“My loyalty is, first and foremost, to my constituents who did not elect me to impoverish them or to make their lives worse.”
By Brian Leishman MP
During the first 12 months of this Parliament, I believe I have stayed true to real Labour Party values.
In doing so I stood up for many of my constituents while fighting the cause for the working class who have been let down and weakened by 14 years of austerity, a global pandemic and a cost of living crisis, which still rages on.
I believe in those true party values to of equality, fairness and social justice, along with the redistribution of power and wealth for the benefit of the many in society.
While I have been critical of the Government on a number of issues, having the whip suspended still came to me as a shock and it has been an emotional week for me.
I still count myself a proud Labour Party member, I was elected as a Labour candidate and I wish to remain a Labour MP.
That is because I believe the Labour Party is the best vehicle to deliver and achieve positive changes to society, to improve living standards and lift people out of poverty.
There should be room for debate and differing views in the party. That must be at the core of a healthy democracy.
Every political party must have internal disagreements as a result. We cannot just always be in an echo chamber with everyone agreeing all the time – that is unhealthy.
In the past days I have seen and heard people discussing and talking about exactly that point. Take as an example Tony Blair’s Government, during which time expressing different views was tolerated, and dare I say, actually encouraged.
He looked at that and figured he needs to win that internal argument before enacting policies, and more often than not he did.
As former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson reportedly said: “Like a bird, for Labour to fly, it needs both a right wing and a left wing.”
Another Labour giant, Tony Benn, said in an interview that the “Labour Party has never been a socialist party, but it’s always had socialists in it, just as there are some Christians in the churches, everybody knows that – it’s an exact parallel”.
And the party is a “broad church” – the Prime Minister said so himself in a Sky News interview three years ago.
I fully believe in that. There has got to be socialists in the Labour Party.
I also believe that backbenchers have the responsibility to hold the frontbench to account, reminding Ministers that we have been elected to represent our constituents’ interests, whether they voted for us or not.
Democracy is about the freedom of choice and the ability to express one’s ideas. I have my convictions while others may disagree and that is completely fine. That forms the core of any great debate.
That is why I have been vocal and critical when I believed it was important to do so.
I believe I have also been fair in highlighting what the Government has got right in its first year.
The nationalisation of train operators in England is good practice – the state should be in charge of vital services and pieces of infrastructure.
Then there is the Employment Rights Bill – the most important improvement to worker’s rights in a generation, which will have a positive impact on many people across my constituency of Alloa and Grangemouth.
The Government was also quick to make good on he promise to reverse a historic injustice by transferring £1.5 billion to the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, ensuring fair payouts for years to come.
These are all things only a Labour Government could deliver.
Of course, that is just half of the story because bills are still rising at a high rate, and people are still struggling to make ends meet.
We have seen eye-watering corporate profits, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, especially during and since Covid-19.
That is why I have been advocating for an annual wealth tax and the equalisation of Capital Gains Tax so that we can increase revenues while reducing wealth inequalities.
Ultimately, I remain a proud Labour member and I wish to remain a Labour MP to help deliver the change many are craving.
However, my loyalty is, first and foremost, to my constituents who did not elect me to impoverish them or to make their lives worse.
- Brian Leishman is the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth
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