by Peter Watt
One Nation Labour, what exactly is it? Well according to Ed Miliband on the Labour party website:
“Today, our country risks becoming two nations, with a million young people out of work, the gap between the richest and everyone else getting worse, and hard work not rewarded. My core belief is in leaving this country a better place than I found it, and that when people join together, we can overcome any odds. We did it during the second world war and we did it when rebuilding the country afterwards. That is the spirit Britain needs today.”
I have quite a bit of sympathy for this. We certainly needed to refresh our thinking and move on from new Labour which for much of the public had become tainted by ‘spin’. With the Tories appearing to lack any sort of central purpose or vision other than deficit reduction, it was good to see the Labour Party trying to develop a fresh single organising thought. The Party wanted a new sense of purpose and Ed’s espousal of One Nation Labour seemed really promising.
Over the last few months there has been some welcome associated rhetoric around challenging vested interests that threaten the living conditions of hardworking families. So energy companies are challenged to reduce their prices. Payday lenders are rightly targeted and there is talk of giving local people a bigger say in shaping their high-streets (I’m not quite sure what this means but I think if I did that I would support it!). Certainly banks and some bankers had become greedy and there is a tiny percentage of the population that has got very rich and who seem very good at avoiding paying tax. So far so good for ONL.
But then I get a little sceptical. Firstly there is the fact that the One Nation rhetoric actually seems to divide the nation into three nations. Of course there is the really rich ‘nation’ that Labour has a lot to say about; and it generally seems to be about taxing them and their bonuses more and then spending the receipts several times. Then there is the really poor ‘nation’ who need support that Labour has a lot to say about; and it generally seems to involve opposing any reform of the welfare system. And finally there is the everyone else ‘nation’ – the hard working lot that, as Ed points out, are not being rewarded very well and who feel a bit let down and put-upon. And One Nation Labour doesn’t actually seem to say much about them at all.
And then there is this whole issue of challenging vested interests; of stepping in ‘when capitalism clearly isn’t working’ for families already struggling. So banks, energy companies, pay day lenders and so on are all in the firing line.