Exclusive: Covid failures “deeply rooted” in Tory Party, says Dodds

Anneliese Dodds has described the UK government failures seen during the coronavirus crisis as “deeply rooted” in the ruling Conservative Party during an exclusive interview.

The Shadow Chancellor talked to LabourList on Tuesday evening about Chancellor Rishi Sunak, a green revolution, wealth taxes, Labour winning back support in Scotland and more.

During the event, Dodds touched on the cause of government failures during the Covid crisis. She said: “It’s deeply rooted in the whole of the Conservative Party, unfortunately.

“An unwillingness to work with those public authorities that would actually be part of the solution… enormous contracts being provided to outsourcers which they simply don’t deliver.

“And a complete unwillingness to really engage with the kind of work with business and trade unions that is necessary to provide support for jobs.

“This is traditional Conservative stuff. That unwillingness to sort out the problems because of their ideology. It’s something that applies, unfortunately, across the piece.”

On whether Labour’s messaging on competence would work as well if Rishi Sunak were to become Tory leader, Dodds argued that it would do as the economic response has been slow.

The Shadow Chancellor said: “All the changes that are happening now feel like pulling teeth. They feel like they’re taking a very, very long time to fit into place.

“The slowness that has characterised our public health response is most definitely a feature of the economic response now as well. So it’s important that Labour is making that clear.”

She added: “We need to make sure that every single Conservative minister is feeling the heat around all of those failings because they are collective failings.”

Asked whether she was ever tempted to don a hoodie and release a ‘geek chic’ picture of herself, as Rishi Sunak has done, Dodds replied: “I’d be probably be more of the geek and less of the chic, to be honest, if I went down that route.

“I can reassure LabourList readers that I don’t have a brand manager. I think it’s quite important in politics to be open, honest and transparent.”

Dodds also said the green revolution proposal from the 2019 manifesto remains a key part of Labour’s offer, telling LabourList that “there’s the need for a far stronger green stimulus than what the government have committed to”.

Asked whether Labour backs public equity stakes in industries such as aviation, she replied: “We’re very clear that government shouldn’t be taking an ideological approach on this, and yet it seems to.

“It seems unwilling to countenance having that kind of equity role…. We think that’s quite a dogmatic way of looking at these matters.”

Dodds was asked to clarify Labour’s position on wealth taxes. She advised the government in June to consider using wealth taxes to fund the UK’s coronavirus recovery.

But it was later reported by The Times that the party had “abandoned its call for a wealth tax” as Dodds said that Labour was “not calling for tax rises”.

Speaking to LabourList, Dodds said: “I think there’s been confusion, egged on by the right-wing press, actually around the sequencing of this.

“It’s absolutely right that we as the Labour Party look at the whole panoply of taxation options. I’ve always said that I’m very strongly for a more progressive taxation system.”

She added: “But our detailed proposals around taxation will be worked on just as they would be for any general election. All of those precise details we will be working with members on.”

Dodds described the “immediate challenge” as “about employment protection” and reiterated that she thought there was “mischief-making” by the press on the wealth taxes issue.

Asked in a reader’s question about a four-day working week, Dodds said: “There’s been a lot of really great campaigning around the role that so-called short-hours working could play.”

She explained that Labour had been urging the government during the Covid crisis to look at schemes, such as in Germany, where people work reduced hours and the state tops up their income.

“We need to make sure that we’re not mischaracterised on this issue,” Dodds added. “We don’t want people’s pay to be reduced. That’s already happening. It’s not something we as a party would ever want to be calling for.”

Dodds was asked about modern monetary theory (MMT), which largely argues that governments controlling their own currencies can significantly boost spending without worrying too much about debt.

She said: “I have to say around pure MMT, I have always asked, how is it really possible to do this within one country? Given how internationalised our economy is, wouldn’t that have a negative impact, wouldn’t there be an impact on inflation?”

The Shadow Chancellor has been on a visit to Scotland and Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard in the final leg of her UK tour over the summer.

Commenting on Labour’s electoral chances in Scotland, Dodds said: “I think [the SNP are] still constantly thinking that it’s Labour who is their key opposition rather than the Conservatives, even given the polling situation currently.

“To beat that, we have to show we’re on the side of Scottish people and show we’re the only ones to rise above the barney between Sturgeon on one hand and Johnson on the other…

“Labour needs to show Scottish people that their concerns are centre-stage, not this partisan knockabout that everyone finds so frustrating.”

Below is the full video of our ‘in conversation’ event with Anneliese Dodds MP.