Archived entries for

Sociable and Socialist

We’ve got a fun event coming up next week which is a great chance to socialise with like-minded young people on the left.

For those of you who have always meant to get more involved in the Young Fabians or are curious about what we’re like, it will also be a perfect opportunity to find out about the sort of activities available and the various ways to get involved.

We’ll be doing this in informal surroundings over dinner next Friday 28 October. It’s a relaxed event that we hold each year to celebrate Young Fabian achievements of the past 12 months and help new people get to know fellow members. You can find out more about the Young Fabian Annual Dinner by clicking here.

This year the dinner is taking place in Tas near Waterloo in London. The ticket price covers three courses of Turkish mezze – on top of that, I’m thinking of doing a picture quiz, we’ll definitely hold a prize raffle, plus we will be announcing our guest speaker shortly.

I’m certain you will enjoy the evening and you are encouraged to come with friends who you’d like to introduce to the Young Fabians.

Go to the Young Fabian website to buy your ticket via PayPal. This is the only way to guarantee your place. There is limited space and because of the popularity of this event, we recommend you get your ticket as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Kathi or Richard.

We hope to see you there.

Adrian Prandle is Chair of the Young Fabians

The Promise of Britain? Gauging support for Labour’s Education policy

If the issue is worth talking about, then people will come. At least this proved to be the case for the Young Fabians’ breakfast fringe meeting during Labour Party Conference. The 8am start a couple of days into conference didn’t prevent young people attending in force to discuss the multitude of issues faced by the squeezed youth.

Taking the title of the Young Fabian Policy Commission ‘Securing the future of the next generation’, and looking across a range of short and long term policy areas, the fringe sought to address how Ed Miliband’s Promise of Britain could be realised.

I chaired a panel featuring Joani Reid, Young Fabian member and chair of the aforementioned policy commission, Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith and Shadow Justice Minister, John Woodcock, MP for Barrow & Furness and Shadow Transport Minister, Rosie Cooper from Catch 22, and Fatima Hassan, from our partners ICAEW.

Amongst the themes that emerged from panel and audience discussion were: the need to replace what is looking like a process of managing decline with a positive agenda characterised by hope; an optimism in young people and for young people; the desire to reduce the gaps between young people and the world of work, particularly be exploiting opportunities for collaboration; utilising models for involving young people in strategic decision-making; acknowledging the importance of local government where many services are accessed; and that more of the same is simply not going to cut it – Labour needs to start early in formulating new policy that it can implement as a government after the general election.

And there was also plenty of opposition to the new Labour position on university fees, with puzzled voices unsure why the leadership had nailed its colours to the mast of £6,000 fees, a sum not inconsiderable to most young people and their families.  I don’t have the answer to that one, it seemed somewhat arbitrary to me – though the problem initiated years ago when Labour in government abandoned the principle of education free to the user. It was inevitable then that the argument just becomes about numbers. A shame.

What the policy has in its favour is its simplicity. And answers that are easy to understand and easy for politicians to explain have the potential to serve the party well. But they are not always right, and not always enough. The Young Fabian fringe demonstrated that the problems themselves that young people face are many and complex – but there is a lot of appetite to resolve them.

I look forward to seeing the final outcomes from Joani’s Young Fabian policy commissions – watch this space over the next few weeks.

Adrian Prandle is Chair of the Young Fabians

We’re only as strong as our members

If I had a pound for every time someone said to me “I’ve been meaning to join the Young Fabians but haven’t got round to it”, I’d have enough to buy 1 in 5 of them their membership myself. Yep, that’s right, it’s just £5 to join – a bargain. And now more than ever young people need to get make their voice heard in political circles.

Young voices need to be heard to fight against the terrible deal that the government is inflicting on young people caught between the costs of education rising and there being no jobs – the squeezed youth. And young voices need to be heard at this critical juncture for the Labour Party with a policy review ongoing, and the party structures to be ‘refounded’.

