Another brilliant leader from Emma today: spot on, well-argued, inspirational.

I also enjoyed the piece on foreign nationals and council housing, but…. welcome though attacks on the Tories and their race-to-the-bottom with Reform may be, the kind of nuance that Emma always shows would have been welcome as well. The desperate state of social housing is also down to the policies of the Blair era, when housing was left to the market, as an asset, rather than as a home, with predictable results.

Among many others, I had hoped that 2008 would prove a turning point, rejecting the neo-liberal model for its obvious failings, but, as we know, things only got worse, so hurrah for a Labour Party than now finally recognises that it must change for real, not the fantasies of the Corbyn era, nor the empty managerialism of the Starmer years, but is working well towards a model that can get democratic support.

Elizabeth Barnard

*****

The new prime minister believes in devolution. So why not use the recently established Regional Development Banks and Sovereign Funds.

Wales and Scotland should be given approval by the Treasury to issue 30 year bonds sufficient to fund all new major capital projects up to 49% to buy shares in all these essential services and new assets.

I understood that the Welsh Development Fund borrowing does not add to the Treasury National debt. It is a different Welsh National debt and by buying shares instead of offering subsidies, the shares are a regional long term income generating asset. It is known as State Capitalism and corporatisation and is a great success in Norway and other socially advanced nations including Singapore (through state owned land). 

Terry W Scales

*****

The article ‘Under Labour, the NHS must treat overseas nurses as professionals – not numbers’ prompted me to write.

There is a general recognition that there is a crisis in NHS Dentistry Provision across many parts of the country, but there is no shortage of dentists that would justify this crises.

The Financial Times reported in December 2025, that in December 2024 there were c.8000 foreign qualified dentists on the waiting list to take the two-part General Dental Council (GDC) overseas registration exam. In 2025 there were 350, or 4% of such dentists, who took the GDC exams. 

We should be asking how is our Government going to ensure that these skilled professionals are speedily processed by the GDC and engaged in NHS dentistry provision in our communities.

Cllr Ramsay Ross

Rutland CC

*****

Hi all

I was driven to  write about trans issues although I am not trans. I have a family member that is though.

I attended Colchester pride last Saturday and I had applied as the CLP LGBT+ Officer for a stand for the Labour Party. After a long wait and then chasing them up I received a standard, legal letter declining our application for a stall as it was felt that our values were not compatible with the LGBT+ communities values.

We have had stalls at Colchester Pride in the past and we have had no problems. However clearly we are no longer in step with the LGBT+ community and I know that as I am a lesbian and I know that many of my LGBT+ friends have left the Labour Party and it is almost a witch hunt if I mention the works Labour Party, unless it is in a derogatory way so often I don’t speak about the LP with them any more.

This is extremely sad as it allows Reform to pick up votes as Labour are becoming less visible, often derided and ridiculed and a clear shift is going to the Green Party.

The Green Party do not have enough significant mainstream support to challenge as a National Government in 2 years time. So how do we realign the Labour Party with our LGBT+ siblings?

What bathroom a trans woman or man can use is becoming too divisive and does it really matter, We all need to pee and cubicles are self-contacted. At Colchester Pride all the toilets were marked gender neutral and the “mens” toilets just said urinals available. So you knew when you walked in that a man may be peeing, if  I was desperate for a wee and sometimes I am I can avert my eyes to get the relief I need.

As for the risk to cis gendered women from trans women, I personally know many trans women and I as a cis gendered woman I have never ever felt them to be a threat to me even though quite a lot of them do identify as lesbians. A group of trans women or men together can get quite loud but so can a group of cis man and cis women or lesbians or gay men. When people find their tribe they are often quite animated and excited.

What can we do to get the recent rulings changed back to something that was widely accepted as usual and working, from something that is hurting trans people, trans allies, the majority of the LGBT+ community and their Allies and also the Labour Party.

Pauline Bacon
Colchester CLP LGBT+ Officer and TULO Officer      

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The post Letters to the Editor – week ending 23 August 2026 appeared first on LabourList.

Running a country from a building with the external appearance of a cramped two-bed is challenging enough. Inside, it is even worse. It was reported that, during his tenure, Keir Starmer struggled with the building’s labyrinthine layout. It is hardly an ideal place from which to govern.

