New politics. Fresh ideas.

Policy consultation launch

National Policy Forum, 27 November 2010

New politics, fresh ideas

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Introduction

How does Labour win once again the chance to serve our country? That is the question the Policy Review must answer. Labour has elected a new Leader. The leadership debates revealed a deep sense of pride in our achievements. We are a party united. But the public does not feel Labour is in touch with them. That is why we lost the election. Now is not the time to dot every i and cross every t of the next manifesto. Now is the time to build a new relationship with the people we seek to serve. To listen, discuss, debate the realities of life and the life ambitions of the people of our country. We need to use what we hear as the framework, the foundation, the lodestar of more detailed policy work in the years ahead. We need to hear what we did right. And what we did wrong. Our values are non-negotiable. They are what inspire us in politics and public service. But the Policy Review will take ideas from all points on the compass. Over the next year, we want Labour Party members and politicians to have at least a million conversations with individuals, families, businesses, trade unions, charities, experts, idealists and realists. We are asking party members to lead this work in communities up and down the country. In parallel, Ed Miliband is asking every member of the Shadow Cabinet to set up working groups and expert panels to explore the big questions that confront our country. We will also draw the best advice and counsel from civil society, academia, think tanks and the other nations.

But nor will we use this exercise to simply sit back and think about the future. Were not giving up on changing Britain for the better just because were not in national government. So we also want to hear what the publics priorities are for campaigning against the Governments most damaging actions. We want to know where people feel we should make common cause. And we want to hear where Labour can get on with making a difference through elected office, in local government, in Scotland, Wales and London, and through the force of community action. Over the last decade and half, Labours leadership changed the course of politics and the possibilities for our country. We want to do the same again. This Policy Review will help show us how.

Liam Byrne

NPF Report 2010

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New politics, fresh ideas

New politics, fresh ideas

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A new direction for our country

Between 1997 and 2010, Labour in government achieved a great deal of which we can be proud. From the introduction of the National Minimum Wage to an NHS rescued by investment and reform to an economy in which we grew wages, living standards and the number of jobs; the change we brought made Britain a better place. Our action abroad - from trebling international aid to building strong international alliances established Britains leading role in the world. But todays world is very different to thirteen years ago. It will change again before the next Parliament. We lost the last election. If we are to return to government we must show that we have learned the lessons of that election defeat. Re-earning the trust of our country means listening to peoples ambitions for the future; to their hopes as well as their fears and concerns. Now is not the time to write down every last detail of our policy for the next election. That will come over the course of this parliament. Our first job is to build the foundations for that work ahead. Building a picture of both the realities of life and the life ambitions of people in our country So over the next year we want to have at least a million conversations with people in Britain, from all walks of life and every corner of the country. We want to hear from individuals, families, community groups, business and charities about the future of our nation. We want to know peoples priorities for opposing the Governments changes and where people believe we should forge common cause. We want to know what people see as the big challenges for our country, their community, and their family. And we want to know where people want us to get on with changing Britain for the better now, through local government

and community action. We will use what people say to us to shape our work day to day and to set the stage for the more detailed development of new ideas in the future. There are four broad questions which we want to hear about: How we grow our economy and ensure good jobs and a sustainable future? How we strengthen families, communities and relationships? How do we put power in peoples hands, over politics and public services? How do we secure our country and contribute to a better world? In this document we set out some first thoughts and questions. We want to know how people see the national interest and their interest. We want to hear views about the here and now and the longterm. Specifically we would like people to think about the following questions: 1. What are the priorities for protecting Britain from the changes the Government is making? Where are the areas where we should make common cause? 2.What do you see as the key challenges for the future of our country; your community; your family? 3. What are the changes you think Labour should get on with now? 4.How does Labour re-earn your trust on the key issues facing Britain? Getting the right policy platform is an essential step on the route back to power. We hope the party and the public will play a full part in this journey.

Over the year ahead, Labours members and politicians will travel throughout the country asking, discussing, debating these questions with the public. In parallel, members of our Shadow Cabinet will establish working groups on key issues and work hard to make sure we understand important perspectives, from how crime hurts its victims, to how you grow a world-leading business, to whats it is like to be a military family with relatives fighting in Afghanistan. We want to learn from business groups, academia and thought-leaders across Britain. We want to learn from the best of other countries. People will be able to talk things over with our ordinary members, MPs, our Shadow Cabinet and the Leader of our party. Or people can send us thoughts through our website. This first phase of work will last until summer 2011. Following its close, our conversations and debates will help us shape a document summarising what we have heard about what Britain sees as its aspirations and challenges for the years ahead. This will serve as the foundation for the more detailed development of our ideas. This document will be produced for Annual Conference 2011. Working with the Partnership into Power process Policy in the Labour Party is made via our Partnership into Power (PiP) process. This consultation process is designed to inform the next cycle of formal policy making The NPF will use this opportunity to hear the priorities of the public prior to beginning their formal process of producing policy documents.

