What the next government must do is obvious, and it needs to have as big and as wide a mandate as possible - helped by supportive MPs from other sympathetic parties. We can rebuild an attractive country with a uniquely dynamic, purpose-driven capitalism grounded in an economic philosophy that recognises the interdependence of the private and public spheres. We can all lead lives we have reason to value underwritten by a vibrant social contract. We can revive our democracy. We can stand by the values - fellowship, tolerance, fairness, kindness, belonging - we hold dear while at the same time respecting the urge for individual self-betterment, ambition and action. The “We Society” must offer both a floor and a ladder. We can hold our political union together. We can remake our relationship with the EU. The life of a nation is no more preordained than that of an individual, we have choices and agency. This time no mistakes.

Will Hutton THIS TIME NO MISTAKES. 2024

UK Politics

The Labour party won the recent election by a major landslide resulting in a majority of over 180. One is forced to ask the question; how can a poltical party win such a large majority over the second party with just 34% of the national vote? This fact alone should dictate a change to the UK’s election system of first-past-the-post to a fairer proportional system which ultimately values every vote. Right now we have an elected dictatorship and the results are already becoming clear. When 7 Labour MPs voted for the SNP amendment to scrap the 2-child benefit system they were immediately suspended from the Labour party - something straight out of the anti-democratic Boris Johnson playbook. They were sacked for upholding socialist values…

The rot starts at the top. The political system is malfunctioning, bringing politicians and civil servants into disrepute and discrediting the very notion of the public realm in which national renewal might be attempted. Instead the the state is the handmaiden of the process of loss. The proud House of Commons regards itself as the cockpit of the nation, but it is no more than a creature of the government of the day. While the courtesies of a nineteenth-century debating chamber have been observed, the government can make laws at will [in this two-party reality and unjust first-past-the-post electoral system].

Will Hutton 1997

And if prolonging child poverty in the UK wasn’t enough the Labour leader and Chancellor cease the highly valued Winter Fuel Payment to over 10 million pensioners using the excuse that the books have to be balanced after the previous government left a ‘black hole’ of 22 billion overspend. Now it is not right for the wealthiest pensioners to receive this benefit and a method to avoid this should be formulated. It has also become clear that over 800,000 pensioners have failed to claim Pension Credit which is an extra payment to the poorest pensioners. The one-off Winter Fuel Payment of between £200-£300 can now only be paid to recipients of Pension Credit. In terms of annual income entitled claimants must have an income of less than £12,000 per annum with very limited savings.

There are many questions to answer as to why this extreme measure was brought in so quickly without scrutiny as to the implications of such a move on some of the poorest in the community. The government claims it is now working to encourage more pensioners to claim Pension Credit, but why didn’t they do this before introducing this draconian cut? They could have raised the level of income by a few thousand to capture more pensioners before making the change. The previous suspension of 7 Labour MPs has no doubt caused existing Labour MPs to put party before people. There were over 50 Labour MPs who did not vote. There was only 1 Labour MP brave enough to vote against the measure and follow her conscience.

The previous government always failed to publish Impact Statements evaluating the implications of controversial legislation, such as the implications of leaving the EU. This draconian measure affecting the poorest pensioners was not accompanied by an Impact Statement describing the effects of taking this benefit away from poorer pensioners, especially in a scenario of dramatically increased power charges and cost of living. It is vital for older people to stay warm during winter. It is estimated that were over 4,000 deaths last year due to cold weather.

‘Black Holes’, ‘Difficult Decisions’, ‘Fiscal Rules’ are amongst the words commonly spoken by this new government whenever trying to justify recent decisions. It’s ‘take back control’ all over again. It’s politics and not people. Labour has moved to the right when the country is crying out for a more democratic socialist agenda. The regular Labour mantra at the moment is “we are shocked at we have found.” Shocked at the state of the economy, shocked at the state of the National Health Service, shocked at the state of mental health and dentistry services, and so on. The Labour party has been in opposition for 14 years and in my view offered a weak and under-informed opposition. If I and most of the population knew the state of these services, why didn’t the Labour opposition who had access to far more information than us? If myself and many others are not shocked, why wasn’t Labour when they were in opposition? If they were not fully aware of the country’s dire economic situation, then why did they announce over a year ago that their declared plans to spend 28 billion a year on climate change strategies could not be afforded?