I’d sum it up as being as bold about public service reform as it is about market reform.
There’s a good case that can be made that in places it’s going further than Tony Blair would have done.
More academies than Tony Blair promised. All hospitals to be foundation trusts.Taking over failing police forces.
In my old area of welfare, I’m really pleased to see the jobs guarantee extended to all ages. But what’s interesting is the bold language used to describe it – ending a life on benefits for anyone unemployed for two years (one year for younger claimants). This is New Labour at its best – real responsibility, but done in a Labour way by offering everyone in that situation a minimum wage job.
When Gordon succeeded Tony, everyone predicted that he would do less public service reform but continue with the same approach on markets. What’s interesting about this manifesto is that it represents continuity (even acceleration) on public service reform, but a greater enthusiasm for reforming markets too. The minimum wage rising in line with earnings. A living wage being implemented in Whitehall (not just sympathised with, as Cameron does – and don’t let the Tories tell you that Boris Johnson brought a living wage in London; it was Ken.) A cap on interest rates for payday loans and doorstep lending.
It’s a return in some ways to the boldness of the market reforms we had in our 1997 manifesto – the minimum wage, four weeks paid leave, which have been some of our most popular policies.
What this manifesto recognises is that reform matters. You have to invest – and the Tories don’t seem to have understood how vital this will be in education, for example. But the results didn’t start to improve in health and education until we brought in reform too. It was only when we said that we’d go private if the NHS couldn’t reduce waiting lists that they started to fall.
The right lesson to learn about reform is that it should be as bravely applied to markets as it is to public services. Governing is about changing the world, and that will always involve change which can be painful at the time but is always necessary for idealism to be more than just noise.
Any quibbles? I like the public service guarantees, but I think they’re likely to work best where the individual has real power – so, I really like the NHS proposals here where the patient can go private if they don’t get help; it will be interesting to see whether the ballots to deal with under-performing schools work as well. I’d have liked to have seen parents apply a couple of Septembers in advance so that new schools can start up to serve areas where people aren’t getting their first choice.
I also think that it’s a shame that we haven’t been this full-throated about the boldness of our reforms over the last two years. I remember an advert from when I was a kid about the “Secret Lemonade Drinker” – the government has sometimes been the “Secret Public Service Reformer”, for example in schools where we are allowing private companies to run pupil referral units and indeed potentially schools, but seem to hope that no one notices.
But the contrast with the Tories is epic – in education, they won’t invest; in health, they won’t reform. And they want to spend huge amounts of money on secondary priorities such as paying people to do things they already do (e.g. marriage) rather than cutting the deficit and protecting public services.
I’ll go canvassing today with a spring in my step.
Tony Blair once said that we were at our best when we were at our boldest. Someone in the government must have been listening…
James, Your analysis as ever is blighted by your own self-interest. Perhaps you should go and find someone with an imagination before talking about one. With the financial constraints on them this was an opportunity for New or just Labour (the latter name I prefer as I am a proponent of real consensus) to really show it’s stuff. What did it show? The NHS is still blighted with an inefficient managerial corruption, decisions made behind closed doors, overly paid public servants living under the delusuions that they are somehow above serving the public and acting as though they are managing director of Virgin. Additionally many of the hospitals lack the discipline required to adhere to basic levels of cleanliness and certainly public service, where also many GPs need training too. We do not pay our taxes to put up with public sector arrogance. As someone who actually recruits people who are unemployed (so i know a tad more about it than you do) I can say whole-heartedly that your dressed up blackmail platform to terrorise people into work is going to result into an unmitigated disaster with many people turning to crime instead. Have you ever been blackmailed James? How did it make you feel and react? Try it and you may actually learn something. Oh yes, where are these jobs coming from, do they appear because you placed them in the statute book? Or this isthis a case of just saving some tax money for your backers on Demos or maybe Sainsbury on Progress? You are a good little lamb aren’t doing as they request or imply. I see you are creating a real fole for the Private Sector healthcare, best to start early and then build on it in the future yes? Today you may use the private sector if you cannot get help, then just gradually wind away the NHS until that is the only recourse. You are a silly man James and your agenda is transparent and clumsily and blatently obvious. Guess that must make you one the deeper philosophers of the Islington set whose acadmeic and intuitive skill was wonderfully represented in Hoon and Hewitt. My what a clever lot you are 😉 As I said before now James, get a proper job. No-one likes to see a tax begging dole scrounger like you fiddling the system and then having the audacity to attack your own kind. Except those people are not there by their own volition. Guess that makes you a real hero. Cowardly right wing policies from a deeply corrupt and ignorant man defending a manifesto that is manifestly deceitful as we wshall find with the ID cards and the money MPs try and make over them in the future selling our private information to certain companies no doubt.
Well said, James. The good sense of what you say can be measured by the abusive hostility it has generated from the above commenter (who is obviously no friend of Labour).
@Stan Actually Stan, I think you’ll find I am more of a friend to Labour than either you or your expense loving hero. As for “abuse” I welcome you to vindicate dear James by proving me wrong with a reasoned argument. Please do try. At least my points are backed up by what James actually does or at least asking challenging james on his real agenda. Your attempt at a “tribal defence” is feeble.
@Ralph. I ‘ve criticised James Purnell sharply over his resignation decision. But true friends of Labour should now be uniting behind Brown so that we can achieve a Fourth term to keep the Tories out and build on what we’ve achieved. James, to his credit, has done that. You haven’t. So you are no friend of Labour, just someone who prefers whinging from the sidelines.
@Stan
Shows how much you know then does,’t it. James Purnell brought disgrace to the Labour Party and is still doing so as an “untouched expense MP”. His luinatic left adeas are the worst kind of eself-interested tripe.
“Whinging on the sidelines”, hahaha I spend every night and weekend canvassing and have been canvassing the weekends since October. Guess the “sidelines” are a very strong place to be.
Blogs do not win fourth terms so I guess you need to go away and work on your political strategy.
Finally unlike you I can substaniate what I say, you fail with your ignorant comments.
James Purnell and company represent nothing short of “self-interest” and how they profit from it, there is no central agenda here as their ideas and policies are actually doing us more harm on the doorstep than good. Believe it or not the people James Purnell is not as loved by the public as he is by those on the far right of the Labour Party.
As for his “loyalty” not backed up by his actions, should I live to the same standard as he does, I would withdraw from this elelction and concede to the BNP. So you need to get your head right on this one Stan. I have been an activist in the Party, never taking a penny for twenty seven years Stan and am very intouch with how the public feel.
I will be challenging these people whose financial interest and greed has already caused tremendous damage to the Party, to represenatative democracy and finally to the country.
Stan, you need to align your loyalties to what is best for the Party in the long term as well as the elelction.
Purnell filled his little boat with gold and it is sinking of its own accord.
People like the Purnells of the World and the Morans and the Hewiitts are the joy of partys like the Conservatives and BNP, I hope they do not bring too much joy to you too as they are failed brands.
Oh and can you list to me please the great things Purnell has done that cannot be described as hijacjked Conservative policy?