Progressive future
This issue, Progress launches a major campaign – ‘reviving progressive politics’ – with an initial series of events planned for the autumn. The centrepiece of the programme will be the Progress annual conference on Saturday 15 October, which will be addressed by the prime minister, Tony Blair.
The reviving progressive politics campaign will both examine the lessons of the general election and seek to sketch a new progressive vision for the party’s third term and beyond. In particular, we will be asking how Labour builds a Britain which is, in the words of our new mission statement, ‘more free, equal and democratic’ and which plays an ‘active role in Europe and the wider world’.
Progress in Brighton
The reviving progressive politics campaign will be launched at Progress’ annual Labour party conference rally. The event will be addressed by the Europe minister, Douglas Alexander; Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary; the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Tessa Jowell; former Progress chair and minister, David Lammy; the European Union trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson; the minister for communities and local government, David Miliband; John Reid, the defence secretary; and Stephen Twigg, the incoming chair of Progress. Tony Robinson, vice chair of Progress, will chair the meeting.
The rally takes place at the De Vere Grand Hotel, Brighton, on Sunday 25 September at 6pm. Please note this event is only open to those with a Labour party conference pass as it is held in the secure zone.
The debate will then continue later in Labour party conference week when Progress hosts a fringe meeting entitled: ‘How does Labour win back the progressive vote?’ Speaking at the event will be the Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain; Douglas Alexander, the minister for Europe; the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee; and the former cabinet minister, Stephen Byers. The meeting is being held at the De Vere Grand Hotel, Brighton, on Tuesday 27 September at 6pm. Please note this event is only open to those with a Labour party conference pass as it is held in the secure zone.
Blair heads conference line-up
Tony Blair will deliver the keynote address at Progress’ annual conference on Saturday 15 October. The event will also see a keynote address by Peter Hain and a question time session featuring the singer and songwriter Billy Bragg, historian Tristram Hunt, Guardian columnist and political commentator Polly Toynbee and the culture, media and sports secretary, Tessa Jowell. Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat MP and former London mayoral candidate will also speak at the conference, in a seminar entitled ‘Are the Lib Dems Labour’s friend or foe?’
The conference, ‘What’s left for Labour?’, will provide an opportunity for party members, MPs and ministers, trade unionists and the centre-left think-tank and academic communities to come together and examine the policy and political challenges ahead for the government as it enters its third term. The conference will feature a number of morning policy seminars.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on London, the nature of Labour’s foreign policy will be debated by the editor of the New Statesman, John Kampfner; Foreign Office minister Lord Triesman; the former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Oona King; and Mark Leonard, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform.
Another key issue facing the party following 7/7 will be the strength of its commitment to civil liberties, which will be discussed by James Purnell, a minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; the director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti; and David Winnick, one of the leading opponents of the government’s controversial plan to bring in ID cards. The conference will also examine other social and economic questions facing the new government.
The deputy general secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady, will discuss ‘who pays for the progressive agenda?’ with Professor Raymond Plant, the former chair of the Fabian Society Commission on Taxation and Citizenship and the new director of the Social Market Foundation, Ann Rossiter.
Harriet Harman, minister of state at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, will address Britain’s remaining democratic deficit when she speaks alongside Tom Bentley, director of Demos; Peter Facey of the New Politics Network; and Greg Power, former special adviser to Peter Hain and Robin Cook.
‘Should Labour impose respect?’ will be the challenge facing Home Office minister Hazel Blears; the mayor of Lewisham, Steve Bullock; Roger Howard, chief executive of Crime Concern UK; and Caroline Abrahams, director of public policy at NCH; while the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, John Hutton; former No 10 adviser Patrick Diamond; Dr Ben Jackson of the University of Oxford; and Polly Toynbee, author of Hard Work: Life in Low Pay Britain, will examine Labour’s commitment to building greater economic equality.
In the afternoon, some of the key political questions facing Labour will come under scrutiny. Following on from another low-turnout election, the editor of Prospect magazine, David Goodhart, will debate the notion of ‘the tyranny of the minority’ with Progress chair Stephen Twigg, Dagenham MP Jon Cruddas and Roger Mortimore, senior political analyst at Mori. The Tories’ attempt to play the race card in the election will also come under focus when Margaret Hodge, minister of state at the Department for Work and Pensions and MP for Barking, where the BNP polled 17 per cent of the vote; Nick Pearce, director of ippr; Keith Best of the Immigration Advisory Service; and Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik debate how Labour wins the case for immigration.
Relations between Labour and the Liberal Democrats will be the topic of a seminar debate between the Guardian’s Martin Kettle; Liberal Democrat president Simon Hughes; and Labour’s Dan Norris. Looking ahead, the question of how Labour builds a ‘progressive consensus’ will be discussed by former transport secretary Stephen Byers; the general secretary of the Fabian Society, Sunder Katwala; Progress vice chair Ed Miliband; and Campbell Robb, director of public policy at the NCVO. The related question of how Labour rebuilds its membership will form the basis of the final seminar, featuring Progress vice chair Tony Robinson; Matt Carter, general secretary of the Labour party; Oxfam’s Phil Bloomer; and Ben Page, head of Mori’s Social Research Institute.