The future for Labour

Flag of St George

In the Independent today Tristram Hunt is reported as saying that the Labour party must make itself more English in order to survive. Well read the article for yourself. What I would like to say to Labour leaders though is that they should not be looking to what will make them electable. They must look at what it is the Labour party stands for. What are the core beliefs of the party. Tristram Hunt is right in that the party has no god given right to survive. But that doesn't excuse turning the party into a vote chaser. A theorem used by one of the party's most accomplished members (now sadly departed) Anthony Wedgewood Benn was that there were 2 types of politician, a weather-vain or a road sign. Of the two he preferred the road sign because they stood for something and always pointed to a way out of here. Weather-vains just flip flapped in the wind and never had any real answers.

And I would apply this to the Labour party. It should remember what it is that it stands for and represent that. If that means a fall from grace and a banishment to the back seats so be it. I would rather follow a party that is true to itself than one that might decide my view is or isn't worthy of their attention. 

Weather vain

Might I remind those in charge of the future of the Labour party. This was the position the Conservative party was in after 1997 and then we let them back in! Now look where we are. This is, unfortunately a phase and the pendulum will swing back one day. It is the part of the Labour party now to be an opposition. That does not mean agreeing with the incumbent party on their choice of welfare cuts. 

By the the by much as I admire Tony Benn I disagreed with his need for nationalisation. Only 2 organisations benefited from being nationalised - British Rail and British Airways. I have blogged about this before. Nationalised industries suffered in my opinion as they then became political footballs and legitimate ways of poking government. These companies often lost their way when it came to the actual manufacturing etc. That is not to say that industrial relations have ever been very good in this country. Even today I find the attitude of management to be rather, well arrogant is not quite the word but there is still an attitude that employees should be more grateful for the wage they earn than are. When you consider how many millionaires are out there who have made their fortunes on the back of minimum wage labour it kind of sticks in the craw.

On a different note I see Goerge Osbourne has suggested that employers should pay higher wages in return for lower taxation. Nice try Georgy Porgy! I have included this in previous work that this country needs to recognise what it costs to live in this country and if employers paid this then there would be less need for government to step in with state aid. I think just over £7 pounds an hour is a paltry sum of money. many fair pay campaigns say it should be close to £10-11. I don't believe for one minute that wages will rise to cover the loss in benefits. Wages seem to be one of the payments employers regret more than any other

I remember voices on the radio complaining that they could not afford to employ people on the minimum wage when it was introduced. I have no sympathy for them. If they can't affard to pay a living wage they should check whether their business model would actually support workers or their business. It is close to modern day slavery.