It also happens to be on the brink of collapse.

Number 10 Downing Street is not, structurally speaking, in good shape. Churchill was so alarmed by its condition that he commissioned a survey that revealed the scale of the damage, ranging from crumbling foundations to dry rot and beetle damage. Were it any other office, it would likely have been demolished decades ago.

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Successive governments have either ignored the issue or opted for quick, cheap fixes. One such attempt, commissioned by Harold Macmillan in 1958, quickly ballooned from £400,000 to £3,000,000, and the results were lacklustre to say the least. Raymond Erith, the architect, was bitterly disappointed with the government’s insistence on thrift, suggesting this had postponed rather than ended the question of future repairs. He was right. Each successive prime minister has inherited the unpalatable possibility of the roof falling on their head.

Enter Burnham.

Manchesterism is built on the idea that politics should reject the tired habits of Westminster in favour of practical, effective government.  One recent manifestation of this doctrine is Number 10 North, which has seen part of the Prime Minister’s Office move from London to Manchester. Burnham will even live and work in Manchester for part of the week. Few politicians have spent longer arguing that Britain’s political culture is too reliant on Westminster symbolism, and fewer still would be brave enough to vacate Number 10 after decades of work to get there.

But temporarily vacating Downing Street while it undergoes proper restoration would send a simple message: this is a government willing confront problems head on. In taking action, he would be the first prime minister since Thatcher to meaningfully address the fact that the building is rotting from the inside out. Rather than leaving the problem to whoever comes next, he could be the man that fixes Number 10 – a political legacy none before him can claim.

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He could join Churchill, Macmillan, and Major in moving temporarily to Admiralty House while renovations take place. Ultimately, Burnham promised a ‘circuit-breaker’ for Britain – this selfless act would show the electorate he wants more than the office. If anything, the sight of builders entering Number 10 to fix it may be a more convincing symbol of renewal than any number of speeches could be.

And why shouldn’t the public share in the restoration?

Number 10 hasn’t opened its doors to the public since 1989. Once restoration is complete, opening parts of the building could help offset costs while reconnecting the public with one of Britain’s most important buildings. It must be said that repairs are not an easy sell to the taxpayer – but they could be an investment in public access as well as preservation for future generations.

Keeping Number 10 alive matters. It has become synonymous with the job of Prime Minister. Tourists strain their necks and cameras at the gates for a glimpse of the place. Foreign leaders and diplomats eagerly pose for photographs outside the door. For generations of politicians, it has represented the peak of a life in public service. That it has been left to rot mirrors a political culture that increasingly rewards quick fixes over long-term leadership.

The fact is, Britain cannot continue to govern from broken buildings. The churn of prime ministers in recent years risks these essential works falling by the wayside. Andy Burnham must differentiate himself from his predecessors, and preserve Number 10 for his successors. 

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“The time I was at my lowest was when I needed childcare over the summer. On a low income you have nothing to spare, when bills come you do whatever you can, even when it’s detrimental to the future.

When I moved from working part-time to full-time, I needed to find £1,200 to cover childcare. My high interest credit cards have very low limits and were almost maxed out, I couldn’t get an overdraft or loan with the bank, the only loan I had a chance of getting was over 50% interest. 

It felt like everything was working against me. I was crying every day, I felt trapped, the stress of being turned down at every avenue made me feel like I was going to lose my job because I couldn’t get childcare. 

I ended up not paying essential bills and taking out another credit card. Three years later, I am still paying this off. Every time I make a small dent something breaks. I am aware it is a trap.

If I could have gained credit at a reasonable rate I feel like I could have paid it off. Instead, I am only paying off interest. 

I spend countless hours trying to find a way out of this situation. Something needs to be done – most of us are struggling and plunging further into debt with the cost of living. We shouldn’t be relying on companies who exploit our situation to make more profits”. 

Jo works in finance full-time and is a single parent to a 10-year-old. 

Jo’s story is not unusual.

When you have to turn to expensive borrowing options, as is the case for so many on lower incomes, borrowing the same amount can cost you around £178 more a year. This is not about being careless with money. It is what happens when the market charges you extra when you have less and, as Jo found, closes every affordable door at the exact moment you need one to open.

