We are a long way from a general election here in the UK, and it sort-of feels like we’re treading water. Whilst I originally was impatient that we were taking so much time choosing our leader, I’m glad we took some time on this. Do I feel we’ve made the right choice? Definitely. I asked Michael Meacher MP, when I saw him at the Labour Party Conference, whether he was happy that Ed Miliband had just been elected as our party leader: his face looked terribly depressed, but then his eyes beamed, and said, “No, frankly, I’m ecstatic!” On the other hand, David Miliband, whom my late father liked as a person in fact as he used to bump into him in our local post office at Primrose Hill, never struck me as a wonderful Foreign Secretary; I know that Hillary Clinton had a high regard for him, but I personally don’t feel that David’s record on Guantanomo Bay was incredibly impressive at all.
It won’t be enough that this Government is shambolic. It just happens that it is. You cannot make comments on the welfare state reform on the back of Mick Philpott, in the same way that you can judge German villages on the basis of the acts of Josef Fritzl, or inheritance tax on the back of the Stephen Seddon case. Everyone at some point will need the welfare system, whether that is pensions, or disability benefit (it is not impossible that somebody can become disabled in later adult life, as indeed I did.) Notwithstanding that, whether or not we avoid a ‘triple dip recession’, the facts are that we have had a ‘double dip’ already AFTER the economy was in a fragile recovery in May 2010. The fact that the economy is currently deteriorating by the second means that Labour is in no position to make any definite plans about anything, tragic though that is (for example reversing the massive cuts in legal aid on the high street for genuine housing or employment cases, or the such like.) It’s my belief that Labour is still the ‘Party of the NHS’, even though Labour through its New Labour years went on a trajectory of NHS Foundation Hospitals and PFI, policy decisions which I profoundly disagree with for the way they turned out. However, I trust them to stop the momentum for ‘competition’ which has built up AFTER they relinquished power (Labour themselves progressed synchrony of procurement law with our EU partners), and to try to stem the power of Foundation Trusts and virtually compulsory competitive procurement next time they are in power.
The Labour Party is the only hope disabled citizens have. Whilst ATOS were originally awarded the benefits contract by Labour, it is widely accepted that the implementation of the benefits awards has been shambolic with such a high rate of decisions being overturned on judicial appeal. Workfare has become a ding-dong which the Labour Party has made a mess of, but it is the case that around MPs did rebel on this issue, which is certainly more than the number of rebellious LibDem MPs. Furthermore, whilst many bloggers and journalists did not understand Ed Miliband’s ‘responsible capitalism’ speech for no reason other than sheer stupidity, and were very quick to condemn it, the speech has turned out to be totally correct on all fronts, whether this includes horsemeat burgers being sold by Tesco everyday value, phone hacking allegations in various newspapers, or financial mismanagement in HBOS. The evidence in support of Ed Miliband is incredibly robust, and all reasonable minds would freely admit so.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion, however, that the political parties are much-the-muchness, in the same way that they all seem to pander to multi-national companies, whether in health or education, for example. However, Labour is definitely stronger on the rights of workers, hence its affiliation with the Unions. It is inadequate for the Conservatives to say that there is a record number of people in employment, when these are in fact a record number of people with minimal employment rights. We also do not know the full impact of the numbers of people who are topped up on working credits, because they are under-employed, or the full use of “zero-hour contracts” or workfare by certain multi-national companies, nor how an immigrant population from Europe might be impacting generally on our employment figures. Ed Miliband should perhaps consider how he can distinguish himself from the more frantic shrill of the Conservatives and UKIP, whilst ensure he doesn’t repeat the #Bigotgate experience of the last election.
In summary, I’m happy at this point to be supporting Ed Miliband. The policy details will help very much, but it’s crucial to get the details of this right. Labour were virtually guaranteed election in 1997, and in my personal view they frittered away much opportunity in making substantial policy advantages. This is not to deny substantial achievements such as the “minimum wage” of the Tony Blair government. However, I for one cannot understand why the Labour Party does not support fully the Union movement; always at the back of your mind is the concern that Labour, under Ed Miliband, does not wish to be a socialist party but wishes to be a social democrat party. If that is the case, the time will come when Union members will be forced to consider which mainstream political party best represents their needs. Meanwhile, at a time when the minimum wage may be threatened, although it is for the Low Pay Commission to make recommendations to Government, Ed Miliband has an opportunity to consider legislating for a “living wage” which might see the much needed boost in consumer demand which the economy needs, or a rise in living standards currently threatened by the current handling of the economy. These are tough times, but supporters of Labour I feel ought to hold their nerve.
