Peter Watt « Labour Uncut

Posts Tagged ‘Peter Watt’

Politicians in the Westminster bubble don’t understand how real people feel

03/01/2013, 07:00:01 AM

by Peter Watt

There are a lot of clever people who have recently been analysing the relative merits of the political parties and their respective political fortunes. Over the Christmas and new-year period pundits have written article after article about the ramifications of the latest polls, changes in demography and so on. I even penned a piece myself although I certainly wouldn’t put myself in the “clever” bracket!

The consensus seems to be that the Tories are very unlikely to form a majority after 2015 and that the most likely outcome is the formation of a government of some sort lead by Ed Miliband. There have though been one or two siren voices. These are saying that Labours position is less certain and that it needs to watch its economic polling numbers which appear to be going in the wrong direction following the chancellor’s autumn statement.

Just before new year I tweeted that:

“@PeterWatt123 I always hate the last few days of the year. Makes me feel sad.”

It was meant as a slightly maudlin reflection on the emotional highs and lows of the festive period. But in response, Ian Austin MP, who I respect and occasionally joust with on Twitter, quipped that:

“@IanAustinMP Surely you could write piece for Labour Uncut about how end of year is all Labour’s fault, proof of unfitness to govern etc.”

It was a good riposte and I guess indicates that Ian is not a fan of my blogs! But Ian does make a fair point that on the whole I am not comfortable with some of the direction of travel of the Labour party at the moment.

I worry that most of our poll lead is solely down to current government unpopularity, that Ed is still not seen as prime ministerial and that our stock with the electorate is dangerously low when it comes to the economy, welfare reform and immigration. And I honestly think that our economic message is disingenuously trying to look both ways on the central issue of deficit reduction and the scale of cuts required whoever wins next time, regardless of whether we have economic growth.

But most of all I worry that no political party is seen by voters as having the answers to their worries and concerns. Because at its heart, current political discourse is still being conducted between the political parties inside the rarefied world of the political bubble. It certainly isn’t being conducted with voters.

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Sadly, neither party offers much hope for 2013

27/12/2012, 08:00:03 AM

by Peter Watt

This is my final post for 2012 and inevitably I am therefore reflecting on the year just gone. It has been an incredible year for the country from the euphoria of the jubilee to the emotion and pride of the Olympics and Parlaympics. Sat in the Olympic park back in early August you could feel the optimism and the pride of all who were there. You could feel it on the trains and on the buses and in the streets as people enjoyed a sense of something shared that was good.

And it wasn’t just a London thing – I spent super Saturday watching Brazil versus Honduras in a packed St James’ Park and then watching the evening unfold on a giant screen in the heart of Newcastle. The mood was the same, and it felt great.

Once again across the country, families will have struggled to make sure that they had a good Christmas. They will have done all that they can to have a good time, to enjoy their time together, to party and to be optimistic. The queues at the Boxing day sales show that people want to spend if they can and no doubt we will all be hopeful as the clocks countdown to midnight on the 31^st.

But sadly, reality will soon kick in. Because sitting behind all of the hope and optimism of the year are the hard economic truths of a flat-lining economy, flaky export markets, huge economic uncertainty in Europe, a weak financial services sector, and austerity in the public sector.

From early January families on modest incomes will lose child benefit, from April many will see their taxes rise as more are dragged into the 40% bracket. Other families will see their levels of tax credits fall relative to prices, or the amount of support that they get to help with their disability fall. Others will lose their jobs or have to reduce their hours. If you are young and unemployed then your chance of finding work will be slim, not much better if you are over 50. Fuel prices will continue to rise, food won’t become cheaper.

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Ed Milband is out of step with most voters on welfare reform

20/12/2012, 07:00:11 AM

by Peter Watt

If the economy is the central battleground of the next election then welfare reform looks like being one of the other key areas for the political combatants. The chancellor’s Autumn statement made it pretty clear that he intends to make it a key wedge issue over the coming years. And to make sure that we all got this, the Tories have released an online attack ad on the websites of local newspapers in marginal seats.

Click on the ad and you are asked your views on welfare reform by the Conservative party. Labour reacted with its own marginal seats campaign complete with outrage at the demonization of the poor and attempts to divide and rule between artificial notions of “strivers” and “scroungers”.

So both parties see the next election being about the cost of living; both see strategic weaknesses in the others approaches to those working on low to modest incomes and both now have drawn a line in the sand – the proposed below inflation 1% rise in most working age welfare benefits.

For the Tories this will help create a “welfare system based on fairness’” as the campaign leaflet to accompany their online ad makes clear:

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The party machines might not know it yet but political parties are dying

13/12/2012, 07:00:31 AM

by Peter Watt

Political parties are strange constructs where by necessity a coalition of views is encapsulated under one brand. So you have the campaign group and Progress all sharing the Labour banner or left leaning Lib Dems sharing a party with the orange bookers and so on.