And it isn’t only credit. Car insurance costs more if you live in a poorer area, so the very places we are promising “good growth in every postcode” are often the ones paying the most just to get by. One in four people in the UK have low financial resilience. This is not bad luck or bad budgeting. It is what happens when markets are left to work fine for people with money and badly for everyone else.

The Burnham government is working to give people breathing space, and that effort is needed and welcome. But putting money back into people’s pockets will not help those who have the least if we let unfair markets quietly take it out.

READ MORE: The politics of starting with the problem

This is why the Financial Services and Markets Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, matters. It looks technical and largely procedural, but it will change the way people like Jo are considered when financial markets make decisions. At the moment, the FCA, the regulator whose job is to keep our financial system working, must stop and consider the people being shut out whenever it makes or enforces rules. This duty, that they “have regard” to financial inclusion, applies whenever the regulator acts. The Bill will allow it to only be considered when top-level strategic decisions are made.

On its own, the duty as it has existed up until now would not have got Jo an affordable loan. But watering it down signals something bigger – that we are willing to step back from protections built to keep people who have less in mind, at exactly the moment they are struggling most to stay afloat.

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The Prime Minister says he wants to ease the cost of living and stamp out rip-offs. His measures so far will give breathing space to millions buried under rising costs and stagnant incomes. But that progress could be undone if we deregulate financial services at the same time. 

The ‘deregulation for growth’ approach must be swapped for a ‘good regulation for growth’ one. Closing the gap in financial inclusion could add over £6 billion a year to the economy, and we only close it by regulating markets to put excluded people first. Financial inclusion doesn’t halt growth. It ensures growth reaches everyone.

Jo was left paying the price for a system that was never built with her in mind. It did not have to be this way. There is little point in handing people a few hundred pounds if the market is left free to charge them more than that just to borrow, to insure a car, to get through the month. A government serious about the cost of living must look at how financial markets are ripping people off. Otherwise, the people who can least afford it will continue to pay the price.

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The inquiry confirms what decades of research, including my own, have long shown: the English education system is organised around middle-class norms. Schools reward particular forms of cultural and social capital — literacy, language, behaviour, and aspiration — that many working-class children simply do not bring with them through no fault of their own. As Pierre Bourdieu argued, this mismatch means that potential is too often misread as deficit. Working-class parents overwhelmingly want their children to do well, but their definition of success tends to be broader and more pragmatic: secure work, independence and happiness, rather than a narrow route to elite university and high-status professions.

Market reforms of the 1980s worsened those structural problems. The Education Reform Act 1988 and subsequent accountability regimes turned school attainment into the principal measure of success and fuelled competition. League tables and published results encouraged more affluent families to cluster in schools that already performed well, while poorer areas saw rolls fall, staffing become more precarious, and intakes become more disadvantaged. My research in the early 2000s found that apparent improvements in some schools owed as much to intake changes as to school-led improvement. The result has been a system in which improving individual schools without addressing the wider social context produces only limited progress for the most disadvantaged children.

READ MORE: ‘Burnham has the vision for technical education, here is how he can support schools to deliver it’

Narrow measures of success have other damaging consequences. They drive a narrowing of the curriculum, prioritising terminal examinations and academic subjects over personal development, vocational routes and enrichment. The inquiry notes that many working-class pupils would benefit from high-quality vocational and applied courses tailored to local labour markets, but recent policy trends have pushed the system back towards an academically dominated Key Stage 4, an issue that was noted by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in his July announcement that he will broaden the curriculum at KS4 to enable pupils to study technical and vocational course alongside core academic subjects. 

That narrowing not only reduces opportunities but also harms pupil well-being: research from the Gregson Family Foundation and the #BeeWell programme, echoed by the inquiry, finds many children unhappy at school and anxious about exams.

Resource pressures compound the problem. Schools serving white working-class communities are more likely to be under-resourced, face higher proportions of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and struggle to recruit and retain experienced staff. The inquiry reports that eight out of ten teachers believe working in disadvantaged communities is more demanding and requires higher skill. Yet pay and funding rarely reflect that extra workload. Without targeted capacity, incentives for teachers to work in challenging schools, higher pay, and additional support staff, these schools are left to manage disproportionate burdens.

