Healey says Young Fabians ‘Labour’s future’

March 10th, 2010

Our new members’ reception last night followed some work at Labour HQ ringing first time voters ahead of the – now very near – general election.

Guest speaker was Rt Hon John Healey MP, Cabinet minister for housing and planning. After taking his turn trying to sell fundraising raffle tickets, Healey highlighted the Young Fabians’ span of appeal and the ‘fresh energy’ we bring with our ‘combination of organisation and ideology’.

His view that it’s not what Labour has done but ‘why we’ve done it’ that matters is sound. So we’re about more than just managing Britain through global recession: we’re about a focus on people – their lives, their jobs, their homes, and their families. Which is how, despite a deeper recession, we’ve seen half the business failures experienced in the previous recession during the last Tory government.

He ended with a question, perhaps a challenge. It came from a constituent of his in a supermarket in his south Yorkshire seat: “Mr Healey, Mr Healey – what are you doing to keep the Tories out?”

This is about taking responsibility and doing something. We win the trust, respect and support of people by – as Healey said – combining our ideas and our action. Labour can play to the strengths of its leadership here. It’s not polished presentation that is craved but it is principled action that people see missing elsewhere. As one first time voter, a 20-year-old female studying an FE course, told me on the phone tonight, “Get off my telly, Cameron – why as an MP aren’t you doing something for the country?”

Listen to a podcast of John Healey’s speech plus comments from Young Fabian members at tonight’s reception here.

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Posted by Adrian Prandle in Young Fabians | No Comments »

Women still earn 20% less than men

March 8th, 2010


An OECD study, published today to mark International Women’s Day, reveals that, globally, women are paid almost a fifth less than men, with the gender pay gap varying greatly, from a 30 per cent gap in Japan and Korea to a a 10 per cent gap in Belgium and New Zealand; in Britain, the figure is closer to the 20 per cent average.

Gender-pay-gap

Today’s OECD report also reveals 62 per cent of women in paid work, with a quarter of all women working part time compared to just 6 per cent for men. Women spend more time doing unpaid work and “spend at least twice as much time on caring than men”, adds the report, with the number of children in a household one of the biggest determining factors.

Another point of note was that public spending on childcare and pre-school services in OECD countries was on average only 0.6% of GDP, the amounts again varying sharply, from 0.1% in Greece to 1.3% in Denmark, with Britain once more in line with the average.

Earlier today, the prime minister described the absence of women from the boards of some of Britain’s top companies as “completely unacceptable”, saying it was “wrong” that only a tenth of directors in the UK’s top 100 companies are women.

His remarks come in the wake of recent evidence from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) showing the movement of women into positions of power and influence had reversed or stalled, reports today’s Guardian:

“It [the EHRC] likened women’s progress to a snail’s pace and said it would take a snail 73 years to crawl from Land’s End to John O’Groats and halfway back again before the numbers of women becoming directors of FTSE 100 companies was the same as men.

“The snail would have to cross the length of the Great Wall of China in 212 years before women would be equally represented in parliament.”

This article was originally published on Left Foot Forward

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Posted by Shamik Das in Equalities, Equalities Month | No Comments »

I’m just not a Political-type y’know?

March 8th, 2010


Today is International Women’s Day and its been really interesting to see the debate being generated by the guest editorship of Gaby Hinsliff over at Labourlist. Reading the posts made me think of two questions we need to tackle more seriously:

1) Why aren’t there more women writing online? Gaby says the attraction of guest editing Labourlist was the chance to ”the chance to give new writers and fresh perspectives an airing” and that ”…there are too many women waiting to be invited to blog, where men just pile in.”

If women are not ‘piling in’ then maybe it’s down to the nasty reaction they get when they do take the plunge. Just have a look at some of the comments Stella Creasy’s been left! Those of you who have read the latest edition of Anticipations will have read Jessica Asato talking about exactly the same thing.

Online debate is one place where those parts of society that usually struggle to be heard should be able to find their voice. But changing that won’t happen by chance. What can we do to improve that situation?

2) Actually taking part in political/policy debates is probably harder than we like to admit. I had recently talked to a first-time voter, a 2nd year university student studying Business and French at Durham and right from the start she was at pains to emphasise that “I’m not ‘Political’” and “I know very little about those kinds of things”.