To put it even more colourfully, it means that Frank Field and Jeremy Corbyn can share the same political colours! While there will be some shared world views of course and certainly a degree of shared culture and history, actually it is often more of a case of “vive la difference” or “damn your principles and stand by your party” depending on your view or current mood! And the reason for this is that it is important for two very good reasons.

Firstly, when it comes to elections voters are offered a relatively easy to consume and unified approach from a small group of potential political alternatives. Debates around the direction of travel and then the detail of policy happen within the parties in order that common policy stances can be offered to the public.

And secondly, that there is a reasonable chance of a stable administration being formed after the votes are counted.

There are other benefits of course. Political parties have been excellent institutions at identifying and developing potential future political representatives. They also allow a forum and focus for the discussion and development of policy positions as the wider environment changes. All of this relies on party discipline and a desire for unity to work; and the system has generally served the country well for many years. And at election times people have voted for their preferred party rather than their preferred candidate.

But slowly such certainties are changing.

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Changing the law is only the start in tackling discrimination

06/12/2012, 07:00:07 AM

by Peter Watt

Attacking discrimination in all of its forms has been something that unites many from across the political spectrum. Many political battles fought over the years to pass legislation that seeks to end discrimination. In fact Wikipedia has a very helpful list of all of the UK Acts passed over the years, and it is quite a list:

Equality Act 2010
Equality Act 2006
Disability Discrimination Act 2005
Race Relations Amendment Act 2000
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
Race Relations Act 1976
Sex Discrimination Act 1975,
Equal Pay Act 1970
Race Relations Act 1968
Race Relations Act 1965
Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928
Representation of the People Act 1918

Every one of these will have been hard fought and will often have been resisted. Each was dramatic in its impact and generally led rather than followed public opinion in the area of life that it sought to influence. And the social change that can be charted in this list is worth reflecting on.

It starts with extending the franchise to all men and then all women and ends with an Act that brings together the series of laws passed outlawing discrimination on the basis of race, disability, religion or belief, gender, age and sexuality. And let’s not forget that there have also been other battles fought along the way that have slowly made life fairer. For instance, one of the proudest moments for many of us of the last Labour government was the passing of the civil partnership act (2004).

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UKIP will take votes from Labour as well as the Tories in Rotherham today

29/11/2012, 07:00:18 AM

by Peter Watt

There is one aspect of the UKIP Rotherham storm that I have found intriguing and that has, for the most part, passed largely without comment: the foster carers who were at the heart of the story were former Labour voters.

And yet this on the face of it belies the presumption that UKIP is a problem for the Tories. Psephologically speaking of course, it does seem that for the time being at least UKIP has taken voters from the Tories.

It is why Michael Fabricant MP said the unsayable this week by talking of Conservative electoral pacts with UKIP. But psephology alone is surely only half the story because scratch the surface of the assumptions about UKIP and there are some others bout who votes UKIP and why.

One of the main issues is that those of us who suffer from an obsession with politics still tend to see politics on a linear ‘left-right’ spectrum. This means that we could sit in a bar and quite quickly group policies as “left” or “right” with a high degree of consensus amongst ourselves.

So broadly, parties on the left are in favour of bigger government and those on the right smaller government. Parties on the left are in favour of the state directly delivering help to the poor and those on the right are more supportive of community and self-help options. And so on; and depending which party you are from would depend as to whether the broadly left approach or broadly right approach was seen as a positive or not.

Even though in reality we know that it isn’t in fact this simple, it is a stereotype that we instinctively feel is broadly right. And we think this because it complies with our worldview as Labour activists. And the same would be true for political activists generally.

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Uncovered: a secret memo to George Osborne

22/11/2012, 07:00:57 AM

by Peter Watt

I can’t tell you how this came into my possession but the following memo was found on a photocopier in Westminster yesterday. The send field was hidden.*

MEMO

To: Rt Hon George George Osborne

Date: 20/11/2012

STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Turning around our current polling situation

George, as you know the Labour party think that they have the next election in the bag. They think that the public have pretty much decided that the government is a busted flush. They think that what has undoubtedly been a pretty appalling year for us has sealed our fate. Privately they accept that Miliband has a way to go before he’s seen as a prime minister but think that our self-inflicted wounds (if we are honest, our incompetence and successive blunders) will mean that he is given an easy ride through to the election. And that ultimately our unpopularity will overcome his shortcomings in the minds of voters. But as I have said to you, I actually think that not only are they wrong, their confidence in the face of their substantial poll leads will prove to be their undoing.

