The contract with the British people has been renewed, but we must learn from our mistakes if we are to really change the landscape of British society. And if Labour is to do the previously unheard of and get a third term of office, we will need to resolve some outstanding issues that have not been comprehensively dealt with.
When Tony Blair launched the general election campaign he said he would be campaigning for hearts and minds. Four weeks to win the nation over? How did Labour end up having to do that? Other than briefly during the fuel protests, Labour’s lead in the polls since 1997 has been firm and consistent. But the party’s lead turned out to be a mile wide and an inch deep.
The mistakes of the first term can be summed up by Labour’s failure to explain the purpose of prudence. The problems were not simply caused by sticking to the Tory spending limits at the start of the first term. They were caused by the sacrifice of political support for a clean set of figures to impress the City. Hearts and minds were there for the taking, but the people, who believed things could only get better, were ignored. We failed to build on the political foundations of the coalition of interests that helped unseat the Tories in 1997. The mistake was not the playing of the long game, but the failure to own up to it.
We won because people did not want William Hague’s Tories in 2001 anymore than they wanted John Major’s Tories in 1997. The challenge for this second term is to deliver a truly radical agenda and get people enthused about a Labour Britain.
To do that we’ll have to address some unfinished business. Commitments to improving public services have been made, but the feelings of those in wards, classrooms and train carriages are becoming more important than an unemotional audit of spending figures.
Our pensioners deserve a fair share in the nation’s growing prosperity. The error of the 75p pensions affair was acknowledged, but the next step – restoring the link between earnings and the basic state pension – was not taken.
We have had the Equal Pay Act on the statute books for over 30 years, but it is shameful that women still earn eighteen percent less than men. We must insist on statutory pay audits to identify and breakdown the barriers to fair and equal pay. Women have to get equal pay for doing equal work.
The lessons of MacPherson cannot be ignored. The amended Race Relations Act, which promises positive action on racism in the public sector, has to be extended into the private and voluntary sectors.
The government is committed to reviewing the rules on mass redundancy, but they need to drop their opposition to European rights to information and consultation. We must end the shameful practice of workers returning home from work, only to hear on local radio that their factory is to close. Equally, we have to stop multinational companies seeing Britain as the soft underbelly of Europe and pulling out of their British operations because it is cheaper and easier to sack British workers.
To prevent companies in Britain getting into trouble in the first place, we need to tackle our productivity gap with Europe and the US. Workers need a chance to train and improve their skills. Government needs to use incentives and obligations to make employers provide training and investment in Britain.
We also need to reform the Industrial Relations Act so that our labour laws meet the standard set by the International Labour Organisation. In particular, we have to remove the small business exemption for union recognition and move into line with our European counterparts on rights to reasonable secondary action. This is not a return to flying pickets, but the chance for workers in the supply chain to register their protest against factory closures.
Employees also deserve employment rights from day one of their employment. This is the outstanding commitment of John Smith’s leadership. His commitment needs to be honoured so that workers are allowed to take up pension schemes, access maternity leave and defend themselves from unfair dismissal. ‘
Of course, these reforms will not please everybody. But the political question Labour needs to ask itself is: can you really win over people’s heart and minds without breaking the hearts of others? Government is about tough choices and Labour has its fair share of them, but a new set of tough choices now face us and we have to decide just where our loyalties lie.