The inquiry makes 16 recommendations that together form a practical blueprint: expand early-years provision and family hubs; prioritise reading fluency across schooling; strengthen transitions between phases; restore enrichment, sport and arts; and redesign Key Stage 4 to include rigorous vocational pathways alongside academic options. It also calls for Ofsted and public reporting to move beyond narrow attainment tables. League tables should be replaced by balanced reporting that weights attainment alongside inclusion, pupil well-being, personal development, attendance, exclusions and destinations, whether into sustained employment, training, apprenticeships or higher education.Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events. 

This is not about moving pupils into more affluent schools, which can hollow out struggling communities and do little for systemic equity. Instead, policy must build capacity in schools serving working-class areas: expand initiatives that place talented teachers in challenging contexts, reintroduce hardship payments for staff in deprived areas, and invest in counselling, mental-health services and other kinds of enrichment that make school relevant and supportive.

Labour and policymakers should take three priorities from the inquiry. First, rebalance accountability so that schools are judged on the whole child, not just exam results. Second, invest in people, with better recruitment, retention and pay for those working in the toughest schools. Third, broaden the curriculum to re-value vocational and applied pathways, careers education and local labour-market relevance alongside academic rigour, akin to the education curriculum changes proposed in July by Andy Burnham.

Without these shifts, the system will continue to privilege a narrow notion of success and leave too many children behind. Education should prepare young people not only to pass exams but to lead secure, fulfilling lives in their communities. Replacing league tables with meaningful, broad measures of school effectiveness, boosting early-years and vocational provision, and properly supporting staff on the frontline would be a start, and a clear Labour agenda for those who want schools to be engines of social mobility, not amplifiers of inequality.

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Each week during recess, Paul Dimoldenberg looks at economic news from across the country to identify what “good growth” looks like in a diverse set of local communities to deliver the much-needed economic growth to power the economy and deliver new jobs, increased wealth and additional tax revenues to pay for improved public services. This week we feature:

• £30m investment to create 150 Sheffield manufacturing jobs (S4)
• Edinburgh wave energy tech developer plans offshore data centres (EH9)
• New home for UK Biobank in Manchester (M15)
• Extreme environment centre plans for Exeter (EX5)
• Yorkshire mayors target health innovation investment (HD1)
• £3.3m investment to transform construction training in Accrington (BB5)
• Manufacturer of rare earth-free electric motors in Washington to accelerate development (NE38)

Sheffield: £30m investment to create 150 manufacturing jobs (S4)

Sheffield manufacturer Special Melted Products (SMP) aims to establish the UK’s first large-scale super alloy forging capability to reshore strategically important aerospace and defence manufacturing currently dominated by US suppliers. SMP currently generates around £100m in revenue and employs 260 people across two sites. The business is one of the few UK manufacturers to produce high-integrity alloys and components for critical applications in aerospace, energy and civil nuclear industries, with clients including Rolls-Royce.

Through Project Vulcan, the business plans to help establish UK capability in nickel-based super alloys used in the high-temperature sections of jet engines. SMP has secured a £28.5m working capital facility from Lloyds to support ongoing operating requirements. The bank has also provided £2.2m to acquire a 31,000 sq ft industrial building close to existing operations. With Project Vulcan currently in its build phase, SMP is targeting full operation by 2031. Over time, SMP plans to develop the building into further processing or production capacity, including potential additional melt or manufacturing operations, with a new R&D facility also planned.

Edinburgh: Wave energy tech developer plans offshore data centres (EH9)

Mocean Energy, an Edinburgh-based wave power developer, has entered the AI infrastructure market with Blue Core – an offshore data centre concept designed to generate its own electricity and reduce the cost of energy that data centres require. Global demand for AI-optimised computing is set to quadruple over the next decade, with AI data centres projected to consume 1,200 TWh a year by 2035 – roughly four times the UK’s total annual electricity consumption. Each unit combines wave energy, offshore solar and battery storage to power on-board AI server racks. Cooling, which typically consumes 15 per cent to 35 per cent of an onshore data centre’s energy budget, is expected to account for around 5 per cent at sea, using a closed-loop system that exchanges heat with the ocean.

Blue Core builds on Blue Star, Mocean’s existing offshore power system, which has completed 18 months of testing in harsh sea conditions and is expected to deliver its first offshore demonstrator and begin early commercial deployments from 2030, working towards a ten-year target of 6GW – roughly 2 per cent of projected AI data centre demand. Once a unit is built, its power is effectively free for the life of the asset, and Mocean estimates the approach could save around 13m tonnes of CO2 a year by 2035. 

