It has been a week since I announced publicly that I would be seeking to stand for the leadership of the Labour Party when a vacancy arises. As you can guess the week has been a whirlwind of activity to get our message across, from tv and radio studios, meetings with various people, debates in Parliament, constituency engagements, a pensioners meeting in Parliament and joining the anti privatisation picket line by the PCS outside the MOD.
I just want to say thank you to all those many, many people who have contacted me to express their support. It has just been overwhelming. I have been touched at the number of people just coming up in the street to wish us all good luck. I have been particularly moved by the number of people who have contacted me to say that they are rejoining the Labour Party to join our campaign. Thank you for all this. It is really appreciated and has given our campaign such a boost from the outset.
The LRC Conference takes place at the TUC on Saturday under the title "Challenging for Labour's Future." This year's conference looks like being the largest so far and could be a pivotal moment in the history of the Left in Britain.
The conference will focus on how the left organises to challenge for Labour's future on the policiies needed by a Labour Government and the methods needed to restore democracy to the party once again. Within just over two years the LRC has become one of, if not the largest, rank and file group within the Labour Party. It was founded to bring socialists together from across the Labour party, trade union movement and progressive campaigning bodies in this country. It enables people not just to become involved in political discussion but also to participate in campaigning on the key issues facing our movement.
The LRC has been instrumental in developing, supporting and campaigning on issues like the campaign against privatisation,"Public Services not Private Profit" and the Trade Union Freedom Bill.
Before the last election the LRC published a "Policy Programme for a Real Labour Government." This included amongst others two important demands for both old and young. They were for pensioners an increase in the basic state pension and an immediate restoration of the link with earnings, and for young people the abolition of tuition fees.
Our argument on pensions was that forcing up to 50% of pensioners onto means tested benefits would result in large scale unclaimed benefits and a massive waste of resources on the administration of complex claim and assessment processing.
Yesterday at a meeting in the House of Commons, which was hosted by Kate Hoey and myself, the National Pensioners Convention undertook a detailed briefing on its alternative Pension White Paper. The Convention should be applauded for the effective work it does. This excellent exposition of the real plight of penssioners in this country sets out a clear and affordable approach to tackling pensioner poverty based upon increasing the basic state pension and restoring the link.
Each year in the Parliamentary debate on the budget I have presented a detailed and costed alternative budget including the Pensioner's Convention proposals. The alternative budget is prepared using the expert advice of the Left Economic Advisory Panel, which I chair and which comprises a range of socialist economists. Each year these pension proposals have been opposed by Gordon Brown and the Government.
The Turner report was a bit of a breakthrough as it came out in favour of a restoration of the link between pensions and earnings but regrettably recommended that this would be at some time in the future and would not assist many existing pensioners. At first Tony Blair backed the Turner proposals and Gordon Brown opposed the restoration of the link. Eventually Brown capitulated but still left the restoration to some time in the future and hedged with various caveats, which would enable any future Government to wriggle out of this commitment.
We are making the National Pensioners' Convention demands set out in its alternative white paper a central plank of our campaign. A number of supporters are aiming to form a pensioners' group within the campaign that will work to promote this issue. If you are a pensioner or have an interest in this issue come and help us in this campaign.
Coincidentally this week research proved what the National Union of Students and many of us who opposed tuition fees said three years ago. WE warned then that the imposition of fees leading to massive debt amongst young people would serve as a deterrent to working class young people going to university. This week's figures for new entrants and the drop out rates from college demonstrate tragically that we were right. Young people from less affluent backgrounds are being put off staying on in education by the costs and risk of debt.
The solution is obvious. Scrap the tuition fees and restore maintenance grants. This is what we will be campaigning for and next week young people are coming together to discuss how over the coming months support can be mobilised in the leadership campaign around this policy.
This is exactly the type of campaign we need. Groups of people coming together to mobiliise support for a change in policy but based upon really concrete analysis and workable proposals.
I am convinced that we can win the political argument but it still needs us to win the organisational battle as well. That is why I am so encouraged by the overwhelming response we have received over the last week. It has been really heartwarming to gain such support and so many good wishes from so many people. If you have time tomorrow come along to the LRC conference. It should be intellectually stimulating and politically motivating.
I hope to see you there.
16 Comments:
Great stuff John - finally someone is standing up the political establishment.
I would love to have joined you at the LRC Conference but am away in Germany. I can already feel the campaign starting to have an impact on discussion by Labour and non-Labour party members alike. Keep it up!