Now people are always saying that, but what shocked me was what she said next:

“I’m really not political, I know it’s really bad to say this but I kinda leave that up to the boys. I don’t feel that I know enough to contribute and they all seem to know what they are talking about.”

Despite this we had a 30mins discussion where it was obvious she did know what she was talking about. In fact it was probably the most intelligent political discussion I had all week! Why should anything be ‘left up to the boys’?

Your average politico?

We need to encourage more women and young people in general to see politics not as a niche activity for all-male social elites or just the ‘geeky’.

We obviously welcome any ideas people want to throw our way.

It is also why we’re encouraging Young Fabians to take part in a first time voters telephone campaigning session tomorrow afternoon at Labour HQ in Victoria. (This is more like telephone research about what first time voters actually care about than canvassing as usual.)

Contact me, Vincenzo Rampulla, for more details at: vrampulla@youngfabians.org.uk

Don’t forget – Young Fabians New Members’ Reception this Tuesday at the Old Star.

You’ll be able to meet other YF members, this year’s Exec and Rt Hon John Healey MP will be joining us to give us his take on why youth engagement in politics is so important. More importantly you’ll be able to find out how you can get more involved in the debates we are going to be having over the coming year.

We will also be raffling a specially signed (probably with one of his clunking fists!) copy of the Fabian’s recently published Solidarity Society and a signed copy of Alastair Campbell’s diaries.

Contact me if you’d like to attend – vrampulla@youngfabians.org.uk

Posted by Vincenzo Rampulla in Equalities, Equalities Month | No Comments »

Let’s give the snail a little boost

March 8th, 2010


On International Women’s day, it is time to celebrate Women’s achievements all over the world. But it is also time to take stock of where we are in our fight for equality.

In the UK alone, only 10% of FTSE 100 companies have a female director; 25 of these companies have no women at all on their board. Out of the 646 Members of Parliament, only 126 are women. And although the Gender Pay Gap has, according to the Office for National Statistics, narrowed between 2008 and 2009, women in full time employment still earn 17.4% less than men.

Yes, we have come a long way since the Viscountess Nancy Astor in 1919 was the first women to take her seat in Parliament. It’s probably no coincidence that the extension of the franchise to women in 1918 preceded this milestone.

I would like to be clear on this: there are a lot of men out there doing fantastic work to support gender equality in the work place. But every major achievement for women has been brought about by other women. To make our voice heard, we need to stand together, fight for each other, with each other. International Women’s day should not only be an occasion to celebrate what we have achieved so far, but should serve as a reminder that we still have a long way to go to achieve equal representation.

The Guardian today quotes a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which likens the progress of women to positions of power to snail’s pace. According to the report, it be take 73 years before the number of women becoming directors of FTSE 100 companies was the same as men. In this time the snail could have crawled from Land’s End to John O’Groats and halfway back again. The snail would have to cross the length of the Great Wall of China, taking 212 years, before women would be equally represented in parliament.

It is time we gave that snail a little push. Launching YF Women on 18th March will be small step – come and join us to make it bigger. It is up to us.

Posted by Marie - Noelle Loewe in Equalities, Equalities Month | No Comments »

Fab 5: Wednesday 3 March 2010

March 3rd, 2010

Your Fab 5 for today:

  • Michael Foot, former Labour leader, has died. Alastair Campbell penned a poignant tribute. The Guardian have published an obituary on their website, as well as a gallery of Foot’s life in pictures.
  • Elsewhere, Jonathan Freedland thinks the BBC are caving in to pressure from Rupert Murdoch, albeit indirectly via Tory media policy
  • Andy Cooke writes for Political Betting on the problems with uniform national swing.

    • Posted by Alex Baker in Fab 5 | No Comments »

    Michael Foot: A reminder of Labour’s idealism

    March 3rd, 2010

    Throughout the day the blogs and Twitter feeds have been inundated with tributes to Michael Foot, the former Labour leader who died today. I found Alistair Campbell’s post particularly poignant. A reminder that despite all the internal battles that Labour has faced, Foot remained committed to the Party’s mission. Foot famously said of Blair in 1995, “No rising hope on the political scene who offered his service to Labour when I happened to be leader can be dismissed as an opportunist.” To quote a tweet posted today, Foot “gave more than we deserved, and got much less than he deserved.”

