There’s been a lot of words caused by Labour in Communication’s publishing of their report Fit for the Future. This was covered by Labour List, who majored on Neil Kinnock, who wrote a forward and gave an interview. Much of the press and labour party comment followed this lead and talk about the ongoing purge which Kinnock, surprisingly, suggests is a distraction. The usual culprits are banging on about the unacceptability of legacy Blairite politics and how Kinnock lost the next two elections after he expelled the Militant. This is not helpful and suggest that the report has not been read.
At “All That Is Solid … “ Neil Kinnock’s Timely Warning”, @philbc3 brings some much needed balance, he suggests that Starmer needs to get it right soon, or the rug will be pulled from underneath his feet.
Thing is, those piloting the Keir Starmer’s ship to its inevitable wreck aren’t serious about winning elections doesn’t mean this is true for all the Labour right. …. unease is abroad in the party, and it’s not confined only to a maligned and wilfully misunderstood left. Kinnock is reminding the leadership that things have got to change, or the leadership will, in due course, itself be changed.
Phil Burton Cartledge
Having read the document, which is not so much a series of policy promises but more about policy formulation & strategy and while some of it is written in the most appalling marketing speak, some of its headlines such as “Bring back pledge cards” seem inane. With a deeper reading, and once past the spaghetti vocabulary, there’s some interesting stuff that the legacy leadership and those surfing their coat tails aren’t going to like.
This is clearly written by committee, with separate sections on Broadcast & Print & Digital, followed by sections on Brand & Vision. Oddly in the section on Print and Broadcast, they state that purges are not going down well, as it shows a continued obsession with internal affairs.
However, this focus has also led to an unhealthy communications obsession with internal friction, which continues to tell a disinterested public that Labour is not yet ready to govern again
Fit for the Future - Broadcast & Print
The section on Brand is the bastardised blue labour narrative nonsense that we have come to expect from people that consider themselves the outriders for the leadership, although I wonder how welcome this ‘help’ is. This argument is put forward by people who subscribe, to New Labour’s “they have no where else to go” theory of coalition building. They were wrong then and wrong now and Labour today is paying the price of that attitude. These policies and strategies/slogans will drive away members of the new coalition away, the young, (and university educated), city dwelling workers.
On Policy they note that Labour has made 200 policy announcements and yet, people don’t know where Labour stands, they add,
Our recommendation to Keir and his team, therefore, is to ensure that policy announcements stemming from the Policy Review possess clear reasoning, and are etched into a blueprint for the future. The titanic issues of climate change, social care reform, unprecedented inequality and the future of the Union are all policy areas that are crying out for Labour to demand change. …..
Fit for the Future - Policy
I add that getting to a position before the Tories might help; see the current furore around National Insurance and last year’s “get the back to school” statements. For a unifying narrative, how about “For the many not the few”, Oops that’s been taken.
Yet even then the four point plan (in the Vision section), equality, climate justice, crime and safety a great place to work and live is one most of Labour could agree with although whether if can win back the Red Wall is another matter, but it is a useful platform to consolidate and possibly expand Labour’s new coalition.
On reflection, maybe pledge cards would be good; if they promised something worth while and central to our offer, the problem with them before was that were a distraction and an attempt to reduce ambition. within the party. There are some who think this is not a bad idea.
This article is based on some thoughts I put on Twitter, which can be found on threadreader.
Originally published at https://davelevy.info on September 8, 2021.