Our policy commissions will reflect on everything that we receive to help make sure that PiP structures are fully engaged. These submissions will then help inform the commissions when determining their priorities for the years ahead. Commissions and the NPF could use these to help set work programmes to decide which issues they should look at in further detail.

NPF Report 2010

NPF Report 2010

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New politics, fresh ideas

New politics, fresh ideas

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Renewing and reforming our economy

How do we strengthen our families, communities and relationships?

Labour believes life is better in communities and families where relationships are strong. Quite simply, our party is founded on a simple belief: together we achieve more than we achieve alone. But family and community life doesnt stand still. The modern world gives each of us the chance to develop and grow in new ways. To build new relationships, connections and networks far beyond the immediacy of the street in which we live or the place we work. Yet, the changing nature of work and the way we live today can put new pressures on family life. Our age-old desire to live in strong families and communities remains as powerful as ever. That means every generation has to rise to the challenge of building strong communities in the world around us. Society is different to government. But society is also different to the market. Society is where we come together around the things that we have got in common, to collaborate, to share things, and so live a richer, more fulfilling life. Labour was proud of the way we helped build stronger communities in Britain, and acted to support families. We were clear that safer streets were the basic foundation. Thats why we recruited more police, gave them new laws to tackle anti-social behaviour, and were proud crime fell by over a third. We built millions more homes for people. And we regenerated towns and cities that had fallen into decline. Local public services like neighbourhood police teams, Sure Starts, rebuilt schools started to become hubs for local life. And the charitable sector grew as we supported their vital work. Lots of new services and rights were introduced for families; from childcare, to the right to flexible work, maternity and paternity leave and family tax credits. But family and community life is constantly changing. Evolving patterns of work can squeeze family time. There are new influences that weigh on our children. For some communities, the pace of change through migration was felt too quick. Crime and anti-social behaviour can never be low enough. And at times, the government seemed to try and do too much. Yet very rapid cut-backs to police and prisons threaten crime that may go up. Fast cuts to public spending that are too big and too quick might force community facilities and charities to go to the wall, and increase the stress on family life, especially if unemployment stays high. We have to ask how do we shape a good society through stronger relationships and responsibilty. How do we better look out for each other and look after each other? The question for the future is how do we strike the best new balance of life? As the modern world changes at an ever faster pace, we cannot simply go back to a country that is long past. The question is how we inventively renew our sense of community and act to support family life so that our society becomes ever stronger. What changes are the Government making that you feel will damage our communities and family life? What is the Government doing right? When it comes to creating stronger communities, stronger families and stronger relationships, what do you think are the most important long-term challenges for; Your family? Our neighbourhood? Our country? What should be Labours priorities for action? How does Labour re-earn your trust on building a stronger society and stronger families and communities?

Labours approach to the economy has always been framed by our ambition for fairness and opportunity for all. We believe in a fair market where we encourage wealth creation, work and prosperity, which gives everyone the chance to succeed and which helps create a stronger, better Britain. Labour is proud of our track-record growing the British economy, keeping mortgage rates low, creating millions of jobs and seeing average wages rise year after year. Indeed, wealth per head grew faster in the UK than in any other country in the G20 between 1997 and 2009. We focused hard on getting people into work, and making sure that work paid. Ideas like the minimum wage helped millions of lower paid workers get a pay rise. We reformed our public services so more people had the skills and health to succeed. Britain became a fairer place to live. Over the last two years, the world has faced the greatest recession since the 1930s. Labour chose not to let the recession run its course but to intervene to stop. Banks collapsing, to protect savers and to help businesses keep people on and help families with their mortgage payments so they didnt lose their homes. Crucially, Labour had the flexibility and credit - to be able to act because we paid down the national debt when our economy was growing. The action we took stopped recession turning into depression. We were able to save peoples bank accounts. And we helped keep millions of people in their homes and jobs, unlike in recessions of the past. But we didnt get everything right and we know the challenges of the future will be different. There are big lessons to be learned from our time in government. It is clear that our national tax base relied too much on sectors at risk in a downturn, such as housing and financial services. Consumer and

business debt grew too quickly. This suggests action is needed to create a better balanced economy and boost traditional strengths like advanced manufacturing as well as driving the new green economy. As new markets in Asia and Latin America grow faster than traditional markets like Europe and America, we need to be ready with exports to sell. We have to learn from - and act on - the lessons from the financial crisis. We know that even when our economy was growing, not everyone was getting a pay-rise. Indeed millions of people were feeling the squeeze as pay packets didnt get bigger over the last few years but the monthly bills did. This means we need to look again at how national growth brings prosperity for all. We have to be that party that not only renews economic security but aspiration for working people. That means sharing national prosperity so living standards rise. And we have to think afresh about public spending. It would never have been possible to continue to grow public spending at the pace needed when we were fixing our public services. Nor did we plan to. But cutting back as sharply as the Government proposes risks putting a million people out of work. So new rules are needed to target public investment wisely while keeping a tight grip on the public purse. Questions for consideration What changes are the Government making that you feel will damage our economy and jobs? What is the Government doing right? When it comes to the economy and jobs, what do you think are the most important long-term challenges for; Your family? Our community? Our country? What should be Labours priorities for action? How does Labour re-earn your trust on building a stronger economy, with new jobs for the future?