Young Fabian members have had, and will continue to have, opportunity to influence such projects (see our submission to the Refounding Labour consultation and the current YF policy development work).

As I approach the final month and a half of my term as Chair, and move on to standing for the Fabian Society executive committee, it seems a long time ago since I joined the Young Fabians and didn’t actively participate for some time. Eventually I did attend events and somehow got to being as involved as I am now.

I joined because I it seemed silly to recommend others to join an organisation I hadn’t myself. The friend in question was left-minded but didn’t feel comfortable joining Labour. The Young Fabians then seemed the perfect outlet for his left-wing passions and ideas. I still meet members like this today – many go on to join Labour, but many don’t. As a member of the Labour Party myself, I recognise how essential such critical friends are. The Young Fabians is crucial to the wider left movement.

One of the things I am most proud of during my time on the executive and as Chair of the Young Fabians is how much we have become a member-oriented organisation. Central to the work of the volunteers who run the organisation has been a commitment to involving and empowering members. This means new joiners, old members, inactive members and regular event attendees with a range of ways to get involved and an open choice as to whether to simply enjoy reading our pamphlets and magazine, attend events, help organise activity, write for publication, lead projects, or stand for election to the committee. We welcome both those who only have room to do a little, and those keen to do a lot.

I have a couple of years left until I turn 31 and am considered too old. But as I move on from my most active role in the organisation this autumn, I am excited by the new blood and fresh ideas coming into the Young Fabians. If you are not already a member, I’m asking you to join today. If you are a member, you’re invited to take over the organisation and make it what your peers want and need – and please invite your lefty friends to join you.

Today is the last day of our prize draw for new members. You can find out more about the benefits of being a Young Fabian here.

Adrian Prandle is Chair of the Young Fabians.

Middle East Delegation Travellog – Do the answers lie with the youth?

As part of our Middle East delegation 2011 travellog, Young Fabian Chair Adrian Prandle examines the role of young people in the region.

As the Young Fabian Middle East Delegation approaches its final couple of meetings, it is worth reflecting on the role and experience of young people in the region. Over the last five days, the delegation has met with youth representatives from Fateh in Palestine and the Labour Party in Israel, learnt about the (extensive) work of HaNoar HaOved, and interacted with residents of Jaffa at the Arab-Jewish Community Centre to the south of Tel Aviv. It is important to consider their perspective of domestic issues alongside conflict politics.

It’s a relief to report that for the most part there was huge optimism in young activists and amongst those we met. BICOM told us that the recent social protests in Israel have had students at their heart, whilst Nidal Foqahar of the Palestinian Peace Coalition insisted that young people made a difference in the struggle to end the conflict – “taking the lead in developing new realities on the ground.” Social media has been utilised in both countries and apparently Gaza has the highest number of Facebook users per capita in the world. Whilst in Israel the squeezed youth are part of the squeezed middle, often university educated and in employment yet still finding it hard to close the month, in Palestine long-term economic decline has reversed. But youth unemployment remains high and the Office of the Quartet Representative continue their capacity-building work to counter enormous dropout rates and the 1000 classroom shortage in the Palestinian education system.

Having opportunity to talk with users of the Arab-Jewish Community Centre was a welcome opportunity during the trip to try and understand ‘real’ people as well as the activists and high-level meetings that we were fortunate to have through most of the schedule. Living side-by-side in the 5,000 year-old city, the centre helps Muslims, Jews and Christians mix and “understand each other’s narratives”. Despite the commonality of those of Arab descent having to work three jobs to get by (as the financial, social and occupational benefits from serving in the Israeli military were not accessible to them) we encountered just a little frustration and a lot more optimism and pride in working hard and achieving a decent standard of living.

