The Labour Party Must Adapt, or Face Political Extinction

Op-Ed

Joshua Foster is an 18-year-old member of the UK's Labour Party, and is the co-leader & director of communications at Young Socialists.

The Labour Party is the driving force of real, progressive, radical change throughout British political history, and at times when the people of this country needed it the most. It is a party that has been confined to only several spells in government, but, within those small periods, has achieved things unimaginable - things that have changed the nation we are today. Amongst those achievements is the foundation of the NHS: a great feat amid the catastrophic aftermath of World War Two.

The Labour Party was born out of the trade union movement in the later stages of the 19th century; it promotes an active role for the state in the creation of economic prosperity, for the many. This entails the redistribution of wealth, and ensuring a fair tax system that provides a safety net, while actively working to eradicate poverty. The party started with the great working-class of Britain becoming fed-up at their inability to field working-class parliamentary candidates through the then-Liberal Party. Their frustration grew; from this, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) worked with the Independent Labour Party to establish a ‘Labour Representation Committee’, which then became the Labour Party in the early 1900s. Due to the low national membership, they had to work with the Liberals, often avoiding standing candidates against each other wherever possible. As a result, the Labour Party’s foundations strengthened, and their membership grew.

The 1918 Representation of the People Act, which extended the electoral franchise to all males aged 21 and over and to women aged 30 and older, gave a voice to millions of workers across the UK and triggered a passion for change. The Act was introduced by the Liberal / Conservative coalition, during which David Lloys George was Prime Minister.

The greatest example of what a Labour government can achieve is enshrined in the Clement Attlee government of 1945-50. They looked at a tired, war torn population and transformed their lives – creating the National Health Service, one of Britain’s proudest and most loved institutions that provides healthcare to anyone, free at the point of use. The UK also saw the formation of the welfare state: this form of government protects the social and economic well-being of all its citizens, provides equality of opportunity to all, and redistributes the wealth of the country’s richest to support to the nation’s poorest – a foundation that is still in practice today, and has saved thousands of desperate lives. Attlee and his cabinet created real policies that impacted real people who had experienced years of brutal war; they were exhausted, and they needed change - not token gestures and broken promises. Instead, they needed substance. However, the support provided by the welfare state has dramatically decreased after 11 years of Tory rule; modifications and cuts under austerity have claimed an estimated 130,000 lives.

The Labour Party can be, and must strive to be, a new, modern form of Attlee’s legacy. UK society needs rebuilding as it was in the wake of World War Two; the people of this country have been through so much over the last year and a half – lockdown after lockdown, variant after variant, and a collection of Conservative failures that have, not only delayed our normality, but taken the lives of over 150,000 of our fellow citizens. Boris Johnson portrayed the losses of our communities, friends, families and neighbours as worthless by allegedly stating that he would prefer to “let the bodies pile high in their thousands”, instead of instituting a third national lockdown.

Now is the Labour Party’s moment to be the people’s option. After the pandemic, we must provide policy that will transform lives – the pandemic has not created the disturbing levels of inequality, it’s exposed them and it’s our fight to cure it, to provide a credible plan to get us into Downing Street, deliver on our radical agenda and dramatically improve the British people’s lives.

For far too long, we’ve put up with zero hours contracts, a stagnant minimum wage, hours caps, the grotesque use of fire and rehire and general work unsustainability – the Labour leadership of 2015-2019 recognised this, and built their plan for government around it - alongside many other economic and societal inequalities.

Because of this forward-thinking, progressive agenda, people were inspired, their passions were sparked, and their minds ticked over the amount of exploitation they have faced in their workplace . During his rallies, Corbyn was frequently met by crowds of thousands and packed halls, even having to repeat his speeches to supporters standing outside who could not gain access to his indoor events.

I am 18 and I remember working in a restaurant from the age of 16 to 17; the managers always seemed friendly, and you felt that everything was fine. When I delved deeper into the details, I was on a zero-hours contract, my pay was £4.35 an hour (less than the price we sold a bowl of soup for, and I was only brought in to work 8 hour Sunday shifts. The work rate was intense, abuse from customers was constant, and the chefs in the back were rude and patronising. I didn’t want this anymore, and, like many others, was inspired by the passion of Jeremy Corbyn and the brilliance of the socialist ideology.

All Corbyn did was take the words, theory and basic ideology of socialism, and put it in a format that the general public knew, that they understood, which represented their own lived experiences. From there, people realised they had the ability to bring about necessary change.

Keir Starmer needs to do a multitude of things to reform our party and get it back into Number 10. First of all, he needs to harness the anger and passions of working people in their plea for reform. Starmer needs to act on their concerns with legitimate policy announcements – such as the abolition of tuition fees, a green industrial revolution, and a National Education and Care Service - built on the love and foundations of the NHS. Starmer should introduce other popular policies such as the renationalisation of our vital utilities (like rail, transport, and water), an increase in the minimum wage, the strengthening of trade union rights, and eliminating poverty – these are the values of the Labour movement, and should provide a pathway to power.

Starmer does not necessarily need to replicate Corbyn; the barrage of media attacks and vicious infighting made his leadership challenging. Reverting straight back to Corbyn won’t work; we need to take some of his popular policies, and use them as a foundation to build upon – Starmer said himself “We should treat the 2017 manifesto as our foundational document, the radicalism and the hope that inspired across the country was real’’. While we do not need a Corbyn clone, we do need to see the personality of Starmer come through; we need to hear more of his vision for the 21st century. We need to see the passion that must lie deep within him come into fruition, because sometimes Starmer comes off as wooden and lacking passion when it comes to dismantling the status quo. We need to see more of his Prime Minister’s Questions passion all of the time.

credit: Politics Home

The media will also play a big factor in whether or not we can ever step foot in Downing Street again, mainstream media will never be completely on our side, and we need to find strong alternatives to convey our message of solidarity, hope and change for the many. Starmer should be looking to use the media to his advantage, to win the people over.

One of Starmer’s finest moments was when he appeared on breakfast talk show Lorraine, and talked through his life, his childhood, and why he thinks the way he does. This episode was extremely hard-hitting: a sentiment that was also replicated in the interview he did with Unilad. The party needs to get Starmer on more shows like these - such as Have I Got News For You and Desert Island Discs. Starmer needs to bring his quips to the mainstream, and show people that members of the Labour party are normal, decent people wanting a fairer Britain.

The local elections may have given us the kicking we needed to adapt to the current political climate, do some soul searching, and present a credible plan to the people of this country - one that does not entail telling them what to do and talking down to them, but showing them a glimpse of what their life could be like under a modern, progressive Labour government.

Here's to 2024.