Say No to an English Parliament, Alison McGovern tells party

Alison McGovern will today call on Labour colleagues to reject proposals for an English parliament and argue the national party has too often been held back by “fatalism” and “miserablism” about Britain.

She will demand a higher-profile media role for Labour’s local government leaders and warns against setting low expectations in the council elections, saying the loss of any councils would be an “unacceptable betrayal” of voters who need support while living under a Tory government.

McGovern, chair of Progress, today launches the Governing Britain Network, which aims to “empower” Labour councillors and better connect them with other parts of the Labour movement.

The Wirral South MP will call for increased devolution to city regions and counties when she speaks at the Local Government Association today.

She is expected to reject calls from Tristram Hunt for a referendum on an English Parliament but back the call from the former shadow Education Secretary for Labour to combat the “centralising instincts” on the left”. 

McGovern, a former councillor in London, will also argue for the party to tap into the skills of Labour local government leaders to a greater extent as well as asking them to appear on national media such as Question Time.

“Labour council leaders with power now can do more good in a week than MPs in Westminster can do in a decade of opposition. Politics is about delivery not deliberation.

“We don’t start from pontificating about our values, come up with ideas, and then try to impose our own dogma. We start from the world as it is, what needs to be done, and then we apply our values to those problems and find solutions.

“Our local government leaders understand this truth. And there are lessons we need to learn from them.”

McGovern also appears to contradict Jon Trickett on the expectations for Labour’s performance on May 5. The shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary used a LabourList article to say the party should aim to improve on its 2015 general election vote, when the party finished nearly seven percentage points behind the Tories – but this was dismissed as a low bar by critics.

McGovern said she is “fighting for hundreds of gains”, adding: “Losing control of a single council at this stage would be an unacceptable betrayal of the people who depend on this party”.