“If we don’t unite now, the possibility of a spilt is dangerously real” – Owen Smith’s letter to Labour members

Both candidates for the Labour leadership have published personal statements, reproduced below, on the party website.

A note from Owen:

Labour is the greatest force for good this country has ever known and it would be the greatest honour imaginable to lead our party.

Yet this election takes place at a moment of real danger, because if we don’t unite now, the possibility of a spilt is dangerously real. I will not stand by and watch that happen.

That is why throughout this campaign I will be setting out to unite Labour with a radical vision for the future of our party and Britain, backed up by a credible plan to deliver.

It’s clear that we must oppose failed Tory austerity. However, it is not enough to just be anti-austerity, we need a concrete plan for prosperity.

That’s why I have set out proposals for a British New Deal, which would be a £200bn investment plan to renew our country. Investing in tackling our housing crisis, modernising our transport networks, as well as investing in people through areas like Sure Start and social care.

In the Labour Party we also need to recommit ourselves to an ethical foreign policy, which is why I would introduce a War Powers Act. This would allow Parliament to properly scrutinise the Government of the day. To know, as certainly as we can do, that what we are doing is right and proportionate and in accordance with international law.

The job of uniting Labour and starting to rebuild Britain after this deeply damaging Tory government needs someone who gets things done, not just a talker. I have shown my ability to deliver during the year spend serving loyally in the Shadow Cabinet.

During that time I led campaigns that stopped the Tories in their tracks, when they tried to cut support for disabled people and tax credits for low paid workers.

If Labour members and supporters put their trust in me, I’ll bring that fighting spirt to the job every day. So we not only have the best opposition to the Tories imaginable, but get this rotten government out and return Labour to power.

About Owen:

Growing up Pontypridd, Owen has been a Labour member, trade unionist and socialist since he was old enough to know what they all were.

Before becoming an MP for his hometown, Owen worked at the BBC for ten years, spent three years at the Northern Ireland Office helping to secure the peace process and worked in the in life sciences industry.

Since being elected in 2010, Owen has served the Labour Party loyally in a number of different roles, most recently as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary where he led on campaigns that forced U-turns over cuts to support for disabled people and tax credit cuts.