Renewing Labour - 7 comments
Labour are hosting a set of discussions on reforming the Labour Party:
How can we build a bigger, better Labour Party? Here's your chance to have a say on the future of Labour, and share your ideas of what works locally. Throughout the country, Labour supporters are organising campaigns, running lively events, and engaging local communities. How can we learn from the best examples, and be even more successful at making local Labour a central part of local community life? The best ideas will be discussed at the Labour Party conference in Manchester.It looks good so far; the introductory posts are thoughtful, and if Labour is serious about binding itself back into the social fabric - and members can be enthused more by community activism than by the febrile world of national politics - then perhaps we can curtail the atomisation of society and the centralised approach to government. I quote once again, this time from Section (1):
Labour must be seen as the place to go if you want something local to change. We should be the natural home for social entrepreneurs and change-makers.I posted a couple of articles on Labour's role in the community almost exactly a year ago (back in the days when I actually wrote about politics - sigh). There are some particularly good comments in there.
Party activists are piloting some local community campaigns which are visible proof that Labour is 'on your side' and making a difference through practical action, for example picking up litter, cleaning up waste ground, cleaning up graffiti, campaigning for traffic calming, running childcare co-operatives, and running self-help groups.
Demonstrating actions do speak loader than words.
Labour Students have piloted a successful local park clean-up campaign in Manchester, followed by door-knocking and a social.
Party members in Stalybridge and Hyde have been organising community clean up days; making their local Labour Party a community as well as a political organisation.
Could more local Labour members, supporters and Constituency Labour Parties take the lead on this kind of campaigning?
- How can we make local Labour be the place to go to get things done and make a difference, where we do things, not just talk about them?
- What kinds of community activities should the Labour Party be conducting?
- How do we become a party of action, not just words?
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7 comments so far...
This is all b****x. The Socialist model has failed.
It's no surprise that Labour in Manchester is taking politics down to community level and they just happened to gain 6 sats from the LDs in May's local elections.People care more about their parks and streets than they care about nonsense such as 'Let's Talk' and the woeful 'The Big Conversation'.
We should be the natural home for social entrepreneurs and change-makers.
Hey, love the wonk-speak...
Party activists are piloting some local community campaigns which are visible proof that Labour is 'on your side' and making a difference through practical action, for example picking up litter, cleaning up waste ground, cleaning up graffiti, campaigning for traffic calming, running childcare co-operatives, and running self-help groups.
Call it the Hezbollah approach ;-)
More seriously though, it sounds similar to the type of approach, called Community Politics, pioneered by the Liberals and then continued by the Liberal Democrats and other parties such as the Greens. Peter Hain, one of the more interesting of the New Labour gang, may know something about it: whilst a Liberal, he edited a book called Community Politics (1976).
Its unclear whether such an approach represents a deeper commitment to the philosophy of Community Politics by Labour, or is it only a (probably temporary) strategy to get more local councillors elected and shore up and revitalise the current crumbling, or at least ossified, support. Normally one has to reckon on a, er... liberal dollop of cynicism being at play within New Labour politics, so I suggest the latter rather than the former. But, hey, I would say that, wouldn't I chaps? ;-)
I sympathise. So much, in fact, that I sympathised in advance when I wrote this post. Groups of Labour activists going round doing good works can do the party nothing but good. Let's put our money, and our time, where our mouth is.
It would have to be done for free, with no expectation of anything in return, and it would have to be done well and in a good spirit. I live in London. I am prepared to don a red tee shirt with a Labour logo on it, and do some park cleaning or whatever, if anyone else is. Provided that the Labour Party supply the tee shirts, nice ones, in the right size. :)
Can anyone think of a decent logo for the tee shirts? 'Labour - Making a difference' etc?
I am very glad to see this sort of thing. It is what I have been trying to encourage in my own ward.
Its a lot more fun than meetings!
Partly it is a recognition that, as a normal party member, it is about the only thing you *can* do which will make the slightest bit of difference to anyone.
Never thought of it as a Hezbollah approach, but its an amusing comparison.
How dare you be amused by that comparison? Are you taking the Lord's name in vain? Death to all Amusing Comparison Makers! Behead all Joke Tellers!
Oops, sorry, I was just getting swept up with events.
Are there any Londoners out there who fancy donning a red tee shirt and cleaning up a park or something? I suppose we'd have to do this sort of thing in an organised way - identify areas of greatest need, plan our cleaning raids, obtain tools and materials and so on. Maybe best left to Big Brother?
The other problem with this sort of thing is that if it lasted only a short while it would be blasted as an opportunistic flash in the pan. Yet to prevent that from happening would require great commitment and organisation from people.
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