My speech to conference

Reflecting on my experience as Cheltenham’s Parliamentary Candidate at the last General Election I wrote this speech to be delivered on the conference floor.

James Green. I was Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate in Cheltenham at the last election.

There are thousands of people in Cheltenham right now who feel let down.

The Liberal Democrats won the seat on the back Labour supporters who voted tactically to keep the Tories out. Throughout the campaign they pitched themselves as the only real left wing opposition to the Conservatives in the town.

Conference, how times have changed.

The Liberals are now the face of coalition cuts that will see departmental budgets reduced by 25%, of a VAT rise that will hit the poorest hardest, and, most fundamentally of all, of a Tory ideological drive to shrink the state.

We have become the only opposition in Cheltenham and across the country. The only home for those who oppose the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

In opposing of course we must expose the Liberals. And that could pay dividends.

At the General Election I held my deposit by 0.1% of the vote but I’m confident that if there was a by-election today Labour would win Cheltenham by a landslide.

But on a serious note, exposing the Liberals will never be enough in itself. It’s vital that we avoid falling into the trap of attacking the Lib Dems while allowing Cameron to rise above the fray.

Conference, we must focus our fire on the driving force of this coalition, the Tories, and on exposing the impact of their regressive and ideologically driven cuts.

But at the same time our history tells us that we can’t rely on the unpopularity of the government alone to win. The public demand and deserve an alternative progressive vision for the country.

This must be credible.

Our approach to tackling the deficit will be seen by the public as the test of our credibility. Of course we should oppose cuts where they are wrong but we must face up to the structural issues within the UK economy which come not only from the bank bailout but also from an ageing population.

It must be ideological.

Conference, we know that that Tories want to shrink the state but you can’t fight ideology with policy alone. We must offer the public a powerful set of ideas rooted in the political and economic realities of today.

And finally it must be authentic.

Nye Bevan put it best when he said, “the first duty of the progressive representative is to reflect the views of those he represents authentically. Because then people know that you are seeking to represent them because they are your inspiration.”

Conference, the quality of life, the public services, the support offered to those who inspired us all to get involved in politics are under threat.

I’m relishing the fightback.

James Green, Anticipations Editor and former Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham

My concerns about the Tories’ new European friends

Today’s Leader’s Debate, taking place here in the South West, will focus on foreign policy. I hope Gordon Brown will take Cameron to task about his friends in Europe.

Cameron’s decision to leave the mainstream centre right grouping in favour of a fringe group including homophobes and far right nationalists shows a serious lack of judgment. The views of his new partners on homosexuality, anti-semitism and climate change are massively out of kilt with the mainstream British majority. My outrage is likely only matched by that of the Tories’ old partners. Why Cameron would choose to abandon Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy for his current friends I will never understand.

Michael Kaminski, who leads the Tory MEPs in Europe, spoke out against the commemoration of the brutal massacre of Polish Jews in the town of Jebwadne during World War Two. Members of the same party have described homosexuality as a “pathology” and are outspoken climate change deniers. And what of Cameron’s other partners? His Latvian allies join in the annual commemoration of the Waffen SS. Concerning to say the least.

From climate change to terrorism, from international crime to the financial crisis, the great challenges we face go beyond our borders. We can face them alone, consigned to the fringes of Europe, with the Tories. Or continue to punch our weight in a crucial partnership with Labour.

Last week’s debate showed that, while Cameron may be able to do the set piece speeches, when pressed on the issues that matter he falls short. There is a real choice at the next election. I hope today’s debate will highlight that even more.

James Green is Anticipations editor and Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham. He blogs at www.jamesgreen.org.uk.

Young Fabian Campaign Day with Mark Rusling and Stella Creasy in Walthamstow

A hardy group of Young Fabian campaigners headed up to Walthamstow this weekend to canvass for Labour local government candidate Mark Rusling and Parliamentary candidate Stella Creasy in Walthamstow and Hoe Street ward.

Mark is a former Young Fabian chair and wrote a great pamphlet on beating the BNP which still acts as a useful campaigning guide for activists today. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any BNP activity in Walthamstow, but we did see reams and reams of glossy colour-filled Lib Dem campaign literature.

The local Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Farid Ahemd has clearly spent thousands of pounds on printing this literature. But we didn’t see a single Lib Dem canvasser, poster, or supporter.

Speaking to people about their concerns and aspirations for their community is Labour’s way of engaging our supporters, from a day in Walthamstow it seems like the Lib Dem tactic is to bombard voters without really understanding them. One undecided voter I spoke to was so pleased that Labour activists had come round to her house to speak with her that she asked for a membership form on the spot.

