Guest Post: My Manifesto Idea

March 18th, 2010

Sam Cullen is a Young Fabian member and as part of our ‘My Ideas for the Manifesto’ week we’re publishing Sam’s 100 word pitch to  Ed Miliband on what he thinks should be in Labour’s 2010 Manifesto.

The introduction of a National Railcard to allow discounts on rail travel across the UK. At present, once you turn 26, you can only get a Network Railcard which doesn’t have a national remit, only covers London and the South East.

The introduction of a national railcard could further encourage people to switch to more environmentally friendly transport and also stimulate domestic tourism due to discounts that would be available travelling to destinations such as York, Manchester and Liverpool. Putting pressure on Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) to introduce the scheme would once again highlight Labour’s commitment to public transport and promoting sustainable travel.

What do you think…?

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GUEST POST: It’s up to young people to make Labour more representative

March 18th, 2010

Christine Quigley is a Young Fabian member. She is Chair of London Young Labour and sits on the Compass Youth Organising Committee. In this guest post, she argues that Labour needs to work harder to properly reflect the people it represents.

Being young and interested in politics often puts you at a disadvantage. Older party members can sometimes totally fail to take you seriously, thinking that since you didn’t live through the dark days 1980s opposition, that you couldn’t possibly have an opinion worth holding. Your apolitical friends are likely to regard your political activities as a slightly suspect and murky habit. It’s difficult for many young people to walk into their first CLP meetings, often knowing nobody and out of the loop on internal politics. It’s one of the reasons for the existence of organisations like the Young Fabians and Young Labour, which provide a space where young activists can meet other like-minded people and receive support to develop their political activities.

What we don’t think about enough is the question of intersectionality, or multiple disadvantage. It’s hard enough to get involved in politics sometimes as a young, white, middle-class man – what about people who are young and black? Or young and a woman? Or young and with a disability?

Within the youth movement, we’ve been working hard to make our activities more inclusive. From the end of this year, the London Young Labour executive will be 50% female, after voting to introduce quotas at last year’s AGM. Our Liberation Evening last month brought together the women’s, LGBT, black and minority ethnic and disabilities caucuses together to discuss how we reach out to young people in these groups, who remain underrepresented in political organisations, as in many facets of public life. And we’re trying to make sure that the events and activities we run are as inclusive as possible; holding more social events in venues other than pubs makes it easier for Muslim colleagues (and under-18s) to get involved, while following guidance on venue accessibility allows young people with disabilities to come along to events they might otherwise be prevented from participating in.

But it’s not enough to try to encourage young people from minority groups already inside the Labour movement to get more involved. We need to be reaching out to the huge numbers of young people who mobilise, organise and campaign on issues without ever considering themselves party political. Taking our activities out of Westminster and into local youth groups, schools and universities and community organisations is the only way that we can encourage more people from different backgrounds into the Labour Party. Compass Youth’s recent Creative Campaigns Camp in East London is a case in point – it brought together young people of all backgrounds to talk about youth unemployment, engaging people who with direct experience of unemployment as well as those campaigining to end it.

Let’s face it – the current Labour front bench doesn’t look like the rest of the country. It’s up to us as younger people to ensure that it becomes more reflective of the diverse, vibrant, multicultural society that is Britain. Our party needs representatives who are women, who are working-class, who are BME and LGBT and disabled, because we need people in power with direct experience of disadvantage fighting for our rights.

Posted by Guest Post in Equalities, Equalities Month | No Comments »

What happens when Manchester Young Fabians get together…

March 17th, 2010

What did you do this weekend? Well the Young Fabians did something people don’t usually expect. We had an event outside of London.

I know, you’re shocked!

In fact our Manchester members said that they wanted to organize an event and we agreed to help, so a number of Exec members jumped at the chance go to Manchester for the day. Thanks goes to@sambaconsam whose brainchild it was. Thankfully the Greater Manchester Fabian Society were having their annual conference, so there was a perfect excuse to organize a social after all the serious policy debate!

It was good to see Young Fabians and young people in general being an active part of the debate. One of the main points that was hammered home at the conference was that to win a General Election Labour needs to show off its core values not just in its policy making but in its campaigning too. This is especially important given that there is going to be a whole generation of new voters who don’t see Britain today as a product Thatcher/Major but of Blair/Brown, they need a persuasive reason for picking Labour on May 6th.

In fact the need to go out and engage with voters old and new was a reoccurring theme. Dan Whittle (a former YF exec member) was compelling in setting out the lessons that need to be learned from Obama campaign, in particular the importance of engaging in dialogue with voters. (As Young Fabians who went out to campaign for Obama in 2008 discovered for themselves.)

NB- no fireworks were set off at the Young Fabian event...

