A year ago I was in this room giving my selection speech to be the PPC in Leeds West.
A year on it’s a real privilege to be debating the future of our party with Caroline, Jon and Jon and with all of you.
Back then we were in very different times. In preparing for today I looked back through my notes from a year ago.
One line from my selection speech stands out to me, I said:
“This is a really exciting time to be in the Labour Party. Gordon Brown has improved our popularity and the Tories are still in a mess.”
What a difference a year makes.
There are a number of reasons for our declining poll ratings – the deterioration in the economy, a desire for change eleven years in to government.
But we’ve made mistakes too:
– the election that never was
– the 10p tax fiasco – which played really badly on the doorstep in the local elections in Leeds West
– and over-promising and poor communication on some key policy announcements.
But we need to keep a sense of perspective:
– in Leeds we held every seat in this year’s local elections
– and we’re doing that because we’ve got hard-working activists, willing to take the message out on the doorstep
– last weekend we had 50 people out in Farnley and Wortley campaigning for Labour in the by-election.
But to win again nationally we must be focused and united in our values.
Resolute in fighting our shared enemy – the resurgent Tories.
Listening to Jon it is clear that there is a lot that unites us – the need to abolish child and pensioner poverty, the need to face up to the challenges of global warming and the need to build more social and affordable housing in all our communities.
And we need all wings of the party to come together to win again.
But we must also be proud of what we have achieved already.
Britain is fairer, more prosperous, more tolerant and more dynamic than in 1997.
In West Leeds, I don’t find a community demoralised.
I find a community where employment levels are the highest in 30 years.
A community where kids and parents are benefiting from Sure Start centres.
A community which has had almost every primary school refurbished – and in September 2009 will have two new high schools.
Yes, there is a lot more to do but to say nothing much has changed is wrong.
And it signals to voters that the outcome of the next general election does not really matter, that a Conservative or Labour government would pursue much the same agenda with many of the same results.
They won’t.
Let’s be very clear about where the Tories stand:
Look at David Cameron’s voting record:
in support of retaining section 28; and
in favour of cutting the time limit for abortions; and
on Inheritance Tax, the Tories announced last weekend that they would increase the threshold to £1mn for individuals and to £2mn for married couples.
Hardly a progressive agenda.
If there is doubt about what the Tories would do if they got back in, you only need to spend some time in Leeds.
Since the Tory/Lib Dem coalition came to power in 2004 they have privatised day care for the elderly & vulnerable and cut services.
They routinely ignore requirements for new housing developments to include affordable and social housing – with the result of hidden homelessness and over-crowding.
The Tories have no serious answers to people’s real concerns.
They believe in cutting taxes and shrinking the state.
But you don’t help the pensioner suffering fuel poverty, or the unemployed construction worker worried about how they will meet their mortgage payments, or the family worried about rising mortgage and food costs by cutting inheritance tax and leaving things to the market to sort out.
And, let’s not forget the Lib Dems – working in partnership with the Tories in Leeds.
Nationally Clegg is now saying what even Cameron won’t dare to.
He wants to cut taxes through big cuts in public services.
A true case of vote Lib Dem, get Tory.
It is right that as a party we debate policy as we begin to write the manifesto for the next election.
Recent policies like buying unsold properties for social housing and the increase in payments for apprenticeships are good innovations.
And there’s more we could do, and here are just three ideas:
What about, a business-levy to pay for new public transport to link people and jobs – particularly important in cities like Leeds where high poverty in the inner-suburbs sits alongside new jobs in the city centre.
Or, a revolution in work-life balance so men as well as women can take time off to look after their children, to look after an ill or disabled friend or relative or to train or pursue interests outside of work. A flexible workplace – flexible for the employee, not just the employer.
And in the short term the special liquidity scheme available to the banks in the face of the credit crunch expires on 20th October. It needs to be extended, but, conditions should be set so banks use the money to benefit home-owners and first time buyers – not just their bottom line.
Government needs to play its part in supporting the housing market, but so too do the banks.
These type of policies would re-establish our reputation for fairness, reaching out to a broad-based coalition.
And they provide key dividing lines between us and the Tories.
But new policies must be underpinned by a compelling narrative or story – a story about how a good, fair more equal society is what we strive for.
How what we value cannot be delivered through the market or the voluntary sector alone.
We need leadership from the government to show that Labour is listening and will protect what we value – our relationships, our families, our communities.
And now the easy bit, we must work together to get across our message – explaining that it is only a Labour government that can deliver the change that we need to make Britain a fairer, more equal society.