The great thing about the day was that all the Young Fabian members who came along had never taken part in canvassing before. So we are brining some new activists into the Labour Party family. Which is a great feeling.

More details about the next Young Fabian campaign day are here: http://www.youngfabians.org.uk/content/blogcategory/21/46/

Politics is power. The rest is commentary.

There’s nothing like a General Election to focus political minds. As Labour braces itself for the toughest election since 1992, all of us are digging deep, fiercely debating what it means to be Labour today. We know that the next election needs to be about more than our record. It needs to reflect the realities of a changed world – one very different from 2005, let alone 1997.

Of course there’s the negative – the perfect storm of a political crisis in MPs’ expenses and an economic one in the banking crash. But there is also the positive. As we discuss in the latest Anticipations the explosion of the internet has been a powerful democratising force, giving people more ways to collaborate, communicate and organise than ever before. The fact that the next General Election will be the first to be fought online may have become a cliche. But that’s only because it has been said so many times.

Against this backdrop David Miliband’s speech to Demos yesterday was particularly pertinent. A big picture set piece about the challenges ahead, he framed the next election as a choice between two competing political visions with fundamentally opposing ideas about the rightful role of the state. At the heart of his critique of Conservatism was an analysis of the role of government that is as simple as it is profound,

“The principle [that applies to the challenges we face] is that power needs to be vested in the people, but we do not reveal a powerful populace simply in the act of withdrawing the state. In fact a powerless government simply means more power to the already powerful.”

Does that mean that we shouldn’t be worried about government becoming too powerful? Of course not. Government power must only be exercised when it empowers ordinary people. That’s why we need to look again at electoral reform – it simply isn’t right that the majority of votes at the next election just won’t count. It’s why we need to look again at the balance between security and liberty – people need to feel that power rests in their hands and not in the levers of the state. Yet at the heart of all these issues lies a fundamental principle on which all left wing policy should hang. A principle that David Miliband highlighted in his speech.

Politics is about creating powerful people. The rest, to quote an old Jewish saying, is commentary.

A very Tory wobble

I was pleased but not surprised to read about the new Guardian ICM poll this morning. Seven points behind the Tories before the short campaign isn’t ideal. But it’s a far cry from the 1997 moment that the Tories have been hoping for. The fact that the Tories have yet to seal the deal, loses none if its salience, however many times it is said. Even in Cheltenham, a place that many people think must be true blue (it isn’t – the Liberals have held it since 1992), local people remain skeptical about Cameron and his clan. So why is that?

The challenge that the Tories face is that their greatest asset is also their Achilles heal. There is no denying that David Cameron is a slick presenter. He has turned the Tory image round from depths of the ‘wink wink nudge nudge’ days of Michael Howard and the ‘are you thinking what we’re thinking?’ 2005 campaign. But four years on and that image has become confused. David now has a split personality, stern ‘age of austerity’ Mr Cameron one day, joyous ‘let the sun shine’ Dave the next.

Andy Coulson famously said of Tory spin that if David doesn’t say it it simply isn’t news. Well David’s said a lot. But little of it has been consistent. On the doorstep in Cheltenham and across the country people are telling Labour activists that they simply don’t know what the Tories stand for.

With only a few months left until the election, it’s beginning to dawn on them that they probably never will.

Following the backlash to the airbrushed image of Cameron, The Tories have taken a different tack with their new posters – there’s no David Cameron in sight. But they know, and as the poll confirmed today, that he remains more popular than his party. As polling day approaches and the media spotlight grows even more the tightrope that Cameron has been walking will become even less stable. There’s no denying that Labour remain underdogs. But if we stand firm while Dave wobbles there may just be an upset.

James is Labour PPC for Cheltenham

New Pamphlet from the Candidates Network: Join the Debate

The new pamphlet from the Young Fabians Candidates Network continues to gain momentum around the Labour blogosphere. On Progress online today Emma Reynolds, PPC for Wolverhampton North East, writes about her views on gender equality and makes the case that to live in a more equal society, mothers and fathers should have the choice of equally sharing parental leave. It’s a position that I strongly support. As Emma rightly says, the dramatic difference between maternity and paternity leave entitlement has resulted in far too many employers viewing women of child bearing age as a risk to their business. By sharing parental leave, we could challenge that view and break through the glass ceiling that continues to hamper the potential of half our country’s work force.

Young Fabians PPC Week: Join the Debate

James Green is Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham and the Young Fabians Candidates Network Officer. Check out the new Young Fabians Candidates Network pamphlet here.

