“Recognising the party as a broad church means more than just words. The voices on the left of the party must also be given space.”
By Chris Hinchliff MP and Neil Duncan-Jordan MP
Within just a few weeks, the Burnham government has signalled a marked change in both policy direction and style from the Starmer project. Announcements on energy bills, bus fares and changes to business rates for pubs are all welcome moves in tackling the cost-of-living crisis, but with the Faragist wolf at the door, there is more that needs to be done – and quickly.
Burnham’s recognition that we need a bolder approach, one that addresses the wrong turns of 40 years or more, offers a genuine source of optimism for those of us in politics to build a more socialist society. Like so many across our country, Burnham can clearly see that the privatisation experiment in water, energy, railways, housing and health has failed the nation.
At last, we have a Labour PM who seems to understand the need for a fundamental shift in where power lies – be that in the workplace, the global media and, of course, in the economy. The truth we can finally face head-on is that Labour’s core values of equality and justice will be unachievable if we leave the structure of capitalism untouched. A genuinely flourishing democracy is impossible if our route to prosperity requires us to ‘unlock private capital’ by ensuring that the decisions which shape our daily lives are overwhelmingly made in favour of vested interests rather than the hopes of the local community. The needs of all our citizens will never be met if we continue our absurd overreliance on the profit motive to deliver the essentials.
That’s why Labour under Burnham must continue to rediscover its idealism and set out a clear vision of what we think a better life for working people actually looks like. Our historic task is to change the status quo, not just accommodate it or manage things better than the last lot that were in charge.
That means securing genuinely affordable and decent housing through a major council house building programme, meaningful work through a new industrial strategy rather than low-paid, soul-destroying jobs and a comfortable balance between income and bills for everyone. That is the route to opening up new horizons and ensuring we can all stop worrying about having enough money at the end of the month and start living our lives instead.
Transforming our society means caring about more than just GDP figures and recognising the value of what actually gives our lives meaning. We need a public realm to be proud of and enjoyed, a society which is less fractured and more compassionate and more space and time in our everyday lives for the things that really matter – family and friends, leisure, art, culture and self-fulfilment. The socialist dream of lifting up the human condition can never be satisfied by simply earning a wage. Let’s look back to the hopes of those who built our movement over generations and remember to be egalitarians for all life’s joys – we fight for bread, but we fight for roses too.
This fundamental reset must start in Burnham’s first 100 days. Of course, reversing 40 years of economic errors will take some time, but our new Prime Minister must act swiftly to build on his strong start.
Socialism26 offers a programme for change that unashamedly draws on Labour’s values and historic commitments, as well as amplifying a number of existing manifesto commitments.
Launched a few months ago by a dozen 2024 intake MPs, along with the support of the general secretaries of 5 affiliated trade unions and 20 established MPs, the programme highlights the longer-term policies needed to transform our country, including the public ownership of our utilities, the creation of a National Care Service free at the point of use, and the need to fix our broken public services. But as founders of Socialism26 we also recognise that there are issues which require immediate action by the Burnham government.
Over the last 2 years there have been far too many self-inflicted errors where Labour has abandoned its best traditions and ideals in pursuit of often ill-thought-out bureaucratic and right-wing solutions to the challenges facing our country. If Burnham is to have a clear run at transforming the country, as is essential both for our constituents and for staving off a far-right challenge at the next election, then we must sweep these remaining obstacles away.
Firstly, the proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) that would move from a fixed five-year ILR route to a contribution-based “earned settlement” system and extend qualifying periods to ten years or more depending on income, role, and integration must be abandoned for those who are already here and subject to further review for the future. The idea that we can change the rules for someone who is already here contributing to our economy, society and the wider community because we think this hard-nosed stance will win back some Reform voters is both fundamentally un-British and electorally flawed.
Similarly, the Burnham government must also discard the proposal to remove jury trials – as was done with the Digital ID plan – and thereby avoid a bruising backbench rebellion which is completely unnecessary and unwanted. Labour needs to recover its instincts to jealously guard the civil liberties of our constituents.
Most morally significantly, on the international stage, the UK must now officially recognise the genocide in Gaza and sanction Israel. This would be a key symbolic shift away from the appalling and frankly indefensible mealy-mouthed position that we have seen in the past two years. With a new leadership, it is essential that we now act decisively to prove to the public that we share their deep horror and disgust at the atrocities which have unfolded in that region.
Finally, we need to begin the work of rewiring our economy. That must start by recognising that the current tax system is riddled with policies that are unfair, ridiculous, out of date, and often all three. The forthcoming Budget will be precisely 100 days since Burnham took office, and while rewriting the entire tax code may not be feasible this time, an authentically socialist direction of travel is. So, the new Chancellor should take the opportunity to restore economic justice as an integral part
of Labour’s offer to the nation by taxing the wealth of well-off individuals and big business, especially the fossil fuel giants that are raking in obscene profits while our planet burns. Healey should ring-fence the proceeds from these measures to simultaneously raise personal income tax thresholds from the current £12,570. This would be a bold intervention that combines immediate financial improvements for working people, puts money back in millions of pockets to be spent on our high-streets, and would start to meaningfully address the grotesque inequalities in our country which are fundamentally incompatible with a healthy democracy. If these policies are to succeed and if we are going to avoid any repeat of the debacles around winter fuel and welfare cuts, Burnham must also hold fast to his commitment to a more democratic, pluralistic Labour Party. Backbenchers need to be included in the development of policy, rather than be seen as mere lobby fodder. Recognising the party as a broad church means more than just words. The voices on the left of the party must also be given space.
There is no doubt that Burnham’s first few days have been positive – particularly when judged against what has gone before. But the programme needs to be radical as well as if we are to bring about the fundamental changes that our society so desperately needs.
- You can find out more about Socialism26 and the programme for change here.
- Neil Duncan-Jordan is the Labour MP for Poole. You can follow him on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram.
- You can read the debate in full on Hansard here.
- Chris Hinchliff is the MP for North East Hertfordshire; you can follow him on Facebook and Twitter/X.
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