Fair's fair

The loss of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London ranks as the worst blow to Labour since the 1992 general election defeat. The question is whether Labour can heed the lessons and rebuild as the party did after 1992.

That will require leadership and vision, strategy and, above all, motivation. Motivation of party members and motivation of the public.

There is still plenty of time to the next general election. But the need for action is urgent, particularly to motivate people.

We need to explain why politics is important, why Labour politics is different, and how Labour has transformed Britain and can continue to change Britain for the better.

People want a party that is clear about its values and acts on those values. People want fairness.

I believe the British public has a great sense of fairness. Labour should start talking about creating ‘the Fair Society’.

The Fair Society will embrace fair pay, fair taxation, fair access to services and so on. People understand what is fair when it comes to pay and to tax, and they know that both should be fairer. Fair access to services would tackle how we get care and childcare, housing, health and education.

But there are many other things that could be embraced by the ‘fair’ banner. A fair world would include fair trade, fair chances would mean a fair start in life, and fair power needs fair votes.

We need to make sure we relate fairness to people’s everyday lives in simple, everyday language.

Fair tax, fair pay and fair services would be a good platform for the next manifesto. It would motivate the public. And crucially it would inspire party members to battle for the fourth term of a Labour government that continues to build the Fair Society.

Stephen Burke is Campaigns Officer, Hammersmith Labour Party

Comments

[badp]

Life is not fair, and liberals need to get used to it. Imposing "fairness" and "equality" on society is immoral. But you're a left-winger, so your moral compass is off anyway.