It would be unfair to characterise Fateh Youth by the one voice that dominated our meeting and which others delegates have already posted on – but whilst the radicalism and ideology characteristic of youth politics outside of the UK, may not have been surprising, the unwillingness to empathise with the Israeli situation was disappointing and remains one of the lows of the trip. Not all Fatah Youth colleagues were so dramatic and the ‘older’ politicians we met from their party countered these views with realism, understanding and a desire to find a way through. In contrast, the members of Young Labour in Israel who we went to dinner with last night offered a firm belief in a two state solution on the basis of Israeli compromise. But despite a sense (contrasted elsewhere) that the country is moving to the left, the Labour Party has been waning. We’ll watch the outcome of Monday’s leadership election with interest as to whether rebuilding the party can help rebuild sustainably the two nations’ relations.

A quick word too on HaNoar HaOved – the General Federation of Students and Young Workers in Israel, a fascinating organisation who, like the Fabians, are separate from the Labour Party but historically rooted in the same politics. They are part membership organisation, part think-tank, as well as being the trade union for all young workers in Israel. The latter isn’t that common, and may be something worth exploring in the UK. (I’ve recently written on unions and young people for a Unions 21 publication to be launch at Trade Union Congress this week.) Membership is not just limited to Israeli Jews, HaNoar build relationships in other countries – e.g. Egypt – and educate people of all ages. They see the latter as the solution for both peace and a good society and were keen to emphasise their belief that you can’t really separate socio-economic issues and the conflict.

I look forward to understanding more about what they do and maintaining contact with them post-delegation – it is organisations like this which can make a difference to people’s lives, make a difference to public policy, and thus potentially make a difference to regional conflict and the quest for peace.

‘The people demand social justice’ has been the chant for the recent Israeli protests. If both Israelis and Palestinians can achieve their own social justice as well as understand each other’s domestic pressures, there may just be another critical step towards peace.

Adrian Prandle is a Chair of the Young Fabians and a delegate on the Young Fabian Middle East Trip 2011.

Our submission to Peter Hain’s Refounding Labour consultation – let us know your thoughts

As Labour’s national executive committee is all set to propose a path forward for reform of the Party, and with the announcement of Iain McNicol as Labour’s new general secretary, the Young Fabians today publish our submission to Peter Hain’s consultation on Labour Party reform.

Click here to read the submission.

The Young Fabian submission offers ideas on:

  • New styles of campaigning and organisation
  • Becoming a true national party
  • Improving Labour’s policy-making process
  • Innovations in YF member-led policy development
  • Membership growth – and utilising Labour’s affiliates, like the Fabian Society
  • Developing the highest quality CLPs

Young Fabians have been working on these issues for three years since our delegation to Ohio to campaign for Barack Obama. We published our ‘lessons learnt’ from the ground campaign shortly after our return. Last year we ran a member-led special project group called ‘Transforming our Party’, which built upon young people’s experiences with the Labour Party to develop ideas to revolutionise the way Labour functions.

You can read more about all this work here.

We wish Labour’s NEC well. But this is a responsibility for everyone with a stake in Labour’s – and the country’s future – from parliamentary leadership to brand new Young Fabian members. It is not an easy task, and will require both patience and a willingness to experiment. I for one believe we can do this.

Please let us know your thoughts on our submission, and the consultation more generally by leaving a comment below.

Young Fabians need you – member wanted to lead special project

An exciting opportunity awaits a Young Fabian member in the next few weeks.

There is currently a vacancy on the Young Fabian Executive Committee, and so we are looking to enthusiastic members who would like to get involved in the running of the organisation. Because we are halfway through the year, we’re looking for a shorter commitment than normal – around 5 months. Though of course, the successful candidate would be well-placed to stand for election to the committee for 2012.

We need a new website officer to take responsibility for managing and updating the YF website. But we also think it’s in need of a refresh so would want you to lead a new project with executive committee colleagues to reimagine our web presence and redesign the YF site. It’s a great chance for someone to quickly stamp their mark on the Young Fabians – we are confident the talent is in the membership so we’re hoping you will step forward.

We’ll be running a small-scale co-option for this single place on the executive committee. To put yourself forward, you’ll need to either attend the special co-option meeting on Sunday June 5th, submit a written statement, or – for the first time ever – submit a video presentation of your ideas. For details of what the committee is looking for from a new website officer, see here. And for more information on how the process works click here.