Engagement definitely summed up the YF post-conference Manchester social. We were lucky enough to have a real eclectic mix of attendees: YF members, politically interested friends, students and people just curious about the Young Fabians. Again and again people spoke of the importance of finding new ways of getting people involved and staying involved. [Poor James Purnell, people regularly asked him whether he was sad to leave politics, as if being an MP was the apogee of being political and everything else immaterial!]

What was really interesting from our point of view was the number of people interested in politics but not working in politics who came to the event. Too often Westminster can seem like an insiders’ game but there are people who jobs are a million miles away from ‘Politics’ and yet have a genuine interest in the issue we talk about.

We even managed to entice a couple of floating voters to join us! Listening to them talk about what this election will mean for them reiterated the need for Labour to make a persuasive case on why the best choice at the ballot box is with them.

So with Manchester being such a success (look out for Labour conference 2010!) we were left wondering…where’s next?

Sara Ibrahim and Vincenzo Rampulla really enjoyed Saturday’s event as did Shamik Das and Preth Rao who were also there!

If you think there’s a Young Fabian event itching to happen in your area let us know! You can contact vrampulla@youngfabians.org.uk for an initial chat.

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Posted by Vincenzo Rampulla in Young Fabians | No Comments »

GUEST POST: Three cheers for YF Women

March 17th, 2010

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt is the MP for Leicester West and the former Secretary of State for Health. Here she writes about the launch of YF Women.

Last week I was in the Commons to hear Harriet Harman open the (now traditional) International Women’s Debate. She made the point that when our generation started campaigning for women’s rights in the 1970s, we were regarded as some kind of fringe group of politically correct lefties. Today, all those issues we campaigned on – equal pay and sex discrimination laws, paid maternity leave, childcare and flexible working, domestic and sexual violence – are part of the mainstream political agenda. And a new survey commissioned by the Equalities Unit shows that the majority of people want an end to all-male decision-making.

But the battle isn’t over. With 95 women MPs, Labour is far ahead of the other parties. We have changed the face of Parliament – and we have changed the agenda. Ann Cryer, for instance, bravely confronted the problem of ‘honour’ killings – something her male Tory predecessor probably never even knew about. But we are still a small minority of the Commons and a long way from a Parliament where every part of the community can see themselves represented.

My daughter’s generation would be horrified if anyone suggested that a married woman’s income should be taxed as if it belonged to her husband. But that’s what used to happen – and it only changed because women made it change. So three cheers for the launch of YF Women. You are in the long line of women’s struggles, from Mary Wollstonecraft onwards … and your daughters and grand-daughters will thank you for it.

  • Note: Come and celebrate the launch of YF Women with a drinks reception this Thursday, 18th March from 7 p.m. in the Atlee Suite in Portcullis House. Click here for more information.

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    Posted by Guest Post in Equalities, Equalities Month, Young Fabians | No Comments »

    Equalities – trouble at the top?

    March 16th, 2010

    Today’s press has been bad for Trevor Phillips.

    He’s had a select committee calling him names in the playground and now the school bullies have been quick to run over and have a go too.

    But the problems Mr Phillips is accused of causing at the Equality and Human Rights Commission are not helpful for a Labour Government which is placing equality at the top of the political agenda.

    Harriet Harman is the first ever Secretary of State for Equality and her little empire of Government Equalities Office is pushing forward new thinking across Government on issues such as rape, LGBT rights, women in the labour market, and the Government’ flagship legislation – the Equalities Bill.

    Is Trevor Phillips negative press now damaging the profile of equality as an important political issue, and is the debate around equality really helped by the constant focus on one man?

    As part of our Equalities Month events, the Young Fabians are meeting tonight to discuss – What next for equalities?

    We’ll be joined by Harriet Harman’s PPS Nia Griffith MP, and Tulip Siddiq from Young Labour.

    Click here for more event details.

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    Posted by David Chaplin in Equalities, Equalities Month | No Comments »

    It’s the Manifesto Stupid!

    March 16th, 2010

    According to the press it’s a tough week for Ed Miliband as Labour’s manifesto coordinator. Yesterday’s Times said that Alistair Darling’s tight purse strings are hampering Ed’s efforts to write a bold manifesto, and other papers have been less kind to Ed suggesting he has been asked to work magic on the Party’s fortunes.

    So we’ve decided to cheer Ed up a bit and send him the best Young Fabian ideas for the manifesto.

    The Young Fabians are offering all our members the chance to send their manifesto ideas to Ed this week through our blog. If you have a bold policy suggestion which you think deserves to make it into Labour’s 2010 election manifesto then email your 100 word idea to me, David Chaplin, on dchaplin@youngfabians.org.uk or register as a YF Blogger on this page and post it yourself.

    All your manifesto ideas will be posted onto our Blog, and at the end of the week a panel of judges including Jess Asato from Progress, and Sunder Katwala from the Fabian Society will choose the best manifesto idea to be sent onto Ed Miliband.

