“Our party now needs to go beyond criticising the government’s incompetence – which it has done well & has won the public argument over – & lay out the policies needed to defend people hit hard by this unprecedented public health & jobs crisis.”
Richard Burgon MP
As we live through the greatest crisis our communities have faced in decades, the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs has launched a new pamphlet looking at how we build an alternative to the disastrous public health and economic policies of this Tory government.
The pamphlet “Winning the Future: socialist responses to the Coronavirus crisis”, looks at 5 key areas for the Labour Left. It examines the economic alternative, global justice and equality, public ownership, building a new era of rights and creating the movements to win.
Richard Burgon MP Secretary, Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs said:
“When the Coronavirus crisis hit earlier this year, as one of the wealthiest countries on earth, we should have been well placed to limit the fallout. Instead, the government’s response has been catastrophic.
“The priority for the whole labour movement must be to force the government to change track – through proposing bold, practical solutions and building the mass movements needed to win change.
“The solutions that the Labour movement puts forward and our organising around them can make a real difference to people’s lives in the here and now. It is also an essential part of preparing to win in 2024.
“So our party now needs to go beyond criticising the government’s incompetence – which it has done well and has won the public argument over –and lay out the policies needed to defend people hit hard by this unprecedented public health and jobs crisis.
This new pamphlet is part of that process of mapping out a serious alternative to this Tory-created catastrophe.”
John McDonnell MP and Rebecca Long-Bailey MP kick off the pamphlet with articles looking at the policies needed to avoid the mass unemployment that is increasingly likely given he Torie’s disastrous handling of the crisis. Rebecca Long-Bailey MP focusses on the need to push for a Green New Deal. Apsana Begum MP, Mick Whitley MP and Clive Lewis MP also contribute here.
Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP look at the need for global justice, the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and the need to challenge the anti-migrant rhetoric that seeks to scapegoat and divide communities.
In a section on public ownership in the 21st Century, Zarah Sultana MP looks at the need to fight the privatisation of our NHS and Paula Barker MP outlines the urgent need for a publicly-run social care system. Lloyd Russell Moyle MP and Tahir Ali MP look at local forms of public ownership and reforming local government.
Ian Byrne MP writes about the right to food in a section focussed on a new era of rights. Kate Osamor MP looks at the need for the left to make housing a right and Claudia Webb outlines from what workers rights fit for the 21st century would look like.
In the closing section, Ian Lavery and Jon Trickett outline their views on how we build the movements needed to win change and welsh MP looks at the lessons we can learn from the welsh about govern
- The pamphlet can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/SCGpamphlet