Jonathan Millins
Equalities Officer
Kent Labour Students
If you are inspired by this campaign do as I do and do the niggly things such as get your partner or friend who isn't a member to join Labour - then we can rebuild the party from the bottom up and vote for the candidates we want in the party's various positions from the leader down (after six months membership you can vote). You may also be inspired to "reviatlise your moribund ward of the Labour party" -a great phrase!" if you are already a member i.e invite lapsed members to a meeting, you could request John McDonnell or an LRC representative to speak and put yourself forward for positions like CLP secretary so you can circulate relevant campign information and so on, wards can also be merged into joint wards so meetings are quorate, come along to the LRC conference tomorrow to hear more ways of supporting the campaign if you like me have been inspired into taking action or increasing the action you already do by the campaign. There's a window of opportunity now as the effect of new Labour has been to hollow out wards and CLPs (Constituency Labour Parties)as we have lost so many members that there are lots of opportunties to re-build wards, why not volunteer to be secretary etc and make sure your CLP sends a delegate to conference see www.cpld.org.uk for info as we need conference to discuss and vote on the policies we are asking for. Don't let the Blairites take away our power aas we haven't got any like minded mebers in positions of organisation and powere within the party or silence us at conference by letting their delegates filibuster (talk out) unpopular policies as seemed to be happening last year, make sure your CLP sends a delegate in the first place or your CLP can't have a say in votes on policy or voting for the various positions of power within the party
Helen Ingram
I had two student loans when I finished in 95 and still have them now, still overdrawn and I have two children now so it's not so easy to earn enough to pay them off now. Apart from the stress caused to me and so many students personally with this kind of situation it must have cost the student loans company more than the £1800 odd I owe them to administer my loan for this long I should think! A couple of years ago I also got a letter stating that my loan had been "sold" to a bank! We need a candidate like John who lives in the real world and who has a wealth of experience of cases like mine from his nine years as a constituency MP and many years as a councillor and local government director to become leader and end the Tory inspired student finance systemn that has caused a backlog of debts like mine going back years let alone the new problemns now we have tuition fees as well. I didn't want to be in debt when I had children of my own but with the leadership we have now that has happened to me under a Labour government. We need a new leadership in the Labour party that will reverse such Tory inspired policies that make everything obtaining basic needs like housing and education so difficult for all but the rich starting by electing John McDonnell to make our party not old Labour but a new better version of real Labour values especially as Cameron and his team are already trying to grab the moral and political high ground by pretending to be green, hoodie hugging and the like (even babies have hooded tops anyway...)and frighteningly many journalists are already beginning to talk as if the conservatives will win the next Labour election However Cameron's attempt to do a Blair on his own party exposes him as ten years out of date so he should be no competition! John's policies are properly thought out and show this is another way than Blair's privatisation of everything, he's not taking us back to the past either, if you read the manifesto you will find all policies are up to date and forward thinking.
Helen Ingram
I hope that the LRC restores the green dimension that has been so historically important to the British left, while ecological problems are now pressing and oil addiction is a source of war, green socialism is far from new.
William Morris put forward a green socialist vision in the 1880s and 1890s, Benny Rothman of the British workers sports federation led the Kinder Scout trespass back in the 1930s.
see http://www.greenleft.org.uk/
As somebody who is not about to rejoin the Labour Party, I nonetheless think that whilst the unions remain affiliated to it, they should act in their members' interests by seriously challenging the Blair/Brown regime. What sense would it make to support Brown, the author of PFI and the driving force behind the programme of privatisations across the public sector?
Socialists in the unions should campaign for the affiliated ones to support John's campaign (even those who like me think a political alternative to Labour is necessary).
A campaign to win some of the affiliated unions to support John's candidature is part of the struggle against the conciliators of New Labour; trade union leaders who have given Blair and Brown an easy ride.
The trade union 'critics' of New Labour cannot seriously oppose them without fighting for a complete break with the Blairite agenda; reverse gear included.
You cannot both oppose the neo-liberal policies of the government and give Blair a standing ovation, as happened at the recent GMB conference.
It was an absolutely lovely conference - the most enjoyable labour meeting I've been to in years. That was despite there being a disappointing lack of old mates hanging around (!) (which just goes to show how many Labour Party socialists there are who don't necessarily appear at LRC conferences and the like - I think when you go on the stump around the country there will be a pleasant surprise that similarly enjoyable meetings can be convened outside London). While it went against the grain a little voting unanimously so often, and I nearly got up and spoke against one of the resolutions just for old time's sake (!) the unity of purpose was very encouraging.
Two slight reservations - or concerns might be a better description: First, the way the conference was ignored by the media. If Gordon Brown speaks to three industrialists there'll be a live feed from News 24; I couldn't find anything about the LRC on the BBC or in the sunday papers, and that's a worry. Second, the first of these conferences I went to some years ago, though actually much smaller in terms of grass roots activists attending, seemed to represent a broader labour movement coalition in terms of leadership (I seem to remember there were more Union general secretaries there and speaking, for example, and ones from union's affiliated to the Party). I was also slightly concerned by one or two notable parliamentary party socialists who were absent (of course they may have been on holiday or anything, so I'm not over concerned!) There was a lot of hope regarding the election of left-wing union leaders that seems to have waned a touch.
I think it is absolutely right that this campaign comes from the grassroots and parliamentarians and union leaders follow if they are under pressure to do so. But I suppose we can't run away from the maths altogether - are the MPs going to be there nominating in 6-12 months time?
Anyway - congratulations on a great conference and I look forward to helping out with the campaign as much as possible (though mainly from Yorkshire!)
Duncan Hall
I cannot join you nor the Labour Party again that let us down so despicably. Will be there in spirit, though, John!
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