Dr Eoin Clarke, founder of GEER (Gender, Environment, Equality and Race), and Editor of The Green Benches, writes about GEER's vision for Labour's future.
Dr Eoin Clarke is the founder of GEER (Gender, Environment, Equality and Race), and is the Editor of The Green Benches
GEER, a new left wing think tank, launched yesterday in Parliament; the Labour Left have outlined their stall. Grahame Morris MP, Kelvin Hopkins MP and myself spoke at length how we wish to put principles back into policy making.
The panel agreed that under Ed Miliband Labour have now got an opportunity, as the Parliamentary Labour Party is more healthily balanced than it has been for a decade; we agreed that it is up to the party leadership to chart a course for Labour.
GEER’s role will be to aid that by putting forward constructive policies to halt the consumerisation of our services. It was agreed by all that private profit has no place in health and educational provision. The obsession with aspirationalism and middle England, we felt, was the greatest error of New Labour as was the fixation with winning the votes of the middle classes.
Class is not the only measurement of someone’s identity as increasingly race, gender and sexuality are just as important features of someone’s makeup. It was accepted that in the past the Labour Left has not always pro-actively married its principles with race and gender equality – the answer is to unite the different social groups in our society.
Women must play a much more prominent position in policy considerations. The work/life balance needs to be addressed. Wage transparency, equalisation and progression towards a living wage will be key goals of GEER. So, too, we must resist the readiness of some in the party to blame our woes on immigration. It is true that people have genuine fears about immigration and the European Union has had a dramatic and not always positive impact on UK society but the answer is not scaremongering.
We must improve the housing stock of our country so that private rents rise more slowly, and so that ordinary hard working families have access to affordable rental housing. This would put much less pressure on race relations, and this must be the future for Labour.
We in GEER are not seeking to overthrow capitalism but damned if we trust it. It needs a much tighter leash to ensure restraint than it has hitherto failed to exercise. Profits must not be hinged on consumer led growth. This means stronger powers for pricing regulators and a more responsible approach to profit. Business should be rewarded for its enterprise, but not when that enterprise exploits society by having a lasting damaging effect on the moral health of society, or indeed the environmental future of our children.
You can read a more detailed review of the launch on The Green Benches
15 Responses to “New think tank GEER outline vision for Labour’s future”
Daniel Devine
New think tank @GEERuk outline vision for Labour's future: http://bit.ly/kvdWYg by Dr Eoin Clarke (@TheGreenBenches)
vitoria
New think tank outlines vision for Labour & urges end to its fixation with winning middle class votes http://bit.ly/lkJF4B #race #gender
Robert
Love it race gender sexuality, but not disability, I saw sod all about the welfare state, this is just another of the many ideal we will have for Labour to put forward for those nice hard working people, I suspect it will end up a middle class calling group who see people in the same way as new labour.
The left in these people views are more or less Tory in ideal and beliefs, we must do more to the housing stock, well yes building social housing I suspect this lot will again see it as a method of renting before buying.
I still see sod all for people like myself.
Broken OfBritain
RT @leftfootfwd: New think tank @GEERuk outline vision for Labour's future: http://bit.ly/kvdWYg by Dr Eoin Clarke (@TheGreenBenches)
Sue Davies
Robert … I promise you that as the Editor of GEER, as the carer of a daughter with long term illness and a contributor to Sue Marsh’s Diary of a benefit scrounger … I will not neglect the welfare reforms and will argue with every breath I take to change Labour’s present stance as determined by James Purnell. In fact, GEER has already reprinted Sue Marsh’s piece calling for new policies to confront the psycho-social model. You cannot accuse me of not understanding the situation for those with disability or long term illness … I live it too!