Holding our nerve against the Tory press

Over the last few days I’ve had a very painful insight into what life must be like for a senior Labour politician up against the Tory press in the run up to an election. I’m a lifelong Labour supporter. I’m the party’s largest individual donor. I’m a former Labour Councillor in Camden and I was the (Labour) Deputy Chairman of the London Docklands Development Corporation. I’ve been a Labour Parliamentary candidate twice and for the European Parliament once. I trust Ed – he’s the right leader. With Ed I know we can win. And not only that, I truly believe he would be an outstanding Prime Minister of this country. I am 100% behind him and the whole Party. However, for a section of the press this is not enough. They want to dig and stir, and they don’t care how much pain they cause any individuals that get in their way. This is what, as Labour supporters, we’re up against.

On Saturday, I was rung by a reporter from the Mail on Sunday and I did my damnedest to explain how much I support the Party and avoid saying anything which could be misconstrued as criticism. I was determined not to say anything that might be used to damage Labour. I came off the phone thinking that I was reasonably sure there was nothing that could be twisted. But I was wrong.

I have always supported heavier taxes on high-value properties, and I told the reporter this, although it is true that I have gone on record to say that I think that widening the council tax bands is a better way of doing it than having a mansion tax. I also have said that there are problems about hypothecating something like a mansion tax for the NHS rather than using money raised locally for local purposes – particularly building more housing. As regards the NHS, my view is one of considerable sympathy with both Alan Milburn and Andy Burnham. Clearly the NHS both needs both more money and to consider every reasonable way of improving efficiency. This is what I told the Mail reporter. I spoke to the reporter like an adult – I explained my views and where I had alternative options or ideas. In my view it is polite to expand on ideas – it is normal human behaviour in a civilised conversation.

Unfortunately the Mail on Sunday decided to twist what I had said and turned the whole thing into me criticising Ed and the party. They had no story but that wasn’t a problem – they just created one. Sadly, The Independent then decided to take the whole thing one step further and wrote its own wildly inaccurate article bizarrely linking my comments with those of Stefano Pessina, the head of the Boots chemists chain. For the record, I’ll say again, nowhere have I ever said that I was against taxing higher value properties. I have always been in favour of doing this. Nor am I at all gung-ho about large elements of privatisation in the NHS although I would not rule out some for profit provision – as indeed was the case with Andy Burnham.

Obviously, this whole saga then created an opening for the Prime Minster to attack Ed about donations at Prime Minister’s Questions, mentioning me specifically. I don’t necessarily blame Cameron. The Mail on Sunday and The Independent had written about me, I was fresh in his mind, and I assume I’m possibly now in Cameron’s PMQs briefing pack under the section marked: ‘Quick wins/Easy targets’.

I am well aware of the vulnerability of my position to being used to provide highly selective and misleading quotes like the one in the Mail on Sunday but unfortunately there is a limit to the extent to which this sort of thing can be avoided, however hard I try. Many kind journalists have subsequently suggested that I should have just refused to speak to the reporter or put the phone down, and I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from them. But I’m of the generation where cutting off a call is not normally acceptable behaviour – rude in the extreme. However, on balance, perhaps next time I will be forced to do so. And that will be a shame because if, as intelligent adults, we can’t have civilised conversations, the next logical step is that all debate or alternative views are stifled because no one can risk being misquoted.

In my view it is so very, very important that we all hold our nerve; that we continue to talk and debate, express our own opinions. There must always be healthy debate within political parties and amongst genuine supporters. Just because we don’t always agree on the finer detail doesn’t mean that we don’t agree on the vision, direction and essential principles of fairness, social justice, decency, strong community and values.

Labour is in a strong position to win the election. It has a group of policies that are appealing to a public and a leadership that can carry the Party into No.10. I strongly believe that Ed will be PM in May. In my view the Tory press are rightly running in fear. They are hunting for anything with which to hit the Labour Party. They want to derail what seems like the inevitable. This country is desperate for change. The economy is in a mess – the Tory Party has not delivered on its promise to restore the economy to a level footing, and we’re now starting to see the economy slow down and falter. The Treasury has consistently missed its own targets. The Coalition tasked itself to eliminate the budget deficit by the end of its term, but it is now only a third lower. Annual GDP in the year to the third quarter 2014 was recently downgraded from 3% to 2.6% by the ONS. And, crucially, because of the growing population, GDP per head is still below pre-recession levels.

And if that that wasn’t enough, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the UK has seen only 40% of the Government’s intended cuts to public spending, meaning that if the Tories are elected in May, we are set for another 60% over the next five years. The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) describes these forthcoming cuts as ‘colossal’. This Government has failed at its own game.

The Tory Party is staring defeat in the face and they know it. They’ve known it for 18 months at least. But only now is it starting to sink in. The Labour Party is united and we’re a mere stone’s throw from victory. I’m a supporter of the Party and of Ed. If we hold our nerve, accept that the attacks against us are because we have the Tories on the run, then together we will win in 2015.