This week my book, ‘Why Vote Labour’ is published. Similar books have been written before. In 1997, Tony Wright wrote a book of the same name, while in 1959, Roy Jenkins wrote ‘The Labour Case’. My challenge was to make the case for re-electing Labour, while Wright and Jenkins were writing against a back-drop of a Conservative government. Speaking to people about their reasons for voting Labour I decided to take a new approach: telling people’s stories to show what difference Labour has made and why Labour are the right party to meet our future challenges.
Three stories in the book summarise, for me, the importance of voting Labour. Kelly from Swansea told me about how Labour have supported her family through the recession; Tracey from Barnsley explains how the NHS, Labour’s proudest achievement, saved her life; while Ben from Ellesmere Port describes the change he saw when he went to collect his brother from the school that he had attended in the 1990s. The book is full of these inspiring stories.
Kelly’s story – Support through the recession
“I am 23 and have two young children. My husband, like many others, has been affected by the recession and has been out of work since May last year. I have worked at the same place for the past six years, part time. During this time in our lives we did not have much to live on and were faced with losing our house. The government stepped in and has been paying the interest on our mortgage. Not only do we get this but my income gets topped up with tax credits and child benefit and I pay reduced council tax.
“Before my husband lost his job I was attending night-college doing an access course. Although money was tight I did not give up my dream to go to university. I am now at university and the first in my family to do so. I get good grants and I do not pay to attend. I also receive child care help which means I don’t have to worry about paying for childcare fees, and my husband is still able to keep job-hunting. In addition, my husband is now getting help from the job centre to start up his own business.
“The Labour government have helped me and my family. Without their dedication to our working class family and those in need of it most, me and my family would have lost everything. I am grateful that we have come out on top and are still working up to a better life.”
Tracey’s story – Labour are the party of the NHS
“In 2007, aged thirty-five and with three young children, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I saw my GP on a Monday and he referred me for further investigation, as an urgent case. That same day, I had a mammogram, an ultrasound examination and five core biopsies. There were no delays, just staff who regularly came to check if there was anything I needed. Just a week later, my results were ready. I had cancer. I immediately saw a specialist breast-care nurse and the surgeon who would be doing the operation that I needed – a radical mastectomy. Less than a week later I was admitted to hospital for surgery.
“Just three weeks and five days after finding it, my cancer was removed. My stay in hospital following surgery was comfortable and my care was thorough. My husband was also able to stay with me as late as he wanted to – I was grateful for that as it was a very traumatic time and I really needed him to be around. It was exactly the same with my after-care: thorough attention, absolute dignity and respect from start to finish.
“I was treated in Barnsley Hospital NHS trust. The NHS is Labour’s greatest achievement. It saved my life, and the government’s two-week cancer care guarantee is vital.
“The NHS staff made the experience easier to bear. They are heroes and I thank them every single day, when I look at my children and appreciate being alive.”
Ben’s story: The change we see in our communities
“I remember being a year four pupil at primary school, during the dying years of John Major’s premiership. My class of over 30 children were taught in the ‘mobile classroom,’ which was basically a large static caravan. This ‘mobile classroom’ was well designed for temporary use, but with a lack of funding to extend the school and rising numbers of pupils, it ended up being used for several years. It got hot in the summer and cold in the winter and it was always overcrowded.
“Around ten years later, my little brother was a year four pupil in the same school. When picking him up one day, I went into the classroom to have a look around. I was amazed: there were computers, a teaching assistant, all in a brand new, warm classroom given to a class of around 24. Seeing my brother in that environment really brought home to me what politics is about; the new classroom, the teaching assistant and the smaller class didn’t just happen, they didn’t just drop out of the sky. When I think about what the difference between Labour and the Tories really is, this is what I think about.”
Another quote in the book sums up the difference between the Labour and Conservative philosophy and values:
“The Labour Party has been at the heart of virtually every improvement in society in the past century: the emancipation of women, the National Health Service, health and safety protection, the minimum wage, rights for gay men and women, the right to be free of racist abuse, equal pay. All these things have two things in common: we have supported them and the Tories have opposed them.”
Writing this book reminded me why I vote Labour, the difference we have made and the challenges we still face – and why Labour is the right party to meet those future challenges. I hope ‘Why Vote Labour’ will convince others too.
To pre-order your copy of ‘Why Vote Labour’ for £6.99 email [email protected] or you can buy it in Waterstones or Blackwells bookshops.