Labour: Arranging the deckcahirs on the Titanic

While the Conservative Party is doing what it was put on Earth to do – fix things when they go wrong and not worry too much any kind of vision of the future. ‘Steady as she goes’, you might say to extend the metaphor used by the great Conservative philosopher of the 1950s, Michael Oakeshott, that the state is a ship sailing on a boundless sea with no port of origin and no destination but which needs to be kept on an even keel by the captain and crew, what is Labour doing? There is every sign that they are engaged in re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, the Titanic being not the state but themselves, the Labour Party. In particular they are discussing amongst themselves (not us, the punters) the fine details of whether they should have opposed or supported this policy or that one and whether it was a matter of poor leadership or ‘not getting the message across’ or being a bit too left or a bit too right. What they are missing is the fundamental problem that Labour now faces and possibly has no answer for. Why does this matter? Well, it matters if you stand on the centre-left of politics and therefore oppose a centre-right government, but more generally it matters because it is vital that we have an effective, united opposition to keep government accountable and it matters because we will need a genuine choice at the next election. David Davis, that strange hybrid of rights campaigner but also social conservative on the Conservative backbenches, expressed this well last Question Time on the BBC. He is as worried as anybody about some tendencies toward authoritarianism from the Home Office and Department of Justice at the moment. Labour faces some fundamental problems. The first, perhaps most serious is the fracturing of the centre-left in British politics. This is composed of Labour of course, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the rump of the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. In the recent election this group won a total of 47.4% of the popular vote and was ranged against the Centre-Right duo of Conservatives and UKIP of 49.5% (the rest being others and Northern Ireland parties). Looks familiar? Well, students of American politics will recognise this kind of divide and the USA is indeed often described as the 50-50 political system. If we assume that UKIP will decline after the EIU referendum, whatever the outcome, but especially if there is a decisive yes vote, the fragmented centre-left will be faced by a virtually monolithic opponent on the centre-right. To add to this problem, Labour is trying to solve a riddle that has no answer. Move to the right and the party loses Scotland for ever, move to the Left and it will win no seats in the South and probably the Midlands. This left-right condundrum must be abandoned. The second is the party’s lack of vision. Not, I emphasise, several competing visions, but no vision at all. What kind of Britain does the party want to see? They have to make a better fist of articulating what a socially just, business-friendly, worker (and trade union) friendly, tolerant, open society where opportunities and the rewards of economic growth are evenly spread, will look like. Reading or re-reading John Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’ would be a good start It needs the kind of vision shown in past by Wilson, Thatcher and Blair; different visions to what is needed now of course, but at least a clear view. The third is poor leadership. It is beginning to appear that the field for the leadership is weak, good at arranging deckchairs perhaps, but with no idea of how to mend the damaged hull. There are a few impressive people on the centre-left, such as Dan Jarvis, Tristram Hunt and Stephen Kinnock, but they look too inexperienced. The prescription? Easier said than done to be sure, but Labour needs to set up a commission of its younger leaders to develop a vision that can capture people’s imagination, a vision with a name and clear principles (leave the deckchairs for now), it probably needs to sever its formal connections with the trade unions which are now pretty toxic, and create a new accord with them which does not involve money or internal party votes, it may need to consider an amalgamation with the Liberal Democrats and maybe a working relationship with the SNP and Plaid to stop the fragmentation of the centre-left and then it will just have to wait until a new leader, untainted by past disasters (Iraq and the debt crisis), emerges from the ashes.