The defining characteristic of Compass is its belief in the creation of the Good Society, where the richness of human potential in today’s society is fulfilled by all its citizens. Achieving this requires plural and egalitarian politics to be embraced, combined and deployed in radical and distinctive ways. It is only by joining up progressive organisations and activists, and providing ideological direction, that the powerful forces of capital and conservatism can be tamed. New Labour believed that a progressive government could succeed through using what it saw as ideologically neutral (although often centre-right) means to achieving its goals. However, the means – be they free-markets or regulation, the public or private sector, redistributive solutions or egalitarian ones – are ultimately defined by their principles, and mutate the ends. In a changing world, Compass feels the democratic left must reassert the ends, but also the means to achieving its objectives.

Compass strives to achieve the Good Society by campaigning on these three core values:

* Equality
Compass believes that if all citizens are to excise their liberty in a free and democratic society they must not only be free from external constrains; they need to be empowered though material resources to fully utilise their autonomy. Constraints of poverty and chasms in social equality limit what an individual is legally permissible to do. Equality, contrary to the right’s depiction, is not the enemy of liberty, but the means of pursuing it. Equal democratic rights are unattainable when the resources of different demographic groups are shared so unequally.

* Democracy
Democracy as a means of collective action has fallen into disrepute. Long before the recent expenses scandal, trust in politicians and the institutions they inhabit were already at all time lows. Compass believes that this confidence in the democratic process can be restored. Its campaigns aim to re-engage people and communities in politics by advocating greater decentralisation of power and the re-invention of local democracy as a tool to combat cynical, hostile or apathetic attitudes. Democracy must also radically spread through our political parties, Parliament, Whitehall, local government and voting systems.

* Sustainability
After the aggressive individualism and consumerism promoted by the New Right in the 1980s, New Labour promised a rebalancing of the interest of the community and market. However, once in power they too readily conceded to the demands of the City and big business leading to the continuation of an unbalanced and unsustainable economic model. Compass ascribes to the Social Democratic belief that the benefits that markets can bring should be harnessed, but should always be directed to serve the people, not vice versa. Compass also believes it is only by creating a more sustainable economy that the greatest challenge of our time, climate change, can be fought. Traditionally, politics has played lip-service to climate change, but well constructed environmental policies can be economically beneficial, opening up the potential for new industries to re-balance our economy in a sustainable future.

KEY PEOPLE:

Neal Lawson is the Chair of Compass.

Gavin Hayes is the General Secretary of Compass.

Joe Cox is the Campaigns Organiser of Compass.

Zoe Gannon is the Research Co-ordinator of Compass.

Email: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS:
From late 2008, Compass’ concerted campaigning has led to considerable achievements that reflect a commitment to the group’s core philosophy.

* Windfall Tax for Social and Environmental Justice

Throughout 2008, Compass campaigned for the government to introduce a windfall tax on the excessive profits of the energy companies. Amid rising cost of fuel and energy, the campaign aimed for a one-off windfall tax on energy company profits to be used to pay for greater environmental and social justice, in particular to tackle fuel poverty. The campaign attracted major support from 120 MPs, 12 PPSs and the chair of the PLP signed the petition calling for action. Whilst the windfall tax didn’t materialise, the support the campaign attracted pressured the government into announcing £910m of worth of measures designed to deal with fuel poverty.

* Keep the Post Public
Following the Hooper Report and the government announcement of its intentions to part-privatise the Royal Mail in late 2008 and throughout 2009, Compass campaigned tirelessly to avert this vital public service being sold to the private sector. In Case Not Made, Compass forcefully challenged the validity of the conclusions and quality of the evidence provided in the Hooper Report on the provision of the universal postal service. In April 2009, in Modernisation by Consent, Neal Lawson set Compass’ positive vision for a modern, publicly-owned post service as an alternative to the proposals of the government’s to part-privatise Royal Mail and the Post Office. Alongside the rebellion occurring amongst Labour MPs, the campaign put the government under intense pressure to abandon its plans. The government’s eventual retreat from imposing privatisation on the public utility was a considerable victory for Compass.

* Closing in for Tax Justice
Compass has had a long-standing commitment to creating a higher tax-band for top earners. In the run-up to the 2009 Budget, Compass ran a week long quick-fire campaign, Closing in for Tax Justice, against personal tax avoidance, encouraging people to write to the chancellor with a number of key demands. In the budget announcement, the Government declared that it would implement three of these demands: the abolishment of tax relief for those above £150,000; the introduction of a new 50% tax rate (in 2010, rather than 2011); and the closure of personal tax avoidance loopholes.

* High Pay Commission, Bankers’ Bonus Windfall Tax, New Banking Settlement
After the financial crisis exposed the greed, immorality and social injustice poorly regulated free-markets can bring, Compass has been leading demands for a new economic settlement that makes markets more accountable to society. Reflecting the public outrage towards the bonuses being paid in the financial sector, Compass and its members successfully led a national campaign for the introduction of a Windfall Tax on bankers’ bonuses in last November’s pre-budget report. Moreover, one of Compass’ most successful campaigns in this area has been for the introduction of a High Pay Commission to investigate the economic and social impact of excessive pay. After rallying members throughout the country to lobby support to the EDM on a High Pay Commission put forward by John Battle MP, Compass currently has 133 signatures, with the list still growing and public scrutiny of excessive pay mounting. In recent weeks Compass has also called and campaigned for a New Banking Settlement, with six policy proposals to help raise money for spending on socially useful projects.

* Voting Reform
Reflecting a commitment to further democratisation of our political system, during the past year Compass has been campaigning hard for the government to introduce radical reform to the voting system. In The Last Labour Government, published on the first day of the Labour Party Conference in 2009, Compass called on the government to hold a referendum on proportional representation on the same day as the general election in order to not only save Labour’s political future, but trigger public debate on the nature of our democratic system. The pressure on the government to introduce steps towards reforming our voting system has gathered pace since. Prior to the government’s announcement to amend the Constitutional Reform Bill with a commitment to a referendum on the Alternative Vote, Compass and its members publically campaigned for the MPs to support the bill through Parliament.

* No Turning Back
The No Turning Back essay was a post-crash re-evaluation of centre-left politics written in March 2009 by Compass’ chair Neal Lawson and Guardian columnist John Harris. There were two main threads running through the article. Firstly, that we need to draw a line under the market fundamentalism of the past thirty years; that the inter-linked crises of sustainability, democracy and equality require a fundamental re-evaluation of the relationship of the market and society. The challenges we face have collective answers that the market alone cannot solve. Secondly, the method of achieving lasting and meaningful change means involving other actors outside the Labour Party that share Compass’ goal of achieving the Good Society. Compass believes that form follows function so it is time to listen, learn and work together with others that share the group’s beliefs. The forces of conservatism are strong, and to succeed, the left needs to join up disparate groups and forge a common consensus that links up political parties, campaigning organisations and grassroots activists. Compass’ 2009 conference had speakers from the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and Respect that all had something important to contribute to the debate.

FUTURE WORK:
In the coming year, Compass will continue to campaign on the political issues it feels most passionately about; those that reflect the group’s core principles and belief in the Good Society. One of Compass’ main priorities will be continuing to apply pressure on the government to reign in the excessive remuneration in the financial sector, as well as pushing for regulatory reform – a campaign is already well under way with the publication of Never Again!, a blueprint for a new banking settlement published last Thursday.

This piece was drawn together by James Maker, who is currently interning at Compass as part of his MA. We are exceptionally grateful to James for all his excellent work and enthusiastic contribution to the team.