All change
Well, Andy Burnham did it. He defeated Reform in Makerfield by over 9,000 votes and garnered 55%, more votes than all parties combined. We welcome Burnham’s calls to build a more pluralistic Labour Party. His win must mark the beginning of a more democratic and inclusive Party.
Glyn Ford argues it’s time to get the money changers out of the temple, namely the Labour right, and execute a complete reset in policy and strategy and meet the far right head on. Looking forward, a reoriented Labour cannot defeat Reform by echoing their narratives on immigration and welfare.
Meanwhile, Victor Anderson proposes a “progressive alliance” as a way to beat Reform and the Tories. Not electoral pacts but tactical voting agreements involving Lib Dems, Greens, Plaid and Scot Nats. To some degree this happened in Makerfield. It points to an urgent need for electoral reform and a proportional voting system where all votes matter.
Sandy Martin, in a further survey of the disastrous May local election result, uses the example of East Anglia to burnish the case for system change.
Gerry Hassan takes a wider survey of Scotland, where the SNP, buffeted by embezzlement scandals (yet to fully break) and poor delivery, managed to ride to victory with an increased number of Scottish parliament seats. He explores what went wrong for Labour and asks if recovery is possible.
While Reform now controls many local authorities, taking down LGBTQ and Ukrainian flags, waging a phoney war on paper clips (on LAs reeling from 14 years of 40%+ Tory austerity cuts) while hiking council taxes, Mary Kelly Foy MP gives an example from Durham where community activism saved the cancelled Pride event.
Such community-rooted activities show a path for Labour to rebuild its roots. The attritional war on the left by Labour Together, abetted by Starmer, has hollowed out the party and alienated activists. Pablo John argues Mainstream is seeking to save Labour with a renewal of radicalism and enthusiasm, for example, rebuilding public control, starting with the profiteering and polluting privatised water industry.
Don Flynn reflects on whether a Burnham-led party would provide the necessary policy and strategic overhaul. No more own goals like the dithering on two child benefit cap or cut to the Winter Fuel allowance or pussy footing over public ownership and democratic control. The private sector is failing with higher prices and poorer services.
Fundamentally, we need a break from neo-liberalism and appeasement of the bond markets. Ann Pettifor demystifies the anonymous forces with arguments for greater control over the Bank of England.
Big tech, particularly Artificial Intelligence pose big challenges for the future of creative industries and human society more generally. Whilst a ban on under-16s using social media is a progressive move, Rebekah Morton cautions against the embrace of AI. She echoes Pope Leo, arguing AI poses a massive threat to humankind.
Starmer’s Labour have got some plans right. Most would cite the Worker’s Rights legislation, others the Renter’s Rights Act, with its protection for tenants and removal of No Fault Evictions policy. The latter is a limited start with way to go, argues Roger Jarman.
However, it’s on democratic rights that the government is more conspicuously falling down and alienating supporters. Bryn Jones says banning two pro-Palestinian activists from the UK sets a dangerous precedent for free speech. Combined with the legal offensive against Palestine Action, branding them and their supporters “terrorists” and moves to further restrict migrant rights of settlement, we are on a slippery slope. While Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and further war crimes in the West Bank, the government is doing little to block the supply of weapons and materials to violent settlers. Effective sanctions are as relevant against Israel as they are against Putin’s Russia for its illegal war against Ukraine.
Sian Norris and Yuliia Bond detail the ways in which malevolent disinformation mongering by Putin-backed Russian oligarchs in cahoots with far-right US and European Christian organisations are systematically undermining liberal values, women, trans and LGBTQ+ rights. The aim is to destroy democratic norms, spread distrust and fear more widely, thereby weakening military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.
Whilst alert to the dangers of the populist far right, particularly in France, Germany and Italy, Patrick Costello sees signs that these forces may have peaked.
Despite its massive majority, the Starmer government looks vulnerable to challenge. notwithstanding earning a brownie point by refusing to back Trump’s reckless war against Iran. The resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey and arms minister Al Carns following Wes Streeting on to the back benches, underlines the febrile state of government.
A frontal attack on inequality and a more robust ethical internationalism, including closer alignment with Europe and removal of the ridiculous red lines on the single market and customs union, will surely feature if a genuine reset with the EU is to occur. A recent study reveals a 12% loss of exports to the EU, while there is little evidence of trade deals elsewhere (as Brexiteers promised) bridging the gap.
The anti-immigrant narrative needs to be transformed into an anti-establishment one. Labour needs to tackle the economic and social basis of disaffection, namely the billionaires and the profit system, while backing workers and ethnic minorities, many of whom are the lifeline staff for public services from transport to health and social care. It’s class, not race and nation, that divides us.
A new Labour leadership has three years to turn the ship of state in a new direction. The answer is a radical programme that delivers decent wages, builds social housing, properly funds public services, facilitates united communities and develops a social and sustainable economy for the people.