Comment: A progressive ‘in’ campaign is the first step to rebuilding Labour

We must resist the urge to navel gaze for too long

 

After the cataclysm of Thursday’s election result, many Labour politicians have suggested a need for reflection on the party’s fundamental values, either before or in parallel with the leadership election.

That is, of course, necessary after such a disappointing result.

This reflection must not, however, come at the cost of leaving a political vacuum to the right. We must resist the urge to navel gaze for too long, given that we are possibly (and some say likely) less than twelve months away from a referendum on membership of the European Union.

The beginnings of a cross-party ‘in’ campaign are already in place, with Lord Mandelson as the key Labour representative. But the Scottish referendum clearly demonstrated the negative consequences of Labour being identified with an ‘elite’, ‘establishment’ consensus.

There are three reasons why a Labour (rather than cross-party) ‘in’ campaign could – and I hope, will – offer the first step towards rebuilding Labour.

First, despite the disappointing result, more people were engaged in political activity this election than ever before – the vast majority of them, with the Labour Party. No less than 200,000 people left their comfort zone to tap on doors and speak to complete strangers as Labour canvassers.

For many I spoke to, from Milton Keynes to Dover, this was their first experience of political activism. Labour as a party must ensure it is not their last engagement in organised politics. This can be done by offering people a meaningful role in an optimistic, forward-looking ‘in’ campaign.

Second, many of those new, often young (in age or spirit) activists were energised by the very values that Labour is trying to pursue in Europe. They abhor the xenophobia of UKIP and reject racism instinctively. They care passionately about increasing living standards, not just for themselves but across the world. They are disturbed by current rates of youth unemployment, and would be appalled by the job losses that would occur if Britain cuts itself off from the rest of Europe.

They are also often passionate about the need to tackle climate change and air pollution, viewing these issues as core to Labour’s progressive message.

A strong Labour ‘in’ campaign offers a chance to champion these values. It also gives Labour a chance to offer hope to young people, capitalising on the wave of support from younger people that arose in the latter stages of the election campaign (even if that did not always translate into votes, given the challenge we still face in getting younger voters to turn out in the same numbers as their parents and grandparents).

Labour should now repay that commitment by demanding that 16-year-olds be given a vote in this referendum, and redouble its efforts to register young voters, more necessary than ever before given the Tories’ new, US-style measures to make registration harder.

And third, a progressive ‘in’ campaign offers an excellent chance for local Labour parties to renew their links with trade union members. Just as it was the trade unions who made much of the running against UKIP over the last two years, so it has been the trade unions who have loudly and proudly argued for Britain’s continued place in Europe.

A strong Labour campaign, joint with trade unions, will not only be essential to mobilise ‘in’ voters, but also important in ensuring that Cameron’s ‘renegotiation’ does not remove the working protections and social rights that stop Europe from being just a trade club for multinational companies. It will also prevent accusations that the ‘in’ campaign is dominated by captains of industry and not representative of working people, a card that UKIP has attempted to play in recent months.

 

Labour activists, politicians and supporters will need some time to lick their wounds and regroup. But as soon as this is done, we must move quickly to mobilise again all those people who put worked so hard for a better, fairer future for Britain, and provide hope to all those who, despite all the smears and brickbats, did opt to vote Labour last Thursday.

Despite the spin, we know that there is a large body of support across the whole of Britain, and particularly amongst the young, for membership of an EU focused on jobs and living standards. Labour cannot waste any time in arguing for it.

Anneliese Dodds MEP is a member of the European Parliament economic and monetary affairs committee. Follow her on Twitter

22 Responses to “Comment: A progressive ‘in’ campaign is the first step to rebuilding Labour”

  1. Gary Scott

    The first thing to remember is who the Labour Party represents. There is a full third of voting age adults who don’t vote, these missing millions should be the target of Labour. Address THEIR issues not those of Daily Mail readers. Don’t go for the centre ground, talk to the people who DON’T vote! The EU referendum could make or break Labour. The Scottish referendum was won by Labour, but at a cost of killing itself. The operation was a success but the patient died. That referendum was relentlessly negative, full of personal smears and was run by an MP who was at the end of his career, which was just as well, his behaviour was shocking (even for a politician). Tips for EU referendum, don’t stand on the same platform as the Tories and DON’T spend the next two years talking down your own country. If not, then Labour in England & Wales may find themselves in the same position as their Scottish counterparts…

  2. Peem Birrell

    When I hear the word progressive I reach for my revolver

  3. oblivia

    The main policy difference between Labour and the SNP is austerity. The Scots don’t want independence from England; they want independence from the Tories and their disastrous economic policies.

    The only thing Labour needed to do was offer a credible alternative to Tory austerity. And you don’t even need to move left to do that because austerity isn’t real economics—it’s a totally discredited theory that can be destroyed from the right, left or centre. Heck, even the IMF is against it, as nobody mentioned during the election.

    Needless to say, austerity isn’t even mentioned in this article. And now pro-austerity Labour wants us to vote for a pro-austerity EU? This is a disaster in the making…

  4. AlanGiles

    May I just remind you that in a lot of Northern seats last week, UKIP came a very strong second to Labour?. Unless you are suggesting these voters were too stupid to know that the main policy of UKIP is withdrawal from the EU, it suggests that your “in” campaign” would be as popular with those voters as the Scottish independence campaign was with Scotland last year. You saw the results of that last week.

    Personally I think UKIP is a one man band – the Farage Party, and is quite toothless, but in your desperation you are once again ignoring your supporters while telling them you are listening

  5. James Chilton

    “Lord Mandelson as the key Labour representative….”

    That fact, if it is a fact, could (almost) make me an “outer” rather than a supporter of a “progressive in campaign”.

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