It is a tough time to run for leader of Welsh Labour. I remember that during one of the first speeches I gave in the national assembly I said that it was going to take a generation to repair the damage inflicted by a Tory government to many, once thriving communities in Wales. Now, half way through that task, a global economic crisis suddenly calls into question the affordability of some of our most important anti-poverty and regeneration programmes. Contrast this looming inheritance for Labour’s next leader with the doubling of the Welsh assembly’s budget from 1999 to 2008.
Employment has soared, but inequality remains. Still one child in three lives in poverty. So whilst the ‘to-do’ list remains long, budgets tighten. Allied to this Welsh Labour is facing its own crisis of confidence – having seen the Tories win a popular vote in Wales for the first time in 100 years during this summer’s European election. The response requires a rapid re-discovery of our radical heritage – a reconnection with the people, and the language, that we have lost in the last three elections.
The response also requires from Welsh Labour’s next generation of leaders imagination and innovation; a commitment to working differently with partners from all sectors, to ensure that smaller budgets don’t mean growing inequality. Innovation in the public sector can deliver efficiencies with less pain and less job cuts when change is led by those who deliver and use services. We have seen local government departments redesign themselves given the chance across England and Wales. Co-operative and mutual solutions must also be brought into the heart of government thinking – and as a Labour & Co-operative assembly member, this is long overdue in my book. The plain truth is that co-operative policy proposals, particularly in response to the shortage of affordable housing, can offer recession-proof solutions to our most pressing social problems.
Finally, we must look to others with expertise and resources who can help with some of the heavy lifting. The sea change our Labour values demand in the quality of education given to our must vulnerable children in Wales cannot wait for coffers to bulge again. Change must come now. That is why I want to enlist the help of independent schools in Wales to provide education and support for those children being denied a fair start in life. This should begin, where suitable, with looked after children whose educational outcomes remain some of the worst in Europe. The country should not just be their legal guardian; we must look to give them hope of a better future, as meagre recompense for their circumstances. That is what good parents do. Let me be clear, I am not talking about assisted places; I’m talking about the independent schools in Wales really earning their charitable status and helping to deliver on a new national mission to eradicate child poverty.
With imagination and determination in equal measure, Labour can continue its long rescue mission in Wales, even with less money – but we must leave no stone unturned, and we must be unafraid to ask favours of our friends in these most difficult of economic circumstances.
Re-engage with our radical heritage of painless cuts, job losses and privatised education. My arse!
Ignoring Ray McHale’s unhelpful comment, I agree with most of the sentiment in this. The historic challenges of inequalities and child poverty remain, and the fiscal environment is going to be tough. The political climate will be hard too, although how long the Tories remain resurgent once it becomes clear what they woud actually do once in office is hard to say. Their key message of change without consequences is powerful but may not be sustainable once the real scrutiny starts.
Where Labour needs to be very clear is in the detail of some of the responses to the challenges we face. The difference between engaging with partners to try and find ways forward on some of our most stubborn challenges, and creeping privatisation, is hard for people to understand. It is also often a source of contention within our Party.
It can also unhelpfully blur the differences between us and the Tories in the eyes of many people.
I agree that we need a radical approach, including mutual solutions, and we need ways of getting our message across to a sceptical modern audience who have seen the traditional dividing lines between the Parties eroded over the years.
Our message needs to be clear, transparent, and preferably devoid of Party sniping. It needs to be directed straight at the key issues. Where are the jobs coming from? Will my kids get a decent education? When I’m sick will the NHS be there for me?
Finally our attack strategy needs to be directed at the flimsy collection of vague promises that forms the Tory’s emerging manifesto, and not at our own leadership.
Get clear simple messages on those and we can change the world.
Good luck Huw