Matt White: Why I am standing to be a local government rep on Labour’s NEC

‘On your side’ was Labour’s campaign slogan for the recent local elections. As Labour councillors, we need to ask ourselves what it means to stand on the side of the communities that we represent. Our residents face massive hikes in food and fuel prices, with many living in poor quality, overpriced and insecure housing, often with insecure jobs or on zero-hours contracts, meaning they don’t even know how much money they have to last the month.

So it’s not surprising to see workers across the country – from rail workers and bus drivers to refuse collectors and postal workers – taking industrial action this summer. Despite the narrative pushed by the Tory government and sections of the media that strikers are the enemy of the ordinary people inconvenienced by the strikes, it’s very clear that those taking industrial action are themselves ordinary workers, impacted by low wages, insecure work, overpriced, low-quality and insecure housing and massive price increases. It’s heartening to see that public support for strikes remains high, and it’s good to see so many Labour councillors and MPs, even some frontbenchers, standing on picket lines in solidarity with striking workers.

As leaders in our communities, it’s important for Labour councillors to show that we’re on the side of those who are withdrawing their labour to fight for better pay and conditions (or rather, in current circumstances, to try to stop their pay and conditions from being further eroded).

I was proud to stand alongside RMT workers recently on a picket line at Seven Sisters station in Haringey where I’m a councillor. Haringey is a borough with the same economic, health, educational and racial inequalities seen in the country at large. The prosperity of Highgate in the west contrasts starkly with the poverty experienced by many residents in places like Northumberland Park in the east of the borough. But residents across the borough, including in the more prosperous west, have overwhelmingly voted Labour in recent general elections. Many of our better-off residents understand that it’s in everyone’s interest, including their own, to have a government whose policies are aimed at reducing the terribly damaging inequality that we see around us and making society work for everyone.

Labour councillors need to show that we’re on the side of all those struggling to pay the rent, feed their children and heat their homes. So just as important as supporting the strikers is using our power as the local government to build council homes at council rents, with secure council tenancies, giving our residents homes they can actually afford, with the confidence they won’t be forced to move at just a few weeks’ notice.

It’s also about paying council workers properly and opposing fire and rehire, as well as insisting that the companies that provide services for us pay a real living wage, so more local workers have secure work and are paid enough to live. It’s about insourcing those services to ensure more accountability, give workers better pay and conditions and improve service quality.

It’s about community wealth building – procuring locally and allying with anchor institutions in our local communities so the money our residents work so hard to earn and spend locally remains in the local economy rather than being siphoned off into the global economy and ultimately into the pockets of billionaires. And it’s about tackling the climate crisis, including by insulating homes and therefore reducing energy bills.

That’s why I’m standing to represent Labour councillors on the national executive committee (NEC), alongside Hull City councillor Aneesa Akbar. If elected, we would use our role as local government representatives in the ‘Clause V’ manifesto meeting to argue for Labour to adopt policies that provide councils with the increased funding and power that we require to deliver the homes that working class people need and a local economy that allows everyone to thrive, not just the privileged.

We support building council homes at council rents, insourcing, community wealth building, a ban on fire and rehire and zero-hours contracts and a green new deal for our communities. We oppose racism and all forms of discrimination. We’d support constitutional changes to ensure that those who become Labour councillors work in the interests of local people, not property developers and big business. We’d also make sure backbench councillors are properly represented on the NEC, not just group leaders. You can find more information about our policy platform here.

So if you’re a Labour councillor and you want your voice on the NEC to represent the important work done by Labour councillors across the country fighting the inequality that blights the lives of so many of our residents, please vote for Matt White and Aneesa Akbar when your ballot arrives from Thursday September 1st.