    Get thinking and get blogging!


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    Posted by David Chaplin in Policy Development | 1 Comment »

    GUEST POST: Say no to Heathrow

    March 13th, 2010

    Kieran Roberts is a Young Fabian member and Co-Campaigns Officer for Young Labour Northwest. Here he argues that the proposed expansion of Heathrow should be opposed.

    On balance, I’m firmly supportive of Labour. It’s the party that have made the most progress environmentally and due to Labour, Britain led in aiming for a fair deal at Copenhagen. The policy on Heathrow however makes me ashamed.

    One of the obvious arguments against Heathrow is the gridlock it would bring to reaching emission targets. Although air travel pollution currently accounts for a fraction of what other forms of transport do, particularly the car, it is far more polluting in itself. Mile for mile, planes emit over 6 times more carbon than cars and by 2050, if expansion continues as predicted, air travel will account for over 50% of Britain’s emissions.

    This is even more damning when we consider Bruce Duguid, head of investor engagement at the Carbon Trust’s remarks:

    “The growth of aviation might have to be stopped once it reaches a 25% share of the UK carbon market because there will not be enough carbon permits in the trading scheme for other industries.”

    Labour have pledged themselves to reducing emissions and ensuring aviation’s carbon dioxide emissions are 2005 levels by 2050. If these are serious targets, it renders expanding Heathrow devoid of any logic and hollows out the principal behind building a greener Britain.

    The government argues that Heathrow is crucial to the economy’s competitiveness. Airport expansion is vital for the long term health of the economy and if Heathrow is crowded, business leaders will move elsewhere to countries with larger, less crowded airports. Really? Regarding the latter point, a poll by Continental research revealed only 4% of ‘business leaders’ thought Heathrow expansion would benefit their business.

    The argument of air travel’s contribution to the economy is also flawed. Heathrow expansion it is estimated would bring £850 million to the economy by 2020. I don’t dispute the benefits of that. However when we look at this nationally, all regions other than London run a great financial deficit from aviation. With the predicted swelling of airports, the total cost of aviation by 2020 will be a loss of £30,500 million.

    The case for long term economic growth looks increasingly insubstantial. As far as Labour is concerned, the problem doesn’t stop there. Labour is the only one of the three major parties to support Heathrow expansion. I can’t vouch for the Conservatives stance tomorrow but, for now, that’s how it stands.

    The justified opposition to the expansion in west London where Labour currently holds 44 seats could cause a major problem. Some of the west London Labour seats have majorities of just 484 and 184 and a poll by Greenpeace shows a quarter of voters in the area less likely to vote Labour due to Heathrow expansion may spell defeat in west London.

    All these points I think show Heathrow expansion to be a costly mistake but there is one element, above all, that proves Heathrow should not have a third terminal. The village of Sipson will be demolished. Home to thousands, communities, schools and livelihoods will be literally destroyed to make way for big business and bigger pollution.

    It’s not right, it’s not fair, it’s not Labour. Say no to Heathrow.

  • Do you agree with Kieran? Share your views by leaving a comment.

    • Posted by Guest Post in Environment, Guest Post | No Comments »

    There’s no substitute for policy thinking and campaigning

    March 12th, 2010

    As we move closer to election day and the polls begin to tighten one thing is increasingly clear. There is no substitute for good policy thinking. You can spend money on billboards, pollsters, glossy leaflets and even gimmicks, but if you haven’t done the graft and got the ideas and arguments together, you run the risk of the press tearing you apart quicker than voters put the leaflets in the shred pile.

    As Labour begins to put the detail on top of the core narrative of securing the recovery, protecting frontline services and building the new industries of the future, we are already starting to see a Tory party run fast out of ideas as well as direction.

    For Young Fabians, sometimes unfairly derided as being a little shy to campaign on the ground, this is a time to step in and do some scrutiny of the Tory parties policy and detail. That’s why we’re re launching, Young Fabian Policy News and have included a brand new feature ‘Opposition Policy Watch’ to look at some of the thinking coming from the Tory right and put it to the test.

    If you’d like to contribute to future editions of Young Fabian Policy News please get in touch and if you’d like to receive further information from the Young Fabians, you only need to join.

    The press are right to say that this election will be a big choice, a big battle of competing ideas and visions. I think Labour has done the thinking and the graft in policy terms, I don’t think that the Tories have and it’s up to all of us to expose that.

    But whilst it is true to say that Labour is winning the battle of ideas, we must also win the argument on the doorstep. There is no substitute for hard graft and thinking in the policy sphere, but there is also no substitute for knocking on doors and speaking to voters to communicate those ideas and I know that Young Fabians across the country will be helping Labour campaign on the ground as well as win the battle of ideas.

