The election results were brutal but clear.
The Tory victory of 2019 was no one-off. Labour has lost an emotional connection with working class people.
It didn’t fall out of the sky. We weren’t blindsided. It’s been festering for years and threatens the existence of the party. The stakes are that high.
This is not just a problem within a ‘Red Wall’ of seats in the Midlands and North.
It is everywhere – including London where Labour lost amongst working class voters.
So how can we rebuild? The clue is in the name – labour.
We should start with work and commit to guarantee decent jobs – “jobs you can raise a family on” to quote President Biden – for every citizen in the country.
From this day on everything Labour does and says should focus on creating good work.
Industrial policy and solutions to the climate crisis – our plans for new housing, roads, rail, bridges, ideas to rebuild our social care system and our health, education and council services – should all be driven by an overriding duty to create millions of decent, well paid, unionised quality jobs for all our people.
On Saturday victorious Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham talked about giving everyone “the dignity of decent work”. He is bang on.
Coming out of lockdown and with furlough ending, things are going to get bumpy.
Expect more sharp practices like the hundreds of British Gas workers sacked for refusing a worse contract. Tesco and Network Rail tried to ‘fire and rehire’ their workers and it persists across local government.
Think of the Deliveroo driver making as little as £2 an hour whilst their CEO rakes in hundreds of millions in share options saying his couriers don’t want any sick or holiday pay.
Even the Supreme Court said recently that the power imbalances in companies such as Uber must be rectified.
These are questions of human dignity – they shine a light on what we as a country will tolerate and what we will not.
The Tories won’t confront this stuff despite their bluster.
Labour should abolish such practices and commit instead to provide decent work for every citizen in every town and region of the country. Real levelling up.
People say you cannot do this.
Why not? People value and desire meaningful work. It should be a duty of government to provide what people want.
Alongside our best councils and mayors, Keir Starmer should now plan to create good work for everyone.
I would go further – commit to new basic rights for all citizens, including decent housing, medical care, security, and free education.
But let’s anchor everything around a new right to work. Such big bold ideas can inspire people, unite our party and heal the country.
- Jon Cruddas’s new book The Dignity of Labour is out now.
