On a blaring hot Saturday, Labour modernisers from across the country gathered in a glitzy London conference hall to attend the first Progressive Britain Annual Conference held during a Labour government in over a decade. As Darren Jones noted, the atmosphere was decidedly distinct to the Annual conferences of past which were held ‘in a basement room in the TUC building.’
This perhaps serves as an apt metaphor for where progressive moderates stand now with a Labour government in power. The electric buzz of Ministers, MPs, policymakers, activists and students convening and discussing the main political challenges marks a welcome departure from the Labour party in the dark days of opposition.
Still the struggle is not over. In the shadow of some tough local election results, what to do about the seemingly unstoppable march of Reform was a hot topic. Their clinch of Runcorn by a margin of six votes serves as a painful reminder of the challenge Labour will face in the coming years.
As our keynote speakers, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones MP, and Minister for Work and Pensions Alison McGovern MP reflected, governing is a harder task than peddling simple populist answers in opposition. Their fighting talk reflected the anger that the Labour movement must mobilise to fuel its fight against the rise of Reform and to deliver meaningful change for the British people.
Fighting is part of the solution, but a Labour Party that listens is just as important. Our breakout sessions, capturing the key policy questions of the day, clearly demonstrated that many policy areas are still up for debate. From sessions on immigration, to industrial strategy and growth, to how to fix the social care sector, we heard from a range of voices that fell slightly differently on these issues.
Indeed, Progressive Britain aims to be a space in which dynamic debates within the Labour movement can be hashed out. To be a critical friend of the government is not to blindly echo the message of government but hold it to account and promote policy which embraces Labour’s historic legacy in building a fairer Britian, levelling out the playing field and reducing poverty.
As our keynote speakers collectively recognised, Labour governments of past had all been a force of change for good in their lives. Whether that be the post-war Attlee government delivering the NHS and the birth of the welfare state, Harold Wilson’s technological and record-breaking social housing drive, or the Blair and Brown years which established the National Minimum Wage and programmes such as ‘Sure Start’ which unleashed educational opportunities to working people. These were governments determined to leave British society better than when they were elected.
Starmer too must be a prime minister who delivers landmark change. It is a task like no other, one which not only fixes the foundations of fourteen years of conservative mess making, but propels this country further, makes it a formidable player in an international context of increasing economic uncertainty, war in Europe’s borders, and a cost-of-living crisis.
Not only this, the misgovernance of Britain for fourteen years under the Conservatives (remember them?), has given rise to a distrust amongst the public that the government can be a force for good in people’s lives. The populist right has capitalised on this feeling, banging the drum of scape-goat rhetoric which demonises entire populations without providing any actual solutions.
We, both in the Labour movement and at Progressive Britain, must be the antidote to such divisions, providing practical solutions to each of these crises.
Huge thank you to everyone who came last week, it was a day to remember! Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow our socials to keep up to date on all our upcoming events.