    The Labour Party has come a long way since Foot’s leadership and the dark depths of Thatcher and 1983. I may have disagreed with Foot on policy. But I stand firmly in his camp when it comes to the purpose of politics. Tories may reduce politics to cynicism and pragmatism. For Labour it must always be about ideology, values and mission. Even in our darkest days we never gave up on that. As Gordon Brown said of Foot today, “[he] was a man of deep principle and great idealism.” That is what we all aspire to in the Labour movement.

    So what can we learn from Michael Foot? In many ways British politics has changed irrevocably since his day. The stark left/ right divide that characterised the 1980s has been replaced by a cross-party scramble for the centre ground. But when you scratch beneath the surface the differences between left and right remain clear to see. Today is not the day for electioneering. However, Foot’s death serves as a pertinent reminder of what we’re fighting for at the next election.

    A rich Labour tradition.

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    Posted by James Green in PPC diary, Uncategorized | No Comments »

    The fight is not over: 50 years of fighting for equality and still more to do

    March 3rd, 2010

    It is fitting that in the year the Young Fabians celebrates its 50th anniversary, that we hold our first ever ‘Equalities Month’. Issues of equality have been of prime concern to Fabians, young and ‘older’, throughout the society’s history; as seen in the Fabian Equality Project and reflected in the 2010 Young Fabian members survey, where equalities policy was amongst the top five interests of today’s young thinkers on the left.

    Numerous legislative changes and cultural shifts, have taken place in the last 50 years which have moved towards (though not realised) an equalisation of experiences of life in Britain. I want to look all the way back though to two events in 1960 – the year the Young Fabians were founded – with impact both sides of the Atlantic, and indeed around the world.

    1960 brought the death of tireless activist, Sylvia Pankhurst. The Pankhurst family (Fabianism was part of their DNA too, you know), as leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, had international reach and their determination and work is felt today, and will be forever. Whilst women are free to participate in the electoral process, we still see a deficit in involvement in political, business and civic leadership. In crude numbers, we’re talking 32% of board seats on public bodies occupied by women, just 12% on FTSE 100 boards, and 20% of seats in the Commons and Lords. (The only parliamentary figure vaguely representative is the 47% of the Welsh Assembly that are female.) Whilst these figures must change, we shouldn’t dismiss improvement – which has happened, and is happening, as a result of action by the Labour Party and this Labour Government.

    Fifty years ago, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird was first published. Ahead of civil rights legislation in the United States, the story took as its main theme racial inequality and injustice. It has been a focus of classroom study from the early 60s to the present day and in 2006 Britain’s librarians named it as the one book everyone should read. For me, Lee’s skill in using a child narrator – rather than her lawyer father, Atticus Finch – exposes the simple views and flawed arguments of prejudiced individuals and an unequal society. Despite the election, to increasingly significant positions, of BNP politicians in the last couple of years, Britain has moved on, not least due to the work of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and its predecessor. But we as Young Fabians should take responsibility for preventing BNP ideas further permeating our society.

    So, March 2010 is marked by the Young Fabians as Equalities Month. It is likely to be the last full month of this parliament. A month that will see the launch of Young Fabian Women, a new section of the society aimed at encouraging young women to become active in politics. And royal assent should be given to a single Equality Act.

    We know these issues are important to Young Fabians, the wider labour movement, and Britain as a whole. And we shouldn’t forget – as we approach the general election – the threat that the right poses to the causes fought so passionately and adeptly by the Pankhurst family, Harper Lee, and millions of other campaigners for equality ever since.

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    Posted by Adrian Prandle in Equalities Month, Young Fabians | 2 Comments »

    Fab 5: Tuesday 2 March 2010

    March 3rd, 2010

    Here are your Fab 5 for today:

  • Lord Ashcroft dominates the headlines. Bagehot explains why the Ashcroft affair matters – Cameron. Sunder Katwala at Next Left is a little more direct in his criticism of the Tory party leader.
  • Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor, gets excited about the more detailed agreement for the leadership debates.
  • Will Straw of Left Foot Forward blogs about a poll which suggests the public prefer protecting front-line services over “age of austerity” cuts.
  • And Freethinkingeconomist gets increasingly irritated with proponents of a “Robin Hood Tax” on financial transactions.