Manchester: New home for UK Biobank in Manchester (M15)

Bruntwood SciTech has completed Greenheys, a £60m laboratory and workspace development in Manchester, designed to support cutting-edge science, technology and innovation businesses, with UK Biobank set to move half of its 400-strong team to the site. Greenheys is part of Bruntwood SciTech’s strategic infrastructure across Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor Knowledge Quarter, which includes Manchester Science Park, the Citylabs campus and Circle Square.

The company, a joint venture between Bruntwood, L&G and Greater Manchester Pension Fund, has developed the new 131,000 sq ft of laboratory and write-up space to centre on flexible Containment Level 2 labs. These spaces offer dedicated fume extraction units, high-spec LEV capacity and advanced air handling designed to facilitate the most sophisticated analytical and research work. Greenheys will provide UK Biobank, a major source of biological, health and lifestyle information, with a new headquarters and research facility. The organisation is currently preparing to relocate 11 million biological samples from its ultra-low temperature automated storage in Stockport to Greenheys.

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Exeter: Extreme environment centre plans (EX5)

A £150 million extreme environment centre planned for Exeter Science Park is forecast to generate more than £270 million of direct economic impact for the region – increasing to more than £500 million when wider supply chain benefits are included.

The nationally significant facility, which will be of strategic importance to the UK’s future resilience, security and economic growth, is being developed by NauteXe Global. It will feature a research and development test tank, measuring 60 metres by 40 metres, with depths of up to 30 metres.

The NauteXe Extreme Environment Centre (NEEC) will serve organisations that operate in complex and hazardous environments. It will allow operators to test their technologies in realistic simulated conditions – from the deep ocean floor to the harsh conditions of offshore wind installations and outer space – without the high cost, unpredictability and risk of live-environment trials. The test tank will be capable of simulating currents, waves and wind, and will support organisations across defence, offshore wind, subsea and space.

Yorkshire: Yorkshire mayors target health innovation investment (HD1)

Three Labour Yorkshire mayors have partnered with Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber to champion the region as a destination for health and life sciences investment. West Yorkshire’s mayor Tracy Brabin, York and North Yorkshire’s mayor David Skaith and South Yorkshire’s mayor Oliver Coppard, together with Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, have produced a comprehensive overview of the infrastructure and assets supporting the development of health tech as part of a sector generating £5bn in annual turnover.

Yorkshire is home to more than 27,000 people working in biopharmaceuticals and medical technology, with more than 600 life sciences companies, including specialists in orthopaedics, diagnostics, digital health, precision manufacturing and child health technology. Twelve higher education institutions teach more than 196,000 students across the region, with 46 per cent of undergraduates studying science subjects and more than £150m in collaborative research funding. Total R&D expenditure in Yorkshire and the Humber reached £2.84bn in 2024 alone.

East Lancashire: £3.3m investment to transform construction training (BB5)

Accrington and Rossendale College has secured a £3.3m investment to transform construction training, enabling more local people to develop practical skills, after receiving £2.6m of Government funding alongside investment from the East Lancashire Learning Group.  The project will deliver a brand-new multi-skills construction training zone together with expanded workshops for plumbing, electrical installation, site joinery, carpentry and bench joinery.

Existing facilities will also be redesigned to provide larger, more flexible teaching spaces that reflect modern construction practices. Designed alongside more than ten construction employers, the project will ensure learners benefit from training that reflects the realities of today’s workplace.

Washington: Manufacturer of rare earth-free electric motors to accelerate development (NE38)

Advanced Electric Machines Group, a Washington-based manufacturer of rare-earth- and magnet-free electric motors has secured £16m of funding to support the expansion of its product portfolio and accelerate development of new electric propulsion technology.  Advanced Electric Machines Group (AEM) creates technology that is applicable to a wide range of applications, including passenger car, motorcycle, ATV, the full range of trucks, buses and construction machinery and into the marine sector. 