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    Posted by Brian Duggan in Conservatives, Policy Development, Young Fabians | No Comments »

    GUEST POST: London, bloody London

    March 11th, 2010

    Sam Bacon is a Young Fabian member and has helped organise the Young Fabian social which will take place in Spirit bar in Manchester after this year’s Greater Manchester Fabian Society Conference on Saturday. In this guest post, he writes about his frustration at London-centric events.

    When I was younger, I LOVED Blue Peter. I mean really. What better to my childish sensibilities then DIY toys and projects, animals, exotic travel and Christmas and holiday specials, all wrapped up with an awesome theme tune and presenters that I either wanted to befriend or have my first kiss with (when I was old enough to understand what that was).

    But there was always one bit of the show I completely dreaded. Every time they had a feature on some new museum exhibition opening, or some games expo with the toys of the future they would always end the piece with the same line to camera ‘and that exhibition opens this weekend in London’.

    London, bloody London. As a boy growing up in the north of England, unless you were also from as parochial a town as I, (Preston – home of the mighty PNE!) you can not understand how angry and frustrated this made me. ALL the coolest stuff happened in London. It had every band, every gallery, every exhibition, every free event etc etc etc. And there was just no way for me to access it, stuck as I was in my little northern town.

    So cut to now, I’m a grown man in a professional job, and appropriately enough I no longer watch Blue Peter. However, working and being active in Politics, I still find myself having similar sentiments to that I had when I was a child; why is everything scheduled to take place in London? Though I have felt this particularly strongly, through talking to other YF members, potential members, and perhaps most importantly ex-members, I know that I’m not the only one.

    I now live in Manchester, and proud I am of it. We have an enormous amount of interesting and cutting edge things going on. But the point remains that almost all political activity is in London. All events, talks, conferences revolve around the Westminster bubble, in US terms, our very own ‘beltway’. But unlike myself as a child, I now have the ability to do something about this.

    At the Fabian National Conference in January, I challenged the Young Fabian executive as to why they didn’t do more outside of London. I wanted to know why, as a fully paid up member of the Young Fabians, I couldn’t attend events without travelling the length of the country.

    To their credit, the Exec responded to this challenge overwhelmingly positively. When I suggested that they might want to consider doing something to coincide with the Greater Manchester Fabian Society Conference which is happening this Saturday, March 13th, they immediately said yes and asked if I would help arrange something. And it’s been my pleasure to do so.

    So at 3:30pm-5pm immediately after the Greater Manchester Fabian Society Conference, there will be a Young Fabian Social in Spirit bar on Canal Street in Manchester. And i’d love to see you there!

    If you live outside of London, this is your chance to show that demand does exist for events in other areas, and your chance to come and shape what format they could take. We will have a number of Young Fabian exec members there and will be having an informal chat about what YF activity outside the SE might look like. It promises to be a fun and interesting event, and the more people we have there the better it will be.

    So I can’t wait for Saturday, and the first tentative steps of national, and not just South East, Young Fabian events.

    (note: Blue Peter badge wearers will get a free drink from me….)

    Posted by Guest Post in Events, Guest Post, Young Fabians | 1 Comment »

    Even after the “change” election, Parliament will remain unrepresentative

    March 11th, 2010

    YF-Equalities-Month-banner

    Though much has been made of the lack of female MPs – which, despite being significantly higher now (126) than when Labour took office (60) is still 200 short of 50 per cent of the Commons – the lack of ethnic minority MPs and candidates has often been overlooked.

    There are currently only 15 ethnic minority MPs, 13 Labour and two Conservative; 13 male and only two female; no female Asian MPs; and no Liberal Democrat non-white MPs.

    Breakdown-of-MPs-by-gender-and-race

    That number is expected to rise following the election, albeit slightly. After polling day, a report on Tuesday’s Daily Politics revealed, there could be double the current figure.

    If the result is the same as in 2005, the DP calculated there would be 30 ethnic minority MPs – 21 Labour, eight Conservative and one Respect.

    However, if there was a 6.9 per cent swing to the Conservatives – the swing required for a bare majority – there would be 23 ethnic minority MPs, 13 Labour, nine Tory, one Respect and once again no Lib Dems.

    Watch the clip on YouTube:


    So keep an eye out for the likes of Rushanara Ali, PPC for Bethnal Green and Bow, and Streatham candidate Chuka Umunna, two of Insight PA’s “Parliamentary Candidates to Watch”, two of a slightly-less-small number of non-white MPs, and in the case of Rushanara, potentially Britain’s first female Asian MP.

    Sources:

    • Social background of MPs, House of Commons Library, November 2005

    • Ethnic Minorities in Politics, Government and Public Life, House of Commons Library, November 2008

    • Frequently Asked Questions: MPs, House of Commons, February 2010

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

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