If you have further questions, or want to express your interest, please contact me via email: aprandle[at]youngfabians.org.uk.

Adrian Prandle is Chair of the Young Fabians.

Two pints of Fabiansim and a packet of crisps

It has been an interesting few months for the Fabian Society. Since Ed Miliband’s speech at New Year Conference and Maurice Glasman’s challenging contribution to the Young Fabian lunchtime session at the same event, Blue Labour has entered the Labour thinker’s lexicon for 2011, and often inaccurately set up Fabianism as its polar opposite. The debate continues over on Next Left today.

It was amusing then to see Labour’s leader use an old friend as a shield for questions about his plans for departure from bachelorhood – his stag party “won’t be two Fabian Society lectures and half a pint of beer”. Is Fabianism really the worst thing imaginable in the Westminster bubble and beyond?

If so, perhaps it is time to inject some dynamism into the society?

The second half of the year will see a new general secretary appointed to lead the organisation – and a great opportunity to show Ed Miliband why he needs an active and exciting Fabian Society. Naturally, there is plenty to build on: the leadership of the Fabians will be handed over with record levels of membership; a fantastic body of thinkers and doers in its youth wing (but as Chair of the Young Fabians I would say that wouldn’t I?); some tremendous local groups; and a history of significant interventions. Packed out events like this weekend’s Progressive Fightback conference (final few tickets here) show that the wider left wants the sort of discussion and debate that the Fabians facilitate. This is an organisation with a lot of potential for someone to take on.

So what’s the dynamism needed then?

The two things I took on board most strongly from the delegation I led to the Obama campaign in 2008 were the importance of people, and the holy grail of strategy. These principles make a good start.

The Fabian Society holds a unique position as both a think tank and membership organisation with democracy at its heart. The membership is a strength. The society can grow in size and influence by capitalising on its members talents. A small, hardworking staff with smaller than desired budgets could be supported by the people who sign up year after year and call themselves Fabians. These people are already contributing to the Fabian Women’s Network, numerous local societies, and of course the Young Fabians – but I’m sure even more members have even more to offer if empowered to contribute. Be it to greater policy debate as the critical friend of Labour, or having those difficult conversations the party steers clear of. Be it with abilities from their professional lives, as web designers, writers, industry experts, and fundraisers. Or be it liaising with local Labour parties and progressive campaigns. We should seek to grow the membership in numbers, but grow them also as individuals, developing their contribution to the movement.

The new leader of the Fabians will have new ideas. But they must bring the people on the journey with them. How? Tell them what you’re trying to achieve and facilitate their involvement in it. Get your strategy right, and stick to it. (David Plouffe’s The Audacity to Win is the key read here.) The Young Fabian executive committee has four strategic priorities (to increase membership, member involvement, funds and influence). This is public. The difficult decisions we make as a voluntary executive are taken through this gauge. And members are helping us – the Membership Ambassadors identified and supported by my colleague Anna-Joy Rickard, for example.

If the Fabian goal is to provide Ed with the ideas he needs to win a general election and improve the lives being damaged by this government’s actions, then a strategy in place to achieve that will be a crucial part of the new general secretary’s role. If the membership is contributing its maximum to this, I have every reason to think we can be successful.

If not, there’s always a night in with Ed and Justine …

Adrian Prandle is Chair of the Young Fabians.

The New Generation: how do we make the economy work for everyone, home and abroad?

Margaret Dantas Araujo, member of the Livelihoods and Resource Security Young Fabian Policy Development Group, uses the comprehensive spending review as a lens to look at arguments made in the just published Young Fabian pamphlet, The New Generation. We are very keen to hear what you think of the pamphlet – please let us know your thoughts by posting a comment. This is the fourth in a series of posts on ‘The New Generation’, which you can read by clicking here.

