Labour values – what we all have in common

The term ‘Labour values’ is invoked so often when Labour members talk to each other. But we very rarely go deeper than that. We don’t tend to set out what those shared values actually are – what we mean by the phrase and how that translates into why we – as individuals – have decided to form this collective party to battle for those values.

What is it that we all have in common? What is the fundamental thing that Labour members want to protect or change in our society? What do the towering Labour achievements of our governments have in common even as those achievements sit across vast swathes of society – from the NHS to education to defence to action on climate change?

This is a question we should ask ourselves more often. The default to the phrase ‘Labour values’ can become a thought stopper because we see it is so obvious it does not need to be unpacked. But in assuming that we ourselves know what ‘Labour values’ means, we fail to outline a case to those who do not automatically hear what we hear when that phrase is uttered. So we should be clear not just that we are a party of shared values but what those are.

For me, the underlying principle behind all Labour achievements, policies and principles – and the thing that separates us from all other political traditions – is encapsulated by one word: luck.

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Luck is far more of a predictor of our lives than any of us would like to admit. The luck of your birth circumstances is still one of the strongest predictors of how your health, wealth and even happiness will unfold throughout your life. How rich your parents are, how healthy, how well-educated, where they live – all of this will shape your life. And it is in trying to smooth out this influence of chance that Labour members can find their shared mission.

We may all respond differently to this goal. When Labour was established, our principal goal was to rebalance society to respond to the difference in economic circumstances that British children are born into. Whether they are likely to grow up as workers or as owners of the means of production. Unions exist to rebalance the luck of those born into ownership and those born into a life of work. Labour was formed to give that struggle a voice in Parliament.

It is this economic rebalancing that is at the heart of the party. But as our understanding of the roots of inequality has developed over the years, the issue of the inequality of luck for various communities has become equally central to Labour’s values. Here the word ‘luck’ becomes more loaded as it implies a value judgement – about race, gender, sexuality, disability – that Labour members would rightly resile from. So let me be absolutely clear: it is not unlucky to be born a woman, to be born black, to be born gay, to be born with a disability.

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But to be born into a world in which society sees the default conditions for success as none of those things, which is not designed for your path to be as smooth as those without those characteristics, is an element of chance that Labour is dedicated to overcoming. To narrow the gap for those not born as the ‘straight, able-bodied white male’ that so much of life defaults to. This takes deeper societal work that many Labour members dedicate their lives to and all Labour members support – even when we may differ over what that might look like in practice.

It is this understanding that we live in an imperfect world which politics is designed to change – not to protect – that unites us as Labour members and in which we differ from those who believe we should simply accept fate as the natural order of things.

Both defeating the inequality that comes with discrimination and the inequality that comes with lack of economic power have the same root value: not allowing the chance of who you are born as determine your ability to succeed in the world. This is why our politics is one of collective struggle – not individualistic advancement.

Labour members will differ at times over which they choose to prioritise. They will disagree about what policies the party should pursue even when they do share priorities. They will disagree on how far Labour can go, how much Labour can realistically change and how to embed such change in a way it cannot be overturned by our opponents.

But ultimately the reason that people from across the Labour traditions – from New Labour to Blue Labour, from the Socialist Campaign Group to the Labour Growth Group, from SERA to the GMB – all work together is because we all share this understanding of the world and we all dedicate our political lives to ensuring that the fruits of our labour, the benefits of all that our society has to offer, are available to the many, not just to the lucky few.

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