This year’s Hay literary festival seemed at times more like the fringe at Labour party conference. A towering performance by Gordon Brown was surrounded by appearances by both Miliband brothers and a range of left-leaning commentators and celebrities.
One theme to emerge from several debates and presentations was around ‘who’s in control?’ – in control of individuals’ own lives and work, of local communities and of our political system.
The sociologist Richard Sennett talked to minister for the third sector Ed Miliband about his books on employment and how the world of work is changing in the USA and the UK.
We all know that jobs for life no longer exist, that many people now have a number of different careers while others are stuck in low paid, insecure McJobs. Sennett also highlighted the growing economic pressures facing families, which mean longer working hours and both parents having to work full-time to pay the bills.
The interesting discussion chaired by Ed Miliband revealed other tensions. Despite huge increases in spending on public services and improvements in working conditions, there is deep resentment within the public sector workforce about public service reform, target culture and associated changes. In short they don’t feel trusted and many feel powerless (or not in control) of those changes.
This is one of the big challenges for Gordon Brown as prime minister: how to maintain the momentum of improving public services and win over staff who believe in public service and should be natural Labour supporters.
Another challenge was thrown down by writer and Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins, not known for his love of Gordon Brown.
In his latest book Jenkins urges the government to let go and, like our European neighbours, pass control to local communities and their elected local authorities. The new prime minister wants to engage and involve people and there is no better way to do this than locally.
As Jenkins said, giving people the ability to vote in or vote out local leaders is a very powerful way of giving them control over the decisions that affect their lives. Not just for who runs local authorities but other local public services like health.
These issues have also been the subject of the Power Inquiry into democracy. One of the inquiry’s exponents, Billy Bragg, forcefully championed a Bill of Rights at the Hay Festival. Reforming our political system and strengthening checks and balances will no doubt figure in the new prime minister’s programme.
A key task is how to enable people to influence political processes and decisions. Some of it is about better awareness and education; some of it is about greater transparency of government and our voting system; and some of it is a fundamental challenge to political parties in the 21st century.
The political party that manages to engage meaningfully with voters locally and nationally on single issues and on a broad range of values will be the party that is elected to govern. The successful party will enable people to have control over their lives at home, at work and in their local community.