The ring-fencing of UK aid in the spending review is right and in the country’s interest. Right because even during these austere times we have a moral duty to help the world’s poorest people and in our interest because it plays an important role in making the world a more stable and prosperous place.

But that’s only half the story. The coalition has proposed a significant shift of focus in the aid budget towards failing and conflict-affected states. This approach risks ignoring the fundamental dilemmas of resource scarcity that underlie the real development challenges of the coming decade: the carbon intensive growth that underpins current development gains, the high inequalities present in many middle income economies and the huge increases in urban poverty.

Progressive development policy must begin with these dilemmas in mind, bridging development, environmental and distributive concerns. Failing to address these issues or the series of interdependent, systemic challenges they relate to – energy and food security, jobless growth, climate change, global governance – will leave the UK and developing countries more, not less vulnerable.

The most powerful way that the UK can lead in a changing world is by example. Domestic action towards sustainable development strengthens the moral and political foundations needed for a global role as catalyst and reformer, impacting positively upon the environment and the world’s most vulnerable. Cutting investments in UK renewable energy as the coalition government has done is short sighted and in the long run increases Britain’s dependence on energy imports and undermines our international efforts. Why should other countries invest in renewable energy if we do not?

The UK’s economy should be synonymous with sustainable products, design and construction, clean energy and technology, ethical consumers and attractive, green cities. These would be the true green shoots of a balanced British recovery and it is vital therefore that this moment is used to press for a new, greener, more equitable path to growth in Britain and overseas. The UK should push for the G20 to broaden its sights from the immediate and much needed reform of the global banking and financial system, towards green and equitable growth.

Without such leadership the $70 trillion held by investment funds ready to invest; such investment could help the least developed countries leapfrog dirty development by building low carbon energy infrastructure. Such investment could spur growth by investing in communications systems, such as broadband, that encourage entrepreneurship by enabling people to connect market information and local knowledge, enhance opportunities for civil society organisation and help in the provision of efficient and effective basic services.

This post originally appeared on Left Foot Forward.

The New Generation: what do we want workplaces and the economy to look like?

Chair of the Work and Families Young Fabian Policy Development Group, Josie Cluer, highlights key issues from her chapter in the just published Young Fabian pamphlet, The New Generation. We are very keen to hear what you think of the pamphlet – please let us know your thoughts by posting a comment. This is the third in a series of posts from the authors of ‘The New Generation’, which you can read by clicking here.

To win again, and win again soon, Labour needs to be seen as a party of government. Therefore, we need a compelling alternative economic strategy to address the economic reality. Anyone who opposes every cut in public spending is in denial of the economic situation. We must articulate how we would deal with the economic crisis differently from the current government. This must be based on fairness: cuts should be spread evenly across the income spectrum.

Perhaps in the past Labour has been agnostic about the kinds of industries and the kinds of jobs that we want in Britain: as long as the economy is booming, the reasons don’t matter. But the crisis in the banking sector showed that our economy was too dependent on the financial sector; and the cuts to be implemented will demonstrate that it is too dependent on the public sector. Similarly, our values should warn against an economy over-reliant on the grey, informal economy, which routinely exploits its low skilled, low paid workforce, and offers little progression or hope for them.

As we begin to recover from the recession and build the economy again, there is an opportunity to reshape the economy to be more resilient, as well as better for jobs and communities.

Our ambition should be for Britain to lead the world in the industries of the future. This does not mean “picking winners”; it requires a far more subtle approach. But all government actions – not just those in industry – contribute to the willingness of enterprises and industries to invest and develop in Britain.

Ed Miliband should consider:

  • An inward investment review to understand fully the factors which drive investment in the kinds of high skill, high value industries we want
  • Policies which incentivise parts of the economy we want to grow, like green industries, social enterprises and the creative economy.

Similarly, Labour should not be agnostic about the kinds of jobs we want. Our ambition should be for fair and satisfying workplaces.