NPF Report 2010

NPF Report 2010

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New politics, fresh ideas

New politics, fresh ideas

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How do we put power in peoples hands, from our politics to our public services?
Labour have always been the constitutional reformers. And we passionately believe in the value of our public services. Throughout our history we have striven to put power in the hands of people. We believe that world class public services help people achieve much more in life. Widening access to power is as important as widening access to prosperity and opportunity. Labour worked hard to change the way politics and public services were run. We delivered the most radical reform of the British constitution for three hundred years. We created parliaments in Scotland and Wales so decisions were taken closer to where people lived. We created a directly elected mayor for London. We started reform of the House of Lords so that people couldnt vote on laws just because they were born into certain families. We started to introduce new personal rights to high standards of public service backed by a right of redress if you were not satisfied. New laws like Freedom of Information gave you the right to know what was done and discussed in your name. But most people feel the changes did not go far enough and that further radical reform is still needed. Decisions still feel as if they were being taken too far away. On the decisions that really mattered, many did not feel they were allowed either enough control, or enough influence. People want real power and influence over their lives and the public servants and politicians who serve us. There are lots of new opportunities and new technology to help us find out about how well our public services are run; how public money is spent, and what decisions are being made on our behalf. There is far more of an appetite for a day to day say in the public institutions of our country. Yet many of us feel that politics has not kept pace. Decisions seem to be taken in a way that is distant and removed from us. Disillusionment has grown, both with our politicians and with the system. A system which can seem selfish, as if it looks after itself rather than us. Peoples ambition for change is not being met by the new government. It has has cancelled many of our rights to good standards of public services in policing, education and health. There is the promise of a vote in a referendum to change our voting system and elect city mayors but the Governments plans would see Parliamentary boundaries torn up while shutting out debate and ignoring age-old local identities. We believe in something better. We believe governments should put real power over the public services we pay for and our politicians, much more firmly in peoples hands, so that people have far more influence and control over the services and public servants who work on their behalf. What changes are the Government making that you feel will take power away from you? What is the Government doing right? When it comes to creating giving you more power and influence over decisions that matter to you, what do you think are the most important long-term challenges for; Your family? Our neighbourhood? Our country? What should be Labours priorities for action? How does Labour re-earn your trust on renewing politics in Britain?

How do we secure our country and contribute to a better world?

Labour has always been the party that believes Britain should play an active role on the world stage. We are internationalists. Just as we believe that each of us can do more in a strong community, so we believe that Britain can achieve more as a member of a strong community of nations. We firmly believe we have a responsibility to help the poorest around the world. That is why weve always worked so hard to promote international alliances, as we did for the global economy, to fight climate change, to work for international security and to reduce global poverty, especially in Africa. Today, the world is changing quickly. New nations are on the rise. Countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China are already among the worlds largest economies. The links between nations of trade and technology and international travel are growing closer and closer all the time. Ideas move around the world faster and faster. But so do investment, innovations, people and problems. These new connections present gigantic opportunities for Britain. But they can pose new threats and challenges. We have made real progress in building a safer, fairer world. But the threats that face Britain are still all too real: international terrorism, organised crime, climate change, natural disasters and the possible collapse of fragile states. Larger challenges confront the international community; a fragile global economy; the pressures of population growth; inequality;global migration. The longer these challenges go unanswered the higher the price of failure. Britain needs a coherent foreign and security policy fit to tackle new and existing threats, shaping the world around us. Britain needs a well funded, 21st Century Armed Forces, a development policy focused on spreading prosperity and stability and a foreign policy based on our values and our national interest. The men and women of our Services and those who represent Britain abroad are the finest our country has to offer. These men and women must always be properly valued and rewarded. Britain has succeeded for centuries as a nation that is one of the worlds great hubs. Isolation from the world would not profit us. It would cut us off from the future. Our future success demands an internationalism that protects our citizens at home and creates a better world abroad. What changes are the Government making that you feel will limit Britains influence and opportunities in the world? What is the Government doing right? When it comes to boosting Britains influence and impact on the world around us what do you think are the most important challenges for; Your family? Our neighbourhood? Our country? What should be Labours priorities for action? How does Labour re-earn your trust on making our role in the world work for you?

NPF Report 2010

NPF Report 2010

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New politics, fresh ideas

Notes

NPF Report 2010

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