Ed Miliband’s commitment to a wide-ranging dialogue about the constitutional future of our country is vital.
The challenges that this country and others now face – climate change, widening economic inequality, our response to our ageing population – are so great that no sensible person thinks that Westminster can solve them alone.
I often hear ‘London’ cited as the big powerful beast that overshadows the rest of the United Kingdom. It isn’t London. The people of Mile End, Poplar, Limehouse, the Isle of Dogs, are close physically to Westminster, but as detached from the decisions made on their behalf as the people of Glasgow, Liverpool or Birmingham.
In Tower Hamlets, we have a history of populist, divisive politics, from the British National party to Respect. While it is to the credit of the people of Scotland that the referendum campaign was overwhelmingly peaceful and decent, some of the tactics that were reported on the ‘Yes’ side – threatening, aggressive tactics designed to shut down debate – reminded me of the problems we regularly have here.
To beat the politics of victimhood and identity-based division we need to renew our politics and bring real power to our streets and estates.
Some have started to suggest simple, symmetrical solutions, such as regional assemblies. If regional assemblies are your answer you are asking the wrong question. We need to start from the cities, streets and communities where people already live, where families and neighbours already choose to support one another and cooperate, and build upwards to real economic power for the boroughs, cities and communities that people are proud to live in.
I know four or five different groups in my ward in Mile End who would do a better job than the government work programme contractor on getting people into work. Local government could commission them.
We need to democratise our NHS. The vital principle of mutual support and response to need means that NHS resources can only be allocated nationally, but the strategic planning that is needed at a London level would be more effective with elected democratic oversight, and it is only intense public health work at a very local level that will tackle the lifestyle diseases that are now killing us.
The proposal for an English parliament, or English-only laws with no other constitutional change, is a cheap political fix pandering to the same populist forces that are undermining our communities in Tower Hamlets, and that brought a sour taste to campaigning in Scotland. It will do David Cameron no good – an appetite for appeasement based on victimhood is never sated. It is for Ed Miliband and Labour to offer a form of leadership that will see us fight at the next general election to win power in order to give it away. Believe in people, and they will repay your trust many times over.
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Rachael Saunders is leader of the Labour group in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. She tweets @RachaelSaunders
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