The company’s motors eliminate the need for permanent magnets and rare earth materials, including the replacement of copper windings with aluminium. The funding round was led by existing shareholders Barclays Climate Ventures, PXN Ventures, Northstar Ventures and the Low Carbon Innovation Fund, alongside participation from new investors. Their equity investment is complemented by loan support from Innovate UK, and allows for expansion of facilities, expertise and production capability in Washington, where the investment will support development of AEM’s next-generation high-torque motor platform, extending the company’s existing technology into more demanding commercial vehicle and industrial applications. 

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The post Good growth in every postcode 21st August 2026 appeared first on LabourList.

He’s correct to say that capitalists (particularly now those who accumulate financially rather than implementing inventive, risk-taking enterprise) have been “lucky in their enemies”. That’s largely because, through the voting generations, capitalism has been shrewd enough to mobilise the taunt of “the politics of envy” and everyone is naturally against that original sin. More prosaically, they have been able to convey, often through media that they own for that specific political purpose, that “the Left begins by taxing us – and then they will come after you, the hard-working people on modest earned incomes. Beware! Vote against their plundering – and now their weird wokeness!”.

Mr Ganesh says that capitalism “emphasises the individual”. He doesn’t acknowledge the reality that, over centuries, capitalist exploitation has often systematically suppressed individuality and, indeed, entrepreneurial competitor challenges. Neither does he recognise that many socialists, particularly those who always rejected Soviet Communism, have regarded their efforts to be firmly focused on collective endeavour and contribution for the explicit purpose of enabling meaningful and universal individual emancipation through parliamentary means. That actually defines democratic socialism, certainly in European systems.

READ MORE: Crisis? Which crisis?

That emphasis on individual freedom is probably why it was rather easy to link the economic and social aspirations of socialism to the original – US Civil Rights – meaning of “woke”. From the 1920’s it meant being alert to prejudice and discrimination and in favour of mutual respect, civilised conduct and legal rights of citizenship. That, to answer Mr Ganesh’s headline question, is why socialists are generally willing to be that kind of “woke”.

In recent years, however, something called “wokeism” has, superficially and self-indulgently, been propounded as “socialism” by some in the posturing Left and, more cunningly, by the Right. The Democratic Socialists of America would be offering the historic version of “woke” now if they had stuck to the originating principles of their 1980’s founder, my friend and comrade, Mike Harrington. But, with exceptions like Bernie Sanders (when he leads rather than follows), Zohran Mamdami (who sensibly focuses on practical public needs and policy responses) and – latterly – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who showed herself to be an adroit (no pun intended) politician by saying recently that “Woke 1.0 was crazy”, too many haven’t.

Instead, “woke” has somehow metamorphosed into an obsessive affectation by some on the Left and a dismissive insult by the Right. By exploiting the grand title of “rebels” many Lefties (thankfully not all) have made their “wokeism” into tiresome self-righteousness on a good day and plain daft on a bad, gesture laden, wind-filled day. “Defund the police” is a case in point: The privileged will always have protection; the rest would be bereft. Absurd. And abolishing Defence? That means letting Putin take the White House instead of having it occupied by a glib, exploitative appeaser who can, and will, leave on constitutional schedule. Ridiculous, as Mr Ganesh says.

Here, in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn and most of those with him, can be acquitted of the extremities of “woke” pretentiousness.  We live in a time when disillusionment and anxiety has intensified the appeal of instantaneous simplicities to young generations. This is easy for socialists to understand, but not to embrace. We must instead recognise that “Labour must always prove that its idealism is not lunacy, nor its realism mere torpor”. The way in which some seemed to allow their pro-Palestinianism to degenerate into anti-semitism was unforgiveable. But, for a time, many Corbynistas were just the latest in a long line of fanciful self-indulgents on the British Left (“Hard” Left was always a lazy misnomer – they are rigid, but not resiliently steely). Like those before them, they appeared to think that, ultimately, widespread recognition of Conservative and capitalist injustice and inequity would strip away the “false consciousness” of the electorate and bring voters to “authentic”, daring socialism. Some still share that illusion, I assume. They always have. 

Zack Polanski is now seeking to attract much the same excited sentiment. He appears to be relegating the prominence of green (I.e. environmental) objectives having realised that “a plague on all their feeble, money grubbing, youth-ignoring, pragmatic houses” has stronger emotional appeal to (justifiably) anxious and insecure young cohorts.

Recognising that, and its causes and implications, is not patronising or mocking. It is a call to action for all of us – not just politicians, who know that a productive social and economic contract with young people must be rapidly and meaningfully established. No society can afford to lose the trust of its young.