In essence I think that that whilst the Labour party undoubtedly has a lead at this stage, its position is exaggerated by the positions of the Lib Dems and UKIP. It is virtually certain that the Lib Dems will rise in the polls before the election and in all likelihood will poll in the high teens on election day. Equally, whilst Farage and co might do well through to the Euros they will fall away as we near the election. If both of these are correct then the true polling position is considerably closer. In other words the Labour lead can be overcome. Of course, that does not mean that we do not need to regroup and fast.

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Our free press should remain free

15/11/2012, 07:00:17 AM

by Peter Watt

I know a bit about the impact of aggressive press activity. Back in 2008 when I resigned as general secretary of the Labour party it was pretty big news. The story revolved around me. For the first few days (it could’ve been a week) there were journalists outside our home, TV trucks in the street and people trying to climb into our back garden to see if we were in but not answering the door.

Luckily the whole family, including our very young children, had shot off to stay with relatives before they arrived. We had to move twice over the next few weeks. The neighbours had their doors knocked but they all closed ranks and wouldnt talk to the media. At one point my wife, Vilma, had to go home to collect some clothes; she went into our neighbours’ house so that she could go into our house unseen by the media via our back door. While she was in the neighbours’ house a journalist knocked on the door and asked her if she knew the neighbours – i.e. us!

Friends were contacted to comment via Facebook and my wider family were phoned at home and work. One newspaper offered a large sum of money to someone to both comment and let them know where I was.

Someone else told me to change the PIN on my voicemail which I did and changed my phone as well. Friends eventually told us when the media had gone; it took a while as for a further week or so after most had left, there was a pooled journalist constantly on guard.

Even after that there would be someone knocking on the door at least once a week. All in all, it was a pretty grim experience that went on for a couple of months with someone even turning up at our door on Boxing Day. For months we had to ban the kids from answering the door.

So I know what serious intrusion into your life by an aggressive persistent media feels like. The truth is that unless you have actually gone through it then it is actually hard to imagine just how frightening and destabilising it really is.

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Labour’s opposition to regional pay in the NHS is intellectually dishonest

08/11/2012, 07:00:55 AM

by Peter Watt

There was a debate yesterday instigated by Labour on the introduction of regional pay into the NHS. Labour’s argument is clear, that by allowing the introduction of regional pay into the NHS the government risks breaking it up. Of particular focus for criticism were the group of twenty trusts in the south west, the south west consortium. They are seeking to opt out of the national agenda for Change framework for pay and conditions as an element of their plans to achieve their required cost reductions. As Andy Burnham said in the debate:

“National pay is part of the glue of a national health service, part of what holds it together, and in turn the NHS is part of what holds our country together.

A one nation service bridging the social and economic divides of our country, uniting east and west, north and south. The N in NHS should be cherished, but instead it is coming under ideological attack.”

Powerful stuff and you may think hard to disagree with. But Labour has some form in this area, in both government and opposition, which makes their position a little tenuous. It may well be that there is a perfectly good reason for this apparent inconsistency but you can be sure that this inconsistency will be exploited by opponents.

First, in government it was Labour that introduced the very flexibilities and freedoms that allow NHS trusts to make decisions that ensure their responsiveness to local needs. And rightly so; as commissioners agree local priorities it was important that the local providers were able to operate flexibly and choose what they did in order to deliver on these priorities.

This didn’t mean an end to national pay and conditions but it did mean that if needed trusts could be flexible. So for instance, if there was a need for one particular service to be expanded in an area where attracting the right staff was difficult, then a trust could respond.

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We all owe the state for the lives we lead and tax is how we pay our fair share

02/11/2012, 02:00:03 PM

by Dan McCurry

I’ve completely changed my mind, thanks to Peter Watt. I used to agree with Peter’s position, that taxation is a necessary evil, not a automatic right of the state. Then I read his piece, on tax, Labour must remember: “it’s not our money stupid, it’s theirs”, and I’ve since reversed my position completely.

This is part of a wider debate about whether the state creates private business, that began with a gaffe from Obama. “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

It was a gaffe, but the rest of the quote made sense of what he meant. “There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that.”

The debate re-emerged in this country during the party conference season. Miliband had described a Tory tax-cut with the visual image of David Cameron writing out £40k cheques to his mates. At the Tory conference Cameron responded, “When people earn money, it’s their money. Not the government’s money: their money. Then, the government takes some of it away in tax”.

Previously I was very much in agreement with David Cameron on this one, but reading Peter’s article got me thinking. If it were the case that the state acts as a hindrance to wealth creation, then why do millions of enterprising and ambitious young people, from the developing world, risk their lives to enter the western world every year? Surely if our top heavy state was standing in the way of business, why don’t they stay in their own country and make their fortune there?

As Obama pointed out, we have an infrastructure allowing fast and smooth transportation, as well as an advanced rule of law. We have an educated and healthy population who are available both as workers and as consumers. The state provides conditions that allow enterprise to flourish.

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Posted in Grassroots | 13 Comments »