The lives politicians create for us are not the ones we want to live!
We live in rapidly changing times. Technological growth – in particular the prevalence of AI – is accelerating exponentially. The impact of climate change is having a dramatic effect on our environment, our economy and our society. The widespread adoption of low-tax, low-regulation, free-market economics has resulted in decimated public services and rapidly increasing levels of poverty and inequality.
Consequently the quality of most peoples’ lives in the UK has declined over the past decade and the prospects for future generations are as low as they have been since the Second World War. This, despite the misleading claims by politicians and media on the right of the political spectrum, is not what the majority of UK citizens wish to see happen! The majority of citizens want well run and well-funded public services and utilities. They want to live in a clean unpolluted environment. They want to have access to good quality, affordable housing, education and health services. They want to live in a society where homelessness, poverty and dependence on food banks is not a part of our social fabric. In short they want to live in a tolerant and more equal country which provides a better quality of life for themselves and for their children and where the government places the interests of citizens before those of profit-driven individuals and organisations.
Mainstream political parties are out of touch!
It is not surprising therefore that all too many people have become disillusioned with politics. They (wrongly) categorise politicians as “all being the same” and (rightly) feel that their interests are not being represented by the government of the day. Many look to a change of government as a solution but there is little hope that the alternative will be much better. Whilst removing the current corrupt and inept Tory government will certainly be an essential step in the right direction, it will not be enough!
Political parties, like most organisations, need to change with the times – they need to respond to the external environment in which they operate – otherwise they become obsolete and irrelevant. Commercial organisations have always faced this challenge and those that have thrived have had to embrace (often painful) changes in culture, leadership style and business practices. Contrast the agile high-tech companies of Silicon Valley with the industrial behemoths of the post Industrial Revolution. However our major political parties have, by and large, stubbornly resisted evolving in order to deal with the changing world. Just as disgruntled customers will desert a business that persistently fails to meet their needs, citizens are deserting established political parties.
Political disenchantment leads to populism!
This disconnect between what citizens need and want and what mainstream political parties offer is dangerous, as it creates a void which is invariably filled by opportunistic populist individuals and parties. These populists purport to “speak for the people” but in reality are out to exploit a disillusioned and demoralised public for their own ends. This is the situation we see being played out across the western world and life for the majority of people seldom improves under populist ‘elected dictator’ governments (despite the seductive, but false, promises they make)!
We are living in the age of the political dinosaur!
So if we are to create the type of society that the majority of UK citizens really want to see, and prevent populism taking root in the UK, any political party with an avowed ‘progressive agenda’ needs to take a long hard look at itself and question whether they are truly fit to address the existential technological, environmental, economic and social challenges that the country is facing. Most political parties are relics of a bygone age. They are hierarchical, sclerotic, inflexible, slow to change and their culture is dominated by history and ideological precedent. There is all too often a huge disconnect from the public they are elected to serve! Politics in the 21st century needs progressive parties that are agile, responsive, pluralist and which put the interests of people before those of vested interests and outdated ideologies.
Politics and political parties need to change – urgently!
So, assuming that Labour wins power at the next General Election, what do they need to do? Any organisational transformation takes time and concentrated effort but there are three things that Labour could do immediately to signal its intent to start to build a new social contract with UK citizens.
1. The case for democratic reform
Firstly, it needs to acknowledge that democracy as currently being practiced in the UK, is broken. Our system is riddled by cronyism. Lobby groups wield disproportionate influence over the political agenda. Our First Past The Post (FPTP) voting system is not only unrepresentative but encourages short- termism and governments to put their political survival before the interests of citizens or the environment. So Labour needs to embrace democratic reform including a move towards some form of Proportional Representation (PR). Not only does the current FPTP system mean that the majority of votes cast have no bearing on the final outcome, it also disproportionately benefits the non-progressive Tory party. Hence progressive parties have little or no chance of having substantial representation in Parliament.
It will therefore be impossible to implement any meaningful progressive social, economic or environmental policies unless the voting system is changed and our democratic processes reformed!
2. The case for economic reform
Secondly, Labour must be prepared to tackle the dominance of libertarian economics head on and dismantle the myths about money creation, ‘trickle-down economics’, the ‘curse of government debt’ and the power of markets. They need to be exposed for what they are; economic ideologies which benefit the wealthy, deepen inequality, result in austerity and underfunded public services and encourage exploitative capitalism to flourish. By ‘buying into’ the prevailing economic orthodoxy, Labour is effectively closing the door to the changes necessary to reverse the horrendous Tory legacy of rising inequality of wealth and income, a stagnant economy, increasing poverty and a cost of living crisis as well as polluted waterways, underfunded public services and an overdependence on climate destroying fossil fuels.
Unless alternative economic approaches are adopted, progressive policies will never be able to flourish!
3. Politics should be about people, not power!
Finally Labour needs to be prepared to take a long hard look at itself and undertake the internal changes necessary for it to become a political party fit for the 21st Century. It needs to acknowledge the fast changing world in which it operates and develop agility and responsiveness. It needs to deepen its connectivity with the electorate and ensure that policies address the real (not imagined!) needs of citizens and it needs to accept that the existential challenges it is facing are in many ways unprecedented and hence new and innovative solutions must be found. These will only arise if it adopts a pluralist framework which embraces voices from different sectors of society. This transformation will take time, but a good starting point would be to communicate a credible and compelling vision of the society and economy that it wants to create and how it proposes to make it a reality.
We, the electorate, need to make it happen!
So what can we, the electorate, do to facilitate the necessary changes?
Firstly we can counter the rhetoric that ‘all politicians are the same (greedy, self-seeking, dishonest etc.) and encourage people to vote, but to vote wisely – otherwise we are playing into the hands of the populists.
Secondly we can ensure that candidates at the next General Election understand what really matters to their constituents and confront them with examples of where their party’s manifesto fails to reflect these needs.
And finally we can continue to encourage newly elected MPs once in power to exert pressure for change within their party and give them the support and encouragement necessary to challenge the status quo. Political parties (like most established organisations) are inherently resistant to change unless faced with a serious threat to their survival.
Labour needs to understand that the imperative for change goes even further – it is the survival of democracy itself that is at stake and the public look to them to be their standard bearer!
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