We Are Labour - A Rallying Call to the Grassroots

Without a doubt, this is a watershed moment in Labour party history. The loss of power at the General Election has given us the greatest signal possible that we need to change. Not only a change of leader, but a change in how the Labour party is perceived. At the last General Election, we earned our lowest share of the vote since universal suffrage (h/t Ed Miliband) and that alone should be a wake-up call of epic proportion. If we could not defeat a party that openly admitted that it would make life difficult for the very people the Labour party was created to defend, then we were getting many things very wrong.

It is a cliché to say that failure is an opportunity but in this case it really is. Labour has achieved so much to be proud of during its thirteen years in government and has implemented some of the most socialist policy this country has ever seen.  After eighteen years of Tory mismanagement of public services, it was up to Labour to put things right. We repaired the crumbling buildings of our hospitals and schools or built new facilities to replace them; we ensured that parents were able to contribute to the workforce with tax credits and childcare support to help them and we ensured that everyone who did work, was paid a minimum wage.

We can rightly point to these achievements as a record we should be proud of but the public need more. The public remember the things we didn't get right, despite the economic downturn being a GLOBAL phenomenon, there are many who still try to lay the blame solely at the feet of the Labour government. There were things we could have done to prevent the bankers having such an impact and this is a lesson we must demonstrate that we have learned.

By far the biggest issue that we must, as a party, prove that we have learned from, is the fact that we did not listen. Members deserted us in their thousands because they felt that there was no point in being in the party when they had the same lack of influence from outside. The party conference became a PR extravaganza and was not about discussion, debate or formulating policy.  Members felt that they were unable to influence policy, so they gave up and walked away. A huge number of people protested against the invasion of Iraq, did we listen?

This is where we failed. Labour became a party that was managed and the leaders created a top-down infrastructure, where policy and process was managed and dictated from above.

This is our chance to put that right. Although I'm sure the grassroots would still rather have a Labour government, the election defeat has handed them the best possible opportunity to reclaim their party. The Leader that we choose must be inclusive, open, willing to share responsibility and ready to listen and, most important of all, to lead us, not manage us. It is time to allow the New Labour brand to fade into history. It served its purpose, made us electable and then, became a caricature of itself, a self-serving parody, with its faults magnified and satirised.

When I hear Ed Balls say that we must “cling on to the foundations of New Labour”, my heart sinks. This is exactly the opposite to what we should do. We must celebrate our achievements and firmly and clearly sound the clarion call “WE ARE LABOUR”. The New Labour label comes with far too much baggage, it is dated, worn and will forever be associated with spin, Blair and Iraq. It is time to move on. As a party we must move forward and look to the future.