Labour rivals jostle over jobs

LEADING contenders for the Labour leadership yesterday jostled over the legacy of John Smith's key economic policy of full employment, as the battle for the succession took off.

Gordon Brown, the shadow chancellor, and John Prescott, shadow employment secretary, are both laying claim to Mr Smith's commitment to social justice and the right to work.

In a speech in Hull yesterday, Mr Prescott sought to pre- empt his rival by spelling out the thrust of a report on jobs and social justice which he and other shadow ministers prepared for the late leader, in response to a European Union paper.

Mr Prescott said: 'It was John Smith's vision of full employment coupled with social justice that is a cornerstone of Labour's response. Labour's strong commitment to these principles and understanding that traditional values have a central role in modern society are John Smith's legacy.'

The document, due to go to the the National Executive Committee on Wednesday, states that social and economic agendas are interconnected, and stresses Labour's commitment to a national minimum wage and full employment.

The report argues that the employment market has changed since 1945 when women were excluded from large sectors of the job market. Now full employment involves extending opportunities for women too, it says.

Mr Prescott's speech, made at the launch of the party's Euro-election campaign in Humberside, was seen as a move to upstage Mr Brown, who, in a speech to the Welsh Labour Party conference today, will promise to introduce a jobs programme 'to create full and fulfilling employment'.

His remarks are being interpreted as a bid to broaden his appeal beyond the 'modernisers', as they follow publication of a full employment agenda by the GMB general union.

John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB, will unveil the eight-point agenda this morning, making clear that trade unionists - who hold one-third of the votes in Labour's electoral college - will test leadership candidates against their commitment to full employment, rights at work, a national minimum wage, trade union recognition, and a raft of similar measures.

The timing of the election emerged as an issue of contention when the left-wing Campaign Group called for the contest to be delayed until the autumn. Earlier the Labour Coordinating Committee, a 1,000- member soft-left pressure group, urged the party to go ahead with the election in July.

Blair at Oxford, page 4

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