‘The Labour party did not come into the world as an economistic left party preoccupied with state remedies; nor with a remote cosmopolitan bent that surrendered talk of place, home and nation’
– Jon Cruddas 2013
Though it would of course be misleading to suggest that the road to Welsh devolution and the tensions caused by the pull of ‘country and cause’, as Jim Griffiths referred to it, have been unproblematic for Labour in Wales, the devolved governance model we have slowly developed this side of the Severn Bridge may yet provide the blueprint for Ed Miliband if he truly wants to remould the UK political map.
The brand of democratic socialism that came to characterise Labour in the postwar years was forged out of the devastating impact that deprivation and grinding poverty had on working-class communities in the 1930s. The experience scarred Labour’s leaders profoundly and the strand of Fabian thinking that gained traction within the party placed a heavy emphasis on working class solidarity in areas like Wales. It shaped not only the social policies which it espoused, but also mainstreamed the political solidarity that Labour was to champion in government after 1945. The creation of the welfare state, the jewel in the crown as far as Labour was concerned, had a galvanising impact on the wider party – this was the way to achieve political change.
However the rampant inequalities of globalisation in the last 30 years and more latterly the world financial crisis of 2008 have caused us to think again. Labour is now once again returning to strands of its pre-war thinking that are more naturally sympathetic to devolution as a way of not only unlocking regional growth across the UK, but also as a motor through which to rebuild the local communities that have been battered by global forces.
Early New Labour attempts to think again about devolution were genuinely innovative, the problem being that it was viewed merely as a piecemeal solution to demands for political autonomy that extended no further than Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Yet Jon Cruddas has talked recently about ‘Earning and belonging’ and making this the central building blocks of Labour’s future policy platform. Rightly, he has identified that the heart of the post-1979 economic model, whereby the financial powerhouse of London and the south-east of England could act as the engine with which to redistribute prosperity and subsidise the rest of the UK, is now clearly bust. Our flatlining economy will only be tackled by all parts of the UK re-engineering local growth.
This is where a comprehensive model of local political autonomy would be a genuinely radical proposal for Ed Miliband to consider. A vision of political reform that extends the slow and evolutionary devolution model we have developed here in Wales to the regions of England would be a bold step towards unlocking the indigenous growth and facilitating the political reconnection those areas need to succeed.
To give depth to the ‘One Nation’, municipal socialism Ed has talked about and to flesh out the ideas he is beginning to sketch out – regional investment banks, building up the capacity of local credit unions, the local regulation and accreditation of private landlords – the base of local leadership needed to drive those reforms and, importantly, the democratic accountability with which to bring legitimacy to such initiatives, could be provided by looking at the Welsh devolution model.
A comprehensive political vision to put around the social vision Ed is fleshing out is very much needed. We could begin by seeing the Scottish independence referendum not as a one-off occasion, but instead see the wider debate around it as merely the first part of a much longer term project to revalidate the purpose of the union and genuinely embed the political principles of devolution into our politics. ‘Better Together’ needs to be a process, not an event.
Another handy starting point would be to look at the constitutional convention proposed by first minister Carwyn Jones in 2012. Ed could use the platform to start the most innovative, inclusive and democratic political and civic conversation the country has ever seen
We need to begin a wider debate about how we deliver regional growth, how we revitalise political institutions eviscerated by a lack of trust as well as bring real and lasting change to the UK’s political and economic systems. Ed Miliband could do worse than take a close look at what’s happening here in Wales for pointers about how to do it.
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Ken Skates is Welsh assembly member for Clwyd South. He tweets @KenSkatesAM
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