New Labour’s vision of economic efficiency and social justice should remain our ambition. Faced with the challenges of an ageing population, emerging economies and globalisation, Britain’s economy cannot afford to have so many people out of work. At the same time, many who do not work are prevented by a labour market that is insufficiently flexible to enable them to juggle work with families and other responsibilities. Every mother who chooses not to work because she’s fed up of the inflexibility her employer gives her to look after her kids if they’re off school sick is a blow to the economy. And it’s unfair on her. Every older worker who is denied a job because the employer worries about him being a bit slow up the stairs is a blow to the economy. And it’s unfair on him. And every person whose employer cannot give him the flexibility to manage his mental health problems is a blow to the economy. And it’s unfair on him.

Ed Miliband should initiate a joint union-employer commission on “fair workplaces of the future” looking at:

  • How unions can improve the workplace
  • Parents working rights
  • Technology
  • Mental health at work
  • Working hours
  • Older workers

Labour has long won people’s hearts through its vision about the kind of society we want to live in. By being bold about the kind of economy we want, and the kind of jobs we want, we can win people’s heads back too.

This post originally appeared on Progress online.

The New Generation: how can we transform the Labour Party?

Chair of the ‘Transforming our Party’ Young Fabian Policy Development Group, Jessica Studdert, outlines the arguments she makes in her chapter in the just published Young Fabian pamphlet, The New Generation. We are very keen to hear what you think of the pamphlet – please let us know your thoughts by posting a comment. This is the second in a series of posts from the authors of ‘The New Generation’, which you can read by clicking here.

The election of a new Leader with a clear mission to set a new direction, for a new generation, gives everyone in the Labour Party the opportunity to consider how we operate and interact with each other and with our communities. 

As progressives, we are by our nature in a rush to get things done. We have a sense of mission and urgency, and we always strive for more. This is as it should be, but increasingly in the recent past our mission has been led and defined by an overweening centralised electoral machine, one that has taken us far from where we started as a political party that was an organic expression of the Labour movement’s values. 

The entire institutional dynamic of the Labour Party is best characterised as that of a marketing-professional company. Communication with the electorate focusses on extracting data and then pummelling people with information. The central party retains tight control over campaign method and message delivery, and defines only narrow measures of effectiveness such as voter ID volumes. 

The last election witnessed the limits of this approach. Now Labour must effect a cultural shift that allows us to become a community-embedded movement party. Since Obama surged to victory in the US two years ago, this concept has become very in vogue in Labour circles, but too often it is a tag applied to the old way of doing things and rendered meaningless.

We need to rediscover a relational sense of politics, that recognises and rewards interaction and dialogue with members, supporters and the public. Put simply, we need to turn identification and broadcast off, and turn conversation and reciprocity on. The top-down structure of our party needs to be turned on its head so that the focus of central party and regional office activity is capacity building locally. 

CLPs need to be given the freedom, and where needed the support, to develop a culture and practice of constant campaigning, building and sustaining links with the wider community. CLPs who recruit supporters, build relationships and develop networks of interest locally should be rewarded with more money, more independence, and greater weight in the policymaking process. 

CLPs should be supported to become effective campaigning organisations. Job descriptions for each officer post would enable individuals to understand what is expected of them and allow members to hold them to account. Term limits for officers of 2-3 years would better develop the talents and skills of those who hold positions and allow more opportunity to progress. Training and advice, peer support and shadowing opportunities, would help individuals develop their CLPs and realise their potential locally. 

The new Leader should consider initiating a strategic review of the Labour Party which would consider the functions and effectiveness of the party at all levels, and how they interact with each other – branch, CLP, regional, national, the PLP and the Leader’s office. This process could also analyse trade unions, affiliates and successful movement-based organisations such as Hope Not Hate to identify strengths, greater potential for coordination locally and to build capacity. 

The Labour Party can only ever prosper when it is an expression of a vibrant, diverse and active base that has high levels of visibility, trust and interaction with our communities, providing a channel through which individuals can express their values and a link between the leadership and the electorate.

This post originally appeared on LabourList.

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