Why Labour can win and why the country need a centre-left government

The Sun’s decision to withdraw its support for Labour was designed to cause maximum damage. Timed to coincide with the Leaders Speech, it’s fair to say that the headline was written long before Brown took to the podium. However, what was most interesting about the Sun’s coverage was what it didn’t say rather than what it did. “Labour’s Lost It” was far from the ringing endorsement that Cameron might have hoped for – a far cry from the beaming smile and “The Sun Backs Blair” headline of 1997.

There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a tough time for Labour. However, what the Sun’s headline reflects is that the political sands haven’t shifted to the Tories quite yet. People are leaving Labour not because the Tories offer a better option, but because they feel disempowered by a political system that feels out of breath and out of touch. As the governing Party Labour will get the brunt of that disaffection. However, as the governing party we are best placed to do something about it.

That’s why we need a centre-left government. Labour can still win the next election because the big challenges we face can only be tackled through progressive means. Reengaging the public, giving people greater power over the issues that affect their lives, cannot be achieved simply by rolling back the frontiers of the state. What’s required is a new type of politics in which the state plays an empowering role – a point that was made by a number of Young Fabian members at last night’s PPC debate. David Chaplin and Adrian Prandle from the Young Fabian Exec, are right that Young PPCs have an important role to play in that process.

Throughout this week young PPCs have been sharing their ideas for the future. We’ve published a pamphlet, held an important debate and hosted a number of guest contributions from young PPCs on the Young Fabians blog. The Young Fabians first ‘PPC Week’ has confirmed that, despite what the Sun may say, progressive politics is alive and well and ready to take the fight to the Tories.

New Pamphlet from the Candidates Network: Join the Debate

The new pamphlet from the Young Fabians Candidates Network is gaining momentum around the Labour blogosphere. Rachel Reeves from Leeds West has written about it on Labour List today and I have posted an article about it on Open Left.

With more articles to come in the coming weeks, we want to hear your views.

New Pamphlet from the Young Fabians Candidates Network

After twelve years of Labour government, at a critical moment for progressive politics, we have invited twelve of Labour’s young Prospective Parliamentary Candidates to share their vision for the future.

It will be the next generation of Labour politicians that will need to develop new solutions to meet the challenges of changed times. Our new pamphlet aims to spark debate about the future direction of progressive politics.

Download your copy of The New Progressives: Voices of Labour’s Future here

Contributions from Prospective Parliamentary Candidates from across the country cover a wide range of issues, reflecting the wealth of ideas within progressive politics. For some like Rachel Reeves, PPC for Leeds West, an international outlook is key, whilst Emma Reynolds, PPC for Wolverhampton North East, focuses on gender equality, an issue much closer to home. Chris Ostrowski, who fought the Norwich North by-election, argues that people demand a greater sense of ‘fair play’, whilst Alan Strickland, PPC for Berwick-upon-Tweed, makes the case that the public want a more liberal state.

We want to hear your views. Have your say on the Young Fabians blog.

Since being set up earlier this year the Young Fabians Candidates Network has gone from strength to strength and is now supported by PPCs from across the country. If you are a young PPC and would like to join the network please contact James Green

Young Fabians PPC Week: Join the Debate

Rebecca Rennison is Labour PPC for South West Wiltshire and Secretary of the Young Fabians.

Why Labour can win and why the country needs a centre-left government

I recently heard a Conservative describe the Labour Party as “ideologically bankrupt”. The reality is far from this. Our challenge lies not in the generation of ideas but in the expression of them. Of all the leaders speeches this Conference season David Cameron’s stood out the most. Not for the content, nor for the oratory, but for the clear message that went with it. Cameron’s speech made it clear that his was the party of small government, keen to “roll back the state” and place the emphasis on the individual rather than the collective. It was a clear rallying cry for the party faithful whilst tempered with messaging that would have wide appeal.

Labour is still the party of ideas but we need to do more to explain why our policies are Labour, to draw a clear dividing line between us and the Conservatives. We’ll win by talking about who we are why for us it’s not good enough to leave the education you get or the healthcare you receive up to chance, that the state has a role to play in ensuring that wherever you are in the country, whatever your income, you have real opportunities to fulfil your potential. Let’s not get caught up in talk of “cuts now” v “cuts later”, let’s be brave enough to talk about why we think that Government has an important role to play, why taxes matter and what public spending has achieved so far and would continue to achieve under Labour.

In short, to win the next election Labour needs to step out of the shadows and explain that whilst the Conservatives may claim to share the same goals as us, their way leaves much to chance and has few guaranteed outcomes, it is our way that will make a real difference.