Labour Manifesto: An Edelman Briefing

Page 1

GENERAL ELECTION EDELMAN 16 May 2017

Rob Newman Account Director

A former Labour Party adviser who spent more than a decade with front- and backbench Members of Parliament, in constituencies and in London, through spells in power and in opposition, Rob is an Account Director in the Edelman Public Affairs team. A former political adviser and press spokesman, Rob was a policy and briefing officer for the entire Parliamentary Labour Party and was part of the secretariat to the Shadow Cabinet. He is an expert in Commons procedure – an essential skill as the new Parliament prepare to deal with the legislative onslaught of Brexit.

THE LABOUR MANIFESTO Jeremy Corbyn has styled the choice at this election as one between hope and fear - with the Conservatives obviously cast in the role of villain. But in seeking to convince the country of his vision of a left-wing utopia, Mr Corbyn isn't above a little fear-mongering of his own. Labour's manifesto, published today, conjures up the demons who stalk the land: the spectres of debt, cuts, austerity, falling pay and frustrated ambition. Should Theresa May return to Downing Street, the NHS will no longer exist and the country will mutate into a “bargain basement tax haven”. Of course, political parties all exaggerate for effect - well, usually. One of the big questions of this election is whether the Conservatives really are stretching it when they warn that the Labour Party has gone off the reservation and that Mr Corbyn has dragged the party of Blair and Brown to the extremes. This manifesto should answer that question. Is it a reprise of 1983, the so-called “longest suicide note in history”? Or is it a prospectus that defies pigeon holing as the document that the left wing always wanted to see? On the former, we will find out on June 8th. But on the latter, we have some answers. This is very much Jeremy Corbyn's manifesto. Other than Trident - where the leadership has had to bend to the will of the party (i.e. the unions) - this is the biggest break with the Labour Party’s policy direction in twenty years. It is clear that, sink or swim, Mr Corbyn will have to own - or will be made to own - the General Election result. 16 May 2017

Despite what those who have joined Labour to support Corbyn since 2015 often tell us, Labour has always been “for the many” - from the days of New Labour to the Attlee Government post-1945. The difference has been in how Labour has applied those values in terms of policy. And when it comes to policy, this manifesto ticks all the boxes for the Left of the party. Do away with some of the hated bits of the Blair years: check (scrap tuition fees, attack “aggressive wars of intervention”). Nationalise some of the commanding heights of the economy: check (Royal Mail, the railways, the water industry, energy companies). Oppose privatisation: check (reversing its effects and role in the NHS). And tax, tax, tax: lower the 45p rate. Bring in a 50p rate. A financial transaction tax. A payroll tax. Corporation tax rises. Almost £50 billion in tax rises in all which neatly covers almost exactly the stated cost of the party’s manifesto pledges ... except for the bits which will be dealt with out of “capital spend” and extra borrowing. In his speech today, Mr Corbyn cited Harold Wilson, who he said “had a vision for Britain and created the institutions to match”. In his speech to Labour Party Conference in 1975, Harold Wilson argued that Labour needed “to protect itself against the activities of small groups of inflexible political persuasion ... [the] extreme so-called Left and in a few cases extreme so-called moderates, having in common only their arrogant dogmatism. These groups”, he said, “are not what this Party is about”. 40 years later, unkind commentators argue that such a group is precisely what Labour and this manifesto are entirely about. On June 8th, we will find out whether the Labour Party as an institution can survive Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell's vision.

Edelman | Southside | 105 Victoria Street | SW1E 6QT London | www.edelmaneditions.com | 020 3047 2177 | @edelmanUK


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Labour Manifesto: An Edelman Briefing by Edelman - Issuu