At the Conservative party conference last week, David Cameron declared his was now the party for working people not merely today but “tomorrow, always”. It was a bold claim and not one to be taken lightly. Four days in Manchester were knitted together by the question of how to be on the side of workers. Conservatives think that by addressing this now, they can build a political legacy that will endure.
With Labour increasingly intent upon talking to itself rather than to the public, there really is an enormous opportunity for the Conservatives to seize this mantle for working people. Yet grasping this opportunity will require a consistent and wide-ranging policy offer. Just as reputations are difficult to shake, they can also be slow to build and no single policy – however totemic – can be sufficient.
Inspecting the Conservatives’ record since 2010, the picture is mixed. On the one hand, policies such as increases in the personal tax allowance, a more flexible system of parental leave and most importantly, the new national living wage are pivotal moves in supporting workers. On the other hand, the planned cuts to tax credits are detrimental in this regard. Tax credits are primarily received by those in work. It is estimated that these cuts will result in higher in-work poverty and will damage work incentives. This does not fit with the party’s stated ambition of supporting workers.
The thinktank, Bright Blue, has been critical of the scale of the cuts to tax credits since they were first announced, arguing that the decision to protect various pensioner benefits has meant cuts falling too much on those in work. With concerns about these cuts now growing, including in Conservative circles, the government ought to reassess.
Beyond the issues of tax credits, there are further issues that the party ought to be turning its attention to in order to strengthen its claim to be the workers’ party.
First, Conservatives need a coherent response to the rise of self-employment. Between 2008 and 2014, self-employment accounted for more than half of all job creation and there are now 4.2 million people who are self-employed. Self-employment is now a mainstream form of employment and a vital source of dynamism and flexibility for the UK economy.
Yet with the labour market shifting so rapidly, the tax, regulatory and benefit system for self-employed people is in danger of being left behind. As a forthcoming Bright Blue report will outline in detail, the self-employed now encounter major challenges around financial resilience and being able to operate on a fair and level playing field. Responding to these challenges for the rising cohort of the self-employed is necessary if the Conservatives are to be the party of workers.
Second, more must be done to ensure that employers are playing their part in supporting employees to gain the skills and training they need to progress in work. Over the past few years we have seen a fall in the number of part-time higher education students. Meanwhile the adult skills budget has been slimmed. These trends underline the importance of employers stepping up and playing a more active role in supporting the upskilling of workers. The government has a role in ensuring this happens and steps have already been taken, most notably the apprenticeship levy, but more must be done. The Conservative party needs to explore new ways to encourage employers to act.
The opportunity of becoming the true workers’ party is within the reach of the Conservatives, but it is not there yet. It needs to reach a bit further still.