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Socialism has had a bumpy existence. Theorists, and some enlightened practitioners, started using the term two centuries ago. As the Industrial Revolution roared to life, they were seeking to give new primacy to the needs and potential of a “just society”. Marx then invented “scientific” socialism (with, of course, the patronage of prosperous friends). In the hands of ruthlessly opportunistic disciples proffering liberation, that eventually turned into a Communist dictatorship of the proletariat that was inverted to be authoritarian rule over the working class. After 70 years, it collapsed under its own contradictions and incompetence. That fate was supposed to befall capitalism but, manifestly, it hasn’t.

If socialist “political entrepreneurs” anywhere focused resolutely on the tangible priorities of equity and quality and efficiency in production and distribution, surpluses would be generated in mixed economies, liberty enlarged and the responsibility and transparency that must accompany it matured. 

Considerate discernment, universal mutual respect of difference, pragmatic programmes and decisions. These are core essentials of the original “woke”. Freed from posturing they could become conventional and the intolerant “identity politics” of right and left made redundant. Practical socialist values would advance. The democratic societies that have accumulated even some of those attributes demonstrate the possibilities. They are now not oddities. They work, and with evident success.

Obviously, the outcome of such an evolution would not be Utopia which, thankfully, is unattainable. But, for a world in climate and political peril, it would have utility. And that must be attainable. Socialists believe in the realism of that. It is the motive for serving and representing humanity.

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It feels like this is a greater problem when you write about politics. So many people have such strong opinions and passions always run high. Single-issue campaigners feel aggrieved almost any time their priority is not the priority of others – whether that be an obscure mission or something that hits the headlines on a daily basis. However, this sense that it is harder in politics is probably me showing my own bias. I imagine that were I the editor of a website focusing on pet care, there would be passionate snake owners upset that I had not paid enough attention to the complexities of reptile care when talking about dog walking.

In the day-to-day editing of LabourList I make dozens of choices every day. What rises to the level of news? What can we prove rather than what do we just think we know? Is it a ‘LabourList’ story or just a story that people at LabourList find interesting (and how do we distinguish between the two)? How can we report on stories in a way that will illuminate the topic for you, our wonderful and knowledgeable readers?

READ MORE: Crisis? Which crisis?

On the comment side I accept or reject pitches on a range of topics for a range of reasons. How much have we already covered this topic? Does it cover a gap in our discussions? Do we already have a piece outlining a similar argument? What will be added with this piece? What balance will need to be struck if we publish something that pushes a particular viewpoint? Or is the piece actually saying anything at all? Do we need to reach out for an opposite viewpoint?

When writing we are limited by how many words people are willing to read and how much time (one of our scarcest resources) we have to dedicate to any one issue. Every piece of analysis we write could be stretched into a book. But I don’t think our readers would thank us if this email stretched to the length of a Game of Thrones novel every morning. So we have to make choices.

LabourList is small and specialist. Sometimes the latter makes these questions easier to answer. If it’s not about our party and wider movement, we don’t tend to cover it as news. But the former does make some of these questions harder and more painful. Thanks to our Friends, we have more capacity than we have previously – and are doing more with it. But there is always more we want to do. Your frustrations are often ours.

I was reminded of this when I was asked on the radio yesterday if concentrating on homelessness was the right thing for the government to do when the deficit is so high and the prisons crisis so acute. It was a frustrating question though one I absolutely recognised as legitimate.

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As I have written recently, the government faces crises on multiple fronts. Any time spent on one is time not spent on another. In the face of that it can often feel paralysing. To focus on one thing will inevitably bring criticism from those who do not feel this is the right thing. But as former French Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France’s famous maxim has it, ‘to govern is to choose.’ And to succeed at anything you need to focus properly, with the right prioritisation and resources. That is not to say it will be the only thing the government will ever do – no government ever can or will realistically behave that way. But in setting out from day one a priority of ending street homelessness Burnham has made an early choice that it is absolutely right to follow through on.

No government will make choices that please everyone. But they have to make those choices or they will look, feel and be lost in a miasma of choices they fail to make. It will be in sticking to those decisions and demonstrating an ability to deliver on their clearly stated priorities that Burnham and Labour can show more widely that Labour can govern and govern well. 

