I’m not going to spend time setting out the position that this Tory/Lib Dem government has put local councils in. You know about the most brutal cuts since the Second World War. You know about the unfair and disproportionate impact of these cuts on Labour areas. You know about the disappearance of crucial grants to tackle disadvantage and exclusion. You know about the Localism Bill which will deliver little local freedom unless the Secretary of State says so. You have heard the abhorrent accusations by the Prime Minister himself that Labour councils are cutting services to make a political point.
Labour has to wrestle back control of the debate on local government issues. The kaleidoscope is now settling. Council budgets are being set each evening. Broader public service reform is clarifying. It is time for Labour in local government to start to emerge and reclaim its place as the most powerful and urgent voice of our local communities.
Labour councils have had to face down anger from the balconies as the impact of the government’s agenda is felt in our communities. They are having to make tough decisions that none of them would wish to have to do.
But we cannot retrench and wring our hands. Labour cannot allow itself to be pressed into an oppositionalist corner; waving flags and stamping feet. We need to show the leadership that proves we are ready for power and we know how to use it. We have to channel our anger, be focused and to be ready to govern. And most importantly we have to put ourselves on the side of local people in doing so.
We cannot defend inefficiency. We cannot shut out other partners for ideological reasons if they can help us provide better services. We cannot step back from bold and radical transformation of services. We have to embrace transparency in our own way, which hands power to people, particularly those in most need.
We have to retake our progressive agendas and our values which the coalition has sought to misappropriate and use as fig leaves for their ideological approach to shrinking the state. This means we have to continue to press on for more personalisation and greater say and control for individuals, but with our values of care and compassion. It means retaking our agenda on local mutualism and co-operatives as a way of reinvigorating local public services, not fragmenting them into mere market forces. It means a new contract between the state and the citizen which isn’t about the state getting out of the way, but about supporting people in taking control of their lives. It means exposing the Big Society as a sham, but redefining our relationship with the community and voluntary sector and not allowing it to be scarred by the cuts. It means having a local vision for our society not just for 2011, but for 2015 and 2020.
Today’s Progress debate – ‘winning in local government preparing for power’ is a great place to start in reclaiming the ground. Labour in local government must be more than a voice to oppose the cuts. The elections in May are not simply a way to send a message to the coalition on their national governance. They are a chance to demonstrate Progressive values through action, with local people on our side.
Read also…
Simon Blackburn explaining how the finance settlement, beyond the current cuts, shows that the long-term situation for Labour-voting areas is grim
Lambeth leader Steve Reed on Labour leading the way against the unfairness of ConDem cuts
Dave Sparks, LGA Labour leader, correcting some of the myths peddled by Pickles
“Them’s fighting words…” It is actually becoming a pleasureable experience visiting this site now. This is the kind of stuff that “turns on” activist/Councillors like me. Offering a better vision than the Tories, a vision we share whether you are an employee, and employer, fit, disabled, unemployed, a student, a pensioner or even a child, or in many ways especially for children, is absolutely what we should be about. I actually had to argue with afella Labour councillor the other week over cameron’s cuts (I oppose them) and that is embarressing. We do need a clear of division between us and them. The good news is there is nothing wrong in that. As I have said time and again, no matter how much money Tories throw at elections by the time of the next General they will have been unable to win a majority for 18 years. I like that to. With the Partys so far away (the Tories were considered “nearer” the center ground but the U-turns eg forest privatisation shows there are some places the people will not go) from the central position at a time when people are struggling a huge opportunity is literally sitting there. Where we have failed to recognise this is because of the symptoms of having been in power for such a long time. Old hands believing what they say is correct because they said it while the public just look on in amazement. We were not helped with some of our MP’s even those representing poor Constituences displaying absolutely no understanding whatsoever of the kind of lives many of their people lived being shown on TV. We were helped by MP’s recognising the problem (with a scary wake-up call in the shape of the BNP) getting off their bottoms and canvassing regularly, getting out and meeting people to try and undoe the blatent rift between residents and those residing on planet Westminster. The awful reality of these cuts is that they will through displays of very present and very real public anguish remind elected reps who and what our party is all about. It is a shame that this how we have to learn. An altrnative vision then is remarkably easy to create, it resides less with the idea of a vague BIG SOCIETY where we rely on a good natured population to do more for less, or indeed more for nothing while those who constantly test the civility of society continue to make millions at cost to the rest of us. It is a cynical ploy to reward the more ruthless and narrow minded minority in society. It is in effect, rewarding the people who Cameron and Osborne truly represent, the Sherriffs and Guy of Gisbournes of Nottingham. The opportunity is massive because there so many people who feel unrepresented, disinfranchised from all the debates. We cannot reprtesent every single individual view and we should not try, but we can pick up on major trends in our Wards. The good signs are out there, MP’s asking residents via surveys what they think, some good (finally) research coming from writers articulating the work of think-tanks and pollsters. But we also have to find ways of building up our memebership, candidate and volunteer base and this will only happen if we have meaning and this meaning has to be potent in these tough times of mutual apathy of the elected rep as well as the voter. The only way to do this is to share power. This has to be done with respect to the lifestyles of those we must attempt to reach. It is better to assume then that the ones we want to reach are the hardest to reach, therefore we ensure our chances of contacing these people is maximised. Assuming then that everyone works full time and does not have time to attend meetings is a good basis. So to reach people we can no longer expect them to just turn up we have to proactively meet them on their ground. Whether via door-knocking on a weekend (assuming they are not working or not away, then by physically delivered forms (expensive), IT – the only cheap medium that can reach millions with the flick of a button. A new platform is avilable that can include the General Public, the first Party to realise this method of public empowerment of maketing it right, of getting a reptresentative response and using it to either help generate applicable policy/evolve or change policy will dominate the politics of the future. Especially if such technology is “sold” to the people who understand and have an interest in such policy areas. Good-bye to the U-turn. It will become a thing of the past to an extent, because “policy development” will replace it. The main challenge though is in the marketing and “readership” of such a medium and it may well have to rely on certain websites/bodies to promote it. The Big Society is a harsh farce based upon an overly unrealistic expectation upon those who will be forced to suffer as a consequence of casino economics, where House is guarenteed to win whatever happens. It time however for a participative society, a society that rewards the best behaviours, genuine economic innovation, high standards in customer focused Public Sector services. We can bring more than just Labour, old or new to the people we can bring them democracy, and behind such potent tools we can display an in-touch policy Leadership at all times, transparency with considerably less “risk” in an age of communication, shared public accountability and less of a blame game, and good economics follows on. No more patronising politics, no more managerial waffle, but informed debate, data capture and more importantly a more flexible model that can gradually change with the times and with changes in public will. People are of course less likely to smash somthing they themselves were involved in building, and so they will feel more than just mere uncared for voters, they will feel they can contributed and played a role in the running of their country, they will identify with us. No not a Big Society, but a shared society where we all play a role in the decision making about how we live wherever we are. We cannot always have our way, but we should always be allowed to have a say. That is just a small part of how I would love to see Labour take a lead.