'1997, Twenty-Five Years Later' - Anas Dayeh

'1997, Twenty-Five Years Later' - Anas Dayeh

“There it is, ten o’clock, and we say Tony Blair is to be Prime Minister, and a landslide is likely”

Indeed, even after twenty-five years, these words haven’t left our memory. After eighteen years of tory rule, Labour finally won. Not only had they got enough MPs to form a government but they achieved a historic landslide.

With the current government, and every one of its outrageous scandals and shambolic policies, it is difficult to envision a time when the UK had a government that actually cared about people. Many young people like myself spent our teenage years knowing only austerity, cuts to our youth centres, tripling tuition fees and chaos added to every aspect of our lives.

“A new dawn has broken, has it not?”

It truly had. For millions of people across the country, that day gave them hope that their lives could at long last improve. One of the main priorities of Blair and Brown’s government was the national minimum wage. A policy that is not necessarily seen as radical today, yet one which both the Tories and Lib Dems actively campaigned against. Such policy reminds us that what is defined as ‘radical’ changes over time, and what is seen as radical today, might be seen as the norm in twenty-five years. Immediately after its introduction, two million workers saw their wages rise. That’s more individuals and families finally having greater disposable income, and better living standards.

The achievements don’t stop there. There’s much, much, more that could be said about Sure Start, Educational Maintenance Allowance, the shortest NHS waiting times since records began, more doctors, nurses, and teachers, and the very long list of achievements.

Things could only get better from the breaking of that new dawn and for many people, they did.

“And it is wonderful! we always said that if we had the courage to change then we can do it, and we did it!”

It’s always difficult to make change, and hard to agree on what that change should look like. If the 2019 General Election taught us anything, it’s that the Labour Party cannot simply continue doing what it previously did, and hope for the best. It is our duty to make this party one that the British people can not only vote for, but be proud of. We need to remember that for every day, month, and year where we’re out of office, there are millions of people who are suffering under a Tory government. if we don’t want change for ourselves, we should change for those who need us the most. Our party exists for them, after all.

“For eighteen years, eighteen long years. My party has been in opposition. It could only say, it could not do…. Today, enough of talking, it is time now to do”

Doing the best for Britain, in the short term and long term. Even when the Labour Party is now twelve years out of office, many young people are still benefiting from its policies. The Child Trust Fund policy, introduced by Blair and Brown, meant that all children born between 2002 and 2011 can access funds of over £1000 when they turn eighteen.

Many adults might argue that it isn’t much, but for someone who is 18, from a low-income household, it could mean a new device to help them with university, a cultural travel experience or many other opportunities that would otherwise be simply out of their grasp.

It is that Labour government that took care of us, our education, and aimed to keep at it even after leaving office. Unfortunately that policy, like many great others, was abolished by the Tories and Lib Dems.

“All we ask, is the chance to govern”

In the end, we must not forget the real impact we can have by winning a Labour government. The thousands, even millions, of people who benefited are not simply statistics on a paper. They are real lives, real people, some of whom we are probably friends with without even knowing. After all, it is only those who can afford a Tory government, who dismiss the last Labour government and its achievements. We can only hope that in the next general election we can have the opportunity to change this country for the better!

“2024 will be a defining moment in British history, and as the night goes on, we’ll be sharing with you the results as they come. And there it is, 10 o’clock, and we say Keir Starmer is to be prime minister, and landslide is likely.” This, surely, is the only thing we all want to hear on the 1st May 2024.

[Anas Dayeh is a first-year PPE student at St John’s College]