Labour heavyweights launch ideas campaign to end party infighting

Suggested Topics

Four former ministers are launching a campaign to revive the intellectual life of the Labour Party and counter what they see as a pointless tug of war between Blairites and the trade unions.

When Ed Miliband assumed office as Labour leader in 2010, he declared that the party's policies were a "blank sheet of paper" – meaning that everything in previous election manifestos was up for re-examination. A full scale policy review is now under way.

On Monday, the four Commons veterans will launch a new "Policy Portal" open to Labour MPs and supporters with ideas to contribute to the review. To start it off, they will post one essay each on issues they handled when they were in government.

The only condition attached is that they want "smart new ideas that do not require huge levels of public expenditure, but would bring real benefits to society."

Writing separately in the current issue of the New Statesman, one of those behind the new project, the former Home Office minister John Denham, who now acts as Ed Miliband's parliamentary aide, warned that the Labour Party cannot go back to promising substantial increases in public spending.

But Mr Denham and his associates on the project – Hugh Bayley, Nick Raynsford and Malcolm Wicks – are also trying to steer clear of the economic liberalism of the Blair years, when New Labour attracted support from millionaire businessmen but was accused of losing sight of its core supporters.

Each of the four has been in the Commons for at least 20 years, and so they were MPs when Labour was in opposition and led by the late John Smith.

Among themselves, the quartet had jokily suggested calling their new initiative "neither Progress nor the GMB". The next Labour conference will have to deal with a dispute between the left-wing leaders of the GMB union and the Blairite think tank Progress. The union has accused Progress – which receives substantial sums from the Labour peer Lord Sainsbury – of acting as a party within the party.

In their mission statement, Mr Denham and his allies warn: "When political parties go into opposition after a long period in government, they are vulnerable to different reactions. On the one hand, they can get sucked into an orgy of blood-letting and recrimination, on the other they can lapse into comatose inertia."

The four contributions posted on the website will include an essay from Mr Denham proposing that supermarkets be compelled to release information about their prices in a way that will make it possible to create an app through which shoppers can make genuine comparisons.

Mr Raynsford has contributed a proposal to alter the tax system to give people with spare rooms in their homes a greater incentive to rent them out.

Mr Wicks has proposed a Savers' Charter that will protect customers from losing out from artificially low interest rates.

Mr Bayley has proposed a "right to treatment" for NHS patients as a way of overcoming what is known as the "postcode lottery".

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
Imperial Cities of Morocco
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from £799pp Find out more
4* all-inclusive Crete
Seven nights from only £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions

He's worked with Modest Mouse, the Pet Shop Boys and Beck, to name a few, and recently released his first solo album. So why, wonders Johnny Marr, do people still hark on about The Smiths?
After the flood: From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands

In pictures: After the flood

From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands
Death becomes her: Meet the very modern mortician who champions 'cool' funerals

Death becomes her: A very modern mortician

Ever considered baking a loved one's remains into a cake or putting their ashes in fireworks? If so, talk to Caitlin Doughty, champion of the alternative death industry.
How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

At first it seemed clever and cute. Then the 'Keep Calm' motif went mad, spawning endless offshoots.
The man who built Brum: A lament for the demise of John Madin's Brutalist Birmingham

John Madin: The man who built Brum

The architect's buildings were supposed to leave an indelible, futuristic mark on his beloved hometown but they are now being inexorably torn down.
School of chop: Learning the art of butchery at the Ginger Pig

School of chop: Learning the art of butchery

How do you butcher a lamb? Or make Mexican street food in a British kitchen? Christopher Hirst finds out.
James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats