Labour talks about change. It should see itself as a radical movement and embrace new ways of doing things, writes TERRY MURDEN
Barring a damaging revelation or misjudged utterance it is unthinkable that Labour will not form the next UK government. With three weeks of campaigning still available to engage the electorate, Sir Keir Starmer should take the opportunity of the party’s overwhelming lead to substitute his attackers with a few reinforcements in defence. At this late stage he can ill-afford any late or own goals.
Labour has spent the past few weeks ramming home the message that the party has changed and that it will change Britain. By listing wealth creation as its number one priority, the manifesto does represent a marked shift to the centre right, an acknowledgement of some traditional un-Labour principles.
From 5 July, the promised programme will need to be turned into practical action and Sir Keir will face a series of immediate tests of his promise not to raise income taxes. SNP leader John Swinney has challenged the Labour leader to hike tax to tackle the gap in the public finances, but even a Labour leader with a reputation for u-turns surely could not reverse a key commitment. Not yet.
Within days he will need to resolve a few outstanding problems, not least the junior doctors’ pay dispute. Medium term he may face the collapse of Thames Water, one of the UK’s biggest utilities. He must quickly come up with a workable plan to tackle the small boats and illegal immigration, and find a way to improve trade bottlenecks with the EU, as well as provide further assurances on energy supplies.
If he sticks to his promise not to raise taxes beyond those announced then his biggest challenge will be to boost economic growth by lifting productivity as the only way to raise the finance needed to fund his programme.
This requires a doubling down on investment in skills, a sharp reduction in regulation and the processes, such as planning, that act as a drag on activity. He has promised more mayors as part of a decentralising of the UK that will give the regions and nations more powers to stimulate growth at local level. He should go further by forming an English parliament that will ease the tensions between Westminster and the devolved governments.
Labour talks about change. It should see itself as radical and embrace new ways of doing things. The old ways simply aren’t working. In a digital, multi-ethnic, social media world, fractured by a broken transport system, a health service struggling to cope, a shortage of housing, a mental health crisis and violence in our schools, there is a need to do things differently. A new voting system, reform of the constitution and parliamentary accountability, changes in the way we educate young people.
Crucially, Labour needs to accept that more private capital is needed to fund the National Health Service. John Swinney warns of the “dangers” of “creeping privatisation”. He is wrong. The real danger is continuing to pretend that the taxpayer can continue funding a service which he has admitted is now unable to meet the demands placed upon it. Private capital and patient fees are badly needed. The cherished principle of free access to all at the point of delivery is no longer sustainable. If politicians really listened to the voters they would hear those with the means to pay for health services saying they would be willing to do so.
Patients already pay, without too much resistance, for services such as dentistry, optometry and physiotherapy. Why would they not pay a few quid to have their arm put in plaster, or a stitch in a head wound? If even a small contribution from patients was encouraged it would raise millions for the NHS, and it would cut waiting lists. That’s a win-win.
The NHS is already soaked with private money, from the drugs supplied by the likes of GSK and AstraZeneca, to the medical equipment and buildings provided by thousands of companies. Adding private care and paid services to the list is a logical next step and it need not deprive the less well-off if there is a guarantee that no one would be denied the treatment they need.
There are indications that Labour will take this route, if not overtly, then through measures that will follow Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s arguments for using the private sector to help cut the NHS care backlog. He argues that a failure to do so would result in a “betrayal” of working-class people who cannot afford to pay for care. He says his approach is a “pragmatic but principled one”.
It would also be the biggest indication that Labour is a changed party.
Terry Murden was Scotland editor and Business Editor at The Sunday Times, Business Editor at The Scotsman, and Business and City Editor at Scotland on Sunday. He is now Editor of Daily Business
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