LEADING LABOUR The Fabian essays Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall FABIAN SOCIETY p post AB OUT THE FABIAN SOCIETY The Fabian Society is Britain’s oldest political think tank. Since 1884 the society has played a central role in developing political ideas and public policy on the left. It aims to promote greater equality of power and opportunity; the value of collective public action; a vibrant, tolerant and accountable democracy; citizenship, liberty and human rights; sustainable development; and multilateral international co-operation. Through a wide range of publications and events the society influences political and public thinking, but also provides a space for broad and open-minded debate, drawing on an unrivalled external network and its own expert research and analysis. Its programme offers a unique breadth, encompassing national conferences and expert seminars; periodicals, books, reports and digital communications; and commissioned and in-house research and comment. The Society is alone among think tanks in being a democratically-constituted membership organisation, with almost 7,000 members. Over time our membership has included many of the key thinkers on the British left and every Labour prime minister. Today we count over 200 parliamentarians in our number. The voluntary society includes 70 local societies, the Fabian Women’s Network and the Young Fabians, which is itself the leading organisation on the left for young people to debate and influence political ideas. The society was one of the original founders of the Labour party and is constitutionally affiliated to the party. We are however editorially, organisationally and financially independent and work with a wide range of partners from all political persuasions and none. Fabian Society 61 Petty France London SW1H 9EU www.fabians.org.uk Editorial director: Ed Wallis Editorial manager: Lucy Snow First published August 2015 This report, like all publications of the Fabian Society, represents not the collective views of the Society but only the views of the author. This publication may not be reproduced without express permission of the Fabian Society. LEADING LABOUR | 2 A BOUT THE AUTHORS Andy Burnham has been MP for Leigh since 2001. Yvette Cooper has been the MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having previously been the MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. Jeremy Corbyn has been the MP for Islington North since 1983. Liz Kendall has been the MP for Leicester West since 2010. LEADING LABOUR | 3 CONTENT S The question 5 1 Andy Burnham 6 2 Yvette Cooper 10 3 Jeremy Corbyn 14 4. Liz Kendall 17 LEADING LABOUR | 4 The question At crucial moments throughout Labour’s history, the Fabian Society has been the place where the party reflects on its past and debates its future. Now, as Labour seeks to come to terms with its shocking rejection at the polls and elect a new leader, we have asked each of the contenders for the leadership to set out their political visions and offers to the party. The next leader of the Labour party will face a very different political landscape to their predecessors. So many of the old political certainties are no more, and Labour will have to reach out in many different directions to secure a majority government. The long shadow cast by the financial crisis limits the potential for public spending, and faith in the ability of political institutions to tackle complex social problems has collapsed. This new landscape of course brings with it great challenges, but also huge opportunities to practise politics in new and exciting ways. In these essays, all four candidates were tasked with answering the same main question: how can the Labour party thrive in new times and secure its fundamental mission of creating a more equal society? LEADING LABOUR | 5 1 ANDY BURNHAM n the months since our devastating election defeat, Labour has been con- sumed by a round of painful soul-searching. I I spent the early stages of my leadership campaign focusing on the most difficult issues we heard on the doorstep – the deficit, immigration and benefits – because we won’t win until we regain the public’s trust on them. But this doesn’t mean copying the Tories. Far from it. Labour wins when we are better than them. The focus on our weaknesses has given Labour’s leadership campaign a negative feel. The time has come to lift people with a bigger vision. I will confront a straightforward question: in the 21st century, what is Labour for? My answer is simple: to help everyone get on in life. In the first few weeks of the contest, the word ‘aspiration’ dominated the Labour debate. This is because it is widely accepted that our manifesto, while strong on inequality and insecurity, had too little to say to middle income families. But the call for a focus on ‘aspiration’ is controversial as it is seen as a code for a return to the days when Labour focused on families living in certain parts of the country who shop at more upmarket outlets. It is undoubtedly true that Tony Blair had a message that resonated with families in the middle. But it is also true that Ed Miliband succeeded in getting through to people with least. In places, at the last election Labour secured some of the most impressive results it has ever had. The truth is that Labour has developed an unappealing habit in recent years of trying to compartmentalise the public. We have used a ‘mosaic’ marketing system which segments the public and puts patronising labels on them. We have then tried to develop a ‘retail offer’ for each of these groups as if politics was just another branch of our consumer society. This is the thinking that Labour has got to leave behind. We will win when we stop debating which group of voters to focus on and when we speak con- vincingly and passionately to the aspirations of everyone. The fact is that the hopes of people at all levels of society are pretty much the same: a secure job; a decent home; a good standard of living; prospects for their kids; and proper care for their parents. But the reality is that, as the 21st century develops, these dreams are dying for millions. Labour’s mission must be to revive them and that is what my Labour party will be all about: helping everyone get on. This is what I’ve always been about. What brought me into politics in the first place was the sense of injustice I developed on my journey from a Mer- seyside comprehensive to Cambridge university. It brought home to me just how much harder it is for some to make their way in this world than others. Young people who can’t fall back on well-off parents can’t get on in the same way that others can. Access to finance is a major barrier to buying a home or starting a business. The average age of a first-time buyer today LEADING LABOUR | 6 without parental help is 37. You have to be nearly 40 to buy your own home if you aren’t helped by your family. Children from homes in the top income brackets are more than four-and- a-half times more likely to go to a high-ranking university than the average child in the UK. And the options for those not on the university route are still seen as second-class. One of the greatest failures of post-war public policy has been this coun- try’s lack of focus on technical education. Our schools system, and the way it is inspected, is geared towards the academic, university route. Young people who aspire to go on that route have clear goals to aim for and support to get there. But the same cannot be said for young people who aspire to a high- quality technical education. They have been neglected and badly let down by successive parliaments, full of people who went to university and have made that the focus of education policy for the last 50 years. No wonder so many people feel that politics doesn’t speak to them or provide the answers they are looking for. I will change that. I will take Labour out of the ‘Westminster bubble’ and make it the vehicle for the hopes and dreams of ordinary people once again. I will set out how we end the discrimination and inequality that is still inherent in our school system and bring true parity between academic and technical education. The best way to raise standards in schools is to give all children in those schools hope that they have something to aim for at the end of it. And the best way to build a modern economy is to invest properly in our skills base. I will set out plans for a revolution in technical education, giving it all the prestige and support that comes with the university route. This is what I mean by a Labour party which exists to help everyone get on. Aspiration isn’t the preserve of certain voters; it is felt by everyone. But, in this modern and insecure word, the light of hope is going out for far too many. The first budget from a majority Conservative government in 19 years made it even harder for young people to make their way in an already chal- lenging world and raised the prospect of a two-tier workforce dividing young and old. It was a budget that did little for small business, the self-employed, or indeed growth in the overall economy too.