by Samuel Dale
Labour is on the cusp of genuine power where it can help shape the lives of millions of people.
Stay with me, I’m not deluded.
Next month’s mayoral elections will create powerful regional representatives in six key areas from Cambridge to Greater Manchester. And Labour can really win power.
The party has a chance in numerous mayoral elections but the closest and most interesting is in the West Midlands. It’s a nail-biter and the Tories fancy their chances.
Sion Simon is running as Labour candidate. Over the past week, Jeremy Corbyn has launched a series of eye-catching national pledges on a £10 living wage, free school meals, small businesses being paid on time and raising the wages of carers. Simon’s manifesto is another boost for those who want fresh progressive thinking put into action.
A victory here would be one-in-the-eye for the narrative that Labour is dying and point to a road to recovery.
Simon’s Tory challenger is former John Lewis executive Andy Street, who is posing as an outsider and attempting to shed the Tory brand.
His business profile has seen him garner national press attention and support.
But the reality is that a Tory victory will mean another compliant mayor doing Downing Street’s bidding on Brexit and the NHS in the West Midlands.
Simon has a positive, centre-left agenda. His 10-point manifesto would boost trade union rights, raise public sector pay for workers and protect the NHS.
Here are some of his good ideas:
All public sector staff will be paid a living wage of £8.45. He wants money invested to boost West Midlands airports and railways. He wants to launch a micro-pilot of universal basic income.
He’ll cut bus fares and give travel discounts to students. He’ll boost nighttime travel to help workers with unsociable hours.
He’ll be a loud voice against hate crime. He’ll support the bid for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2026.
It is a refreshing and positive policy programme that could have an impact beyond the West Midlands.
In the US, state governments are a breeding ground of innovation and policy ideas that can be rolled out at a national level.
The Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly have been hotbeds of fresh ideas under Labour or SNP governments with housing benefit or free tuition fees, for example. Mayors may have different powers but they can push progressive agendas forward. Or they can be government stooges.
Launching a micro-pilot of the universal income could be an invaluable progressive experiment, for example, if Simon can get consent from DWP.
His manifesto also provides hints of how Brexit and Scottish independence will play out with the new devolved heads. He said his top priority is to ensure the region does not lose EU funding streams, which currently tot up to hundreds of millions of pounds.
He is also prioritising redirecting money from the Barnett Formula into the West Midlands and away from Scotland. Treasury figures show the West Midlands receives nearly £2,000 less per head than Scotland. He won’t be silent about it, which provides an interesting counter-point to the SNP.
Some of Simon’s manifesto, such as a pledge to end the “scourge of homelessness” or protest NHS cuts fall outside the powers of the mayoralty.
But in some ways that is where its true power lies. Mayors will be a loud regional voice and media presence, spreading over various policy areas.
The London mayoralty has proven a prominent platform from which to beat the drum for London. Boris Johnson used it as a launchpad for his cabinet ambitions while Sadiq Khan is the most popular politician in the country.
Please help Simon’s campaign this month with a day of action on April 29 and let’s get some hard-fought wins on the board.
Sam Dale is a financial and political journalist
Tags: Andy Street, Jeremy Corbyn, Samuel Dale, Siôn Simon, West Midlands Mayor
Sion Simon has said to Muslims if they receive what they feel is islamophobia ,dint goto the police, but to the local mosque, ok he helped bring down ablair in Tom Watson coup, went to conference 9 months later fullof beens about our new PM,then within a week that was a disaster, so he quite his seat, failed to become a EU MEP, now I hope Steve Rotherham wins and Andy despite his embaressing leadership bid, but I hope soon loses.
Sion Simon is everything that repulses most decent working class people.
His video, a spoof in which he pretends to be David Cameron – and has Cameron inviting people to **** his wife – was disgusting.
He followed this up with a bad mannered interview on sky news during which he told the young lady interviewer to “shut up”.
As mentioned above, Simon has invited people to report any incident of ‘Islamophobia’ to mosques, and not to the police. This is intended to boost his vote from the muslim community, but does nothing for integration.
And, of course, he is now seen as a rat deserting a sinking EU ship.
He will win because he campaigns under a Labour banner, but I can’t think of a more odious individual to be given responsibility for the many decent and honourable people of this area.
That the Midlands race probably does point to Labour’s future is hard to argue against.
dont know if youve heard the news recently but ………….
John P Reid – I bet Andy Burnham will quit as Mayor very quickly. Corbyn will be resigning June 9th and I reckon Burnham will fancy his chances.
It would be difficult to find a more unpleasant character than Sion Simon for all those matters that Anon refers to. It is individuals like him that the Labour party need rid of. Brum, typically votes Labour and most people vote the way “their Dad did” but Sion Simon would not be the right type of leader for my great City.
Tafia, this is the same with Sadiq,who it had been alike of as early as June last year would be parachuted back into parliament at a by election to be the re- placement for Jeremy
Until Sadiq’s stupid comment comparing the SNP to racism, then he turned up witha camera team the day after the parliament attack to be photographed with some of PC palmers colleagues and I heard from the lords whip office they were looking in thinking how tacky.