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What really happens behind the scenes of Labour’s National Executive Committee? And what do the candidates standing for election as CLP representatives want to change?

In the latest LabourList Podcast, Editor Emma Burnell is joined by four candidates from across Labour’s internal political landscape for a wide-ranging NEC Election special.

READ MORE: The five pillars of Labour

Andrew Archilleos of Restoration Labour, Cat Arnold of Mainstream, Jess Barnard of the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance and Jane Thomas of Labour To Win sit down with Emma to discuss their campaigns, priorities and perspectives on the role of Labour’s executive body.

With candidates representing four different internal slates, the conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from those seeking a place at the heart of the party’s decision-making structures. From the workings of the NEC to the competing visions for Labour’s future, this episode provides insight into an important election that will shape the party’s internal politics.

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Whether you are already following the NEC elections closely or want to understand more about how Labour is organised and governed, this special episode is essential listening.

The LabourList Podcast is made possible by the support of our Friends. Become a Friend of LabourList today and help keep independent Labour journalism alive and thriving.

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Andy Burnham has been right to highlight the failure of neo-liberal economics over the last 40 years which has led to the low-productivity, race to the bottom economy we find ourselves in today. The trickle-down approach has manifestly failed, and we need a new model which builds upwards from the grassroots. That is why I strongly welcome the revised plans for public contracts set out last month which will compel companies to create local jobs which pay above the minimum wage, offer training, work experience and address skills gaps.

More broadly, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) recognises the Labour government’s commitment to use its £90 billion annual purchasing power as a tool for both economic growth, social cohesion and improved employment rights. It is vital that this leverage is aligned with local, regional and mayoral authority priorities alongside public sector procurement from the private sector which was nearly £400 billion in 2024/25.

READ MORE: Andy Burnham: ‘The rewiring of Britain has begun’

Labour’s landmark Employment Rights Act 2025 gradually comes into force both this year and next with a series of protections for workers, improvements to industrial relations and enhanced family friendly rights. 

The Act was driven by the New Deal for Workers, a campaign launched by trade unions and their members more than a decade ago. The CWU remains committed to the aims of that campaign which called for the reshaping of the economy and a new social settlement for the working people of the United Kingdom.

I acknowledge the strategic challenges faced by the Burnham government at present including the need to improve public services and finding consensus in weighty areas such as defence spending and reform of social care.

I also know many Labour ministers and MPs understand that workers have faced low-wage growth and a cost-of-living crisis while wealth inequality has risen exponentially for more than 15 years. It is well documented that many unscrupulous employers continue to squeeze workers’ rights through shoddy practices such as false self-employment.

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However, I am hopeful that the leadership of the new government wants to bring back a sense of balance to the workplace and empower trade unions to organise across the country, especially in the private sector. 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 has changed the lives of millions of working people, but we need to go further. UK workers have fewer collective rights than other European countries and union density in the private sector in the UK is less than 12%. 

The CWU will be urging Labour to introduce sectoral collective bargaining agreements across entire industries including the postal sector to level up our economy at the party conference next month. We want to see an end to bogus self-employment and gig-economy employment models and their replacement with fairly paid and secure jobs. 

We will continue to call for further reforms to employment rights which ensure that working people are empowered and strengthened in workplaces across the UK. Resetting the balance between capital and labour can be a catalyst for boosting economic growth, improving productivity, creating jobs and generating better social outcomes all of which the country so desperately needs. We look forward to working with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his government to deliver these ambitions. 

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No matter what a person may have done, nobody should be subjected to that relentless public hounding, humiliation and harassment. The level of media scrutiny Professor Arday faced was totally unacceptable.

I am shocked to the core by his tragic loss.

Sadly this is not the first time that a Black person has faced such intense scrutiny from the media. All dignity was lost in the process which has made me think about how much more should we accept from the media. Unfortunately, this case is not an isolated one. Black lives are regularly sensationalised and scrutinised by the media without the care and humanity that we would expect from institutions in this country.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people up and down the country will be asking whether they can expect equality, fairness and dignity when facing public scrutiny. Equality and fairness are what I stand for, which is why I believe that there must be an independent investigation into how the media and other institutions handle issues of this nature in the future.

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The post A statement on Jason Arday appeared first on LabourList.