    • Posted by Alex Baker in Fab 5 | 1 Comment »

    Politics is about more than promises. But if that’s all you’re offering. My advice is, don’t break them.

    March 2nd, 2010

    Yesterday’s announcement about Lord Ashcroft confirmed my suspicions in more ways than one. That one of the Tories’ chief donors and strategists is a non dom is hardly surprising. For a decade Tory leader after Tory leader has tied himself in knots trying to protect him. Yet the real indictment of the Tories is not simply that they hid this truth from the public. It’s that they placed a man at the heart of their operation who was happy to shortchange the exchequer at the same time as he pumped money into their key marginals. Flashy leaflets took priority over tax for public services. That says as much about Cameron as it does about Ashcroft himself.

    It’s a matter of weeks until the election and David Cameron continues to refuse to put meat on the bones of his plans for the country. His speech to the Tory spring conference yesterday was another example of Cameron’s cynicism. A speech with as much substance as he had notes. He might as well have saved us all the time and simply said, “look at me, I’ve remembered loads!” The first time he did it (according to him that is. He didn’t actually do his 2007 conference speech without notes. They were sitting right in front of him) it was cute. The second time it was just smarmy.

    Across the country the public are getting smart to Cameron’s game. A Comres poll in tomorrow’s Independent shows Tory support falling and Labour as the largest party in Parliament. Local people from across Cheltenham have been swamped by Ashcroft leaflets. The Gloucestershire Echo revealed yesterday that Tory HQ have plowed over £30,000 into the town. But residents know that it takes more than expensive design work to win their support. Politics is about more than promises. But if that is all you’re offering and you refuse to outline concrete plans. My advice is, don’t break them.

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    Posted by James Green in PPC diary | No Comments »

    Make sure you leave on time …

    February 26th, 2010

    Today marks WYPHD – not an obvious abbreviation is it? But it’s one that effects much of the population and many Young Fabian members. Work Your Proper Hours Day is the day when the average person who does unpaid overtime would start to get paid if they did all their unpaid overtime at the start of the year. A whole two months into the year – pretty shocking, eh?

    And that is just the average. The TUC report today that there has been a further increase in the number of Britons doing ‘extreme’ unpaid overtime – that’s more than ten hours a week above contracted hours. Their WYPHD will be not until at least 26th April.

    There’s 3 interesting aspects to this.

    Firstly, speaking from my own experience and that of friends and colleagues, I suspect this affects a large proportion of young people – perhaps trying to impress in their first job after leaving education – and even more so Young Fabian members, a number of whom have jobs that will be stretched to fit the anti-social hours of parliament.

    Secondly, the context of the recession. Whilst more people are working more hours than they are being paid for, unemployment is rising. Could the sum of a team’s additional hours put in actually be enough to create new jobs? Are young school leavers or university graduates struggling in the jobs market suffering more than they need to? It seems that during the recession there have been more temporary contracts being offered where once there may have been permanent jobs – is the nature of such work pressuring young workers to stay in the office longer to secure the prize of permanent employment, foregoing short-term health for long-term security?

    Thirdly, and very importantly, there is a gender divide. The group with highest proportion of people working unpaid overtime, and the highest proportion undertaking extreme overtime, is single women. Level pegging in numbers doing unpaid overtime with single men is the group containing married or cohabiting couples without children. A majority of Young Fabian members who are working will fit into these categories. We can but speculate why it is that women are working more for free. Is it a greater work ethic? Or is it a way to show one’s value in a country still blighted by unfair gender pay gaps?

    The TUC website has some other interesting stats. And the WYPHD site contains an unpaid overtime calculator and some games and novelties worth a quick look (during your lunch break?).

    Plus, eagle-eyed news followers may notice that the long hours advice clinic has been put together by a Professor who has found fame elsewhere this week.

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    Posted by Adrian Prandle in General thoughts | No Comments »

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