Are Keir Starmer’s Plans For Radical Constitutional Reforms Too Ambitious?

Oliver Bhutiani on 9 December 2022

On Monday 5th December, Labour announced a 40-point plan on overhauling the British Constitution, one that promised to sweep away outdated and outgrown structures such as the House of Lords – to be replaced with modern alternatives. It promised to reunite UK Politics around improved structures – furthering devolution to national and local government, which hopes to rebalance power closer to people; enshrining rights, such as right to healthcare; commitments to clean up corruption in Westminster by banning second jobs and foreign money; and finally introducing a replacement for the House of Lords, representing nations and regions at the centre, and granting power to this assembly to protect constitutional rights. However, like the constitutional reforms made by Tony Blair , these risk not going far enough to repair the foundations of our democracy, and one area remains completely unaddressed: the broken electoral system in place for general elections.

The current electoral model is not fit for the modern age – its greatest weakness being wasted votes, where any vote casted for a candidate other than the preferred of the two most popular candidates running will count for nothing, and possibly even prevent a preferred candidate from winning. This has unevenly punished progressives due to there being a wider variety of parties – a Liberal Democrat who would prefer a Labour candidate to a Conservative is given no chance to indicate preference, and their vote could help decide more fairly the most popular choice in the area.

The absence of electoral reform from Labour’s plans, especially when Keir Starmer has been quoted as saying “on electoral reform, we’ve got to address the fact that millions of people vote in safe seats and they feel their voice doesn’t count,” makes this especially disappointing. With a chance to improve democracy for all voters, Labour should seize the opportunity to rebalance voting power in favour of voters.

The plan for a new upper chamber (The Assembly of the Nations and Regions), promises to better represent the whole UK in Westminster: a change that will address the fundamental concerns behind independence movements and disillusionment with the system, and the promise to grant powers to protect Constitutional rights is a welcome one. However, it seems already that this chamber would struggle against the power of a majority government opposing the House, as the power of the Prime Minister to reverse or weaken these changes is not curtailed. To ensure that these improvements are both lasting and workable, Labour must commit to properly balancing power between branches of government, and work to restrict the damage that an overzealous Prime Minister may do to Human Rights, Equality and other fundamental legislation that impacts the most vulnerable in our society.

A welcome change is an updating of the standards that MPs are held to – banning second jobs and passing anti-corruption legislation certainly promises to hold politicians to a higher standard. However, while judgements will be made by independent bodies, decisions will ultimately still be taken by the Prime Minister, demonstrating that the PM’s role can still be abused to support members of government that fail to observe the rules and standards. Reforms to be made concerning standards, while certainly heading in the right direction, fall short of what the public deserves concerning the implementation of punishments against those accountable to us. To properly reform this area of government, Labour must commit to take power from the Prime Minister’s position and allow independent bodies to enforce the standards we deserve.

These reforms are certainly a step towards repairing the trust between people and politicians, seeking move power away from the centre, but they fall short primarily because it still relies on the “good chap” system – the government only being bound by respect for tradition and established institutions. As was seen with the Johnson administration however, this quickly comes apart once there aren’t “good chaps” in power. Labour’s plans for reform are a step in the right direction, but more must be done if we want to fully repair the trust between people and the political system.

Image Credit: Flickr

Enough is Enough! National Day of Action Protest in Leeds

Gabriel Kennedy on 31 October 2022

On the 1st of October, protesters nationwide braved the rain and took to the streets in a day of action organised by the Enough is Enough campaign to challenge the growing Cost of Living Crisis. The rally marched from the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers’ (RMT) picket line at Leeds Train Station on to protest outside the British Gas offices. Later, protestors moved on to support the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) picket down at the Royal Mail Holbeck delivery office. The protest made a clear point of showing the interconnectedness of industrial action and the Cost of Living Crisis, as well as the failures of national leadership.

Outside the British Gas offices in Holbeck protestors symbolically burned energy bills, energy company logos and fake money. During their speeches, union representatives and protestors denounced profiteering by energy, rail and postal companies amid record profits. The Regional Coordinator for the campaign described the volumes of people they’d met struggling to meet their bills and put food on the table despite working 60-hour weeks. As energy companies continue to see high profits and shareholders rake in enormous bonuses, the Coordinator saw the causes of the Cost of Living Crisis as very simple: “It’s just putting profit above everything else isn’t it – it’s just greed.”

Embodying its name – Enough is Enough – the atmosphere was one of a shift away from complacency toward taking action after having put up with far too much. Saturday’s protest brought together a variety of people of different ages from different backgrounds to challenge the status quo and fight for a better standard of living. One protester discussed how they hadn’t protested other issues they felt strongly about – such as Brexit – but that things had got so bad that they had no choice but to come out into the street. They described how the looming presence of the Cost of Living Crisis had become unavoidable and everyone had been affected by it – they themself having to seriously re-evaluate their bills and cutting back on their spending. They felt shocked, coming from a line of union activists from the 1926 General Strike to Yorkshire miners in the 1980s, that today things would still be this bad.

Strikers on picket lines at both the train station and delivery office were met with an outpouring of support and solidarity from protestors who came to lend their numbers to the picket and hear their grievances. At the delivery office in “Hellbeck” – so-called by Royal Mail management due to their total unionisation and refusal to let slack on the protection of their fellow workers – picketers were cheered by the crowd in support of their fight for an inflation-line pay-rise and the continuation of their worker protections. This was emblematic of the nationwide wave of industrial action set to continue throughout the winter. The increased rate of striking and worker militancy, especially in the face of government threats against union organisation has been clearly and deliberately linked to the fight against the Cost of Living Crisis by this protest, with great support from its attendees. A regular chant from protestors throughout the rally was “Every Strike, Every Time, We’ll be on the Picket Line!”

Saturday’s protest emphasised the importance of solidarity and mutual support in the face of the growing crisis and its turnout across the country highlights the growth of discontent that only seems to be growing as we head into what will certainly be a difficult winter.

Image Credit: Gabriel Kennedy

Should Labour Fully Commit to Proportional Representation?

Alexandra Packer on 31 October 2022

In blaring red, Labour’s manifesto is clear. Labour is ‘for the many, not the few’. Yet Keir Starmer has been clear that he will not back electoral reform for general election voting systems, despite delegates at Labour’s annual party conference voting in favour of a manifesto commitment to Proportional Representation.

The surge of support towards Proportional Representation (PR) could be credited to Labour supporters’ frustrations with the First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system. Since 1935 single-party ‘majority’ governments have governed near constantly yet these ‘majority’ governments have never actually been voted for by a majority of the UK’s voting population. In this way, the FPTP voting system stifles the UK government’s democratic duty to reflect who has genuinely been voted for and chosen to represent the public in an accurate and politically diverse government. Furthermore, FPTP encourages voter apathy in safe seats where votes for anything other than the constituency’s traditional winner seem unlikely to count.

However, a more likely story for Labour supporters running to the call of PR is the 12 straight years of Tory rule that has undoubtedly cast fears of a de facto one-party system. Labour no longer seems to have the pull on votes as it used to and a switch to PR could be the right political calculation to put Labour seats in government. With over half of people in the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey recently voting that they want the electoral system changed and affiliated Trade Unions now supporting the motion, it’s clear Starmer’s opinion is the minority.

Starmer’s qualms may come from the disincentive of PR promoting coalition governments. However, with the Labour Party still split on what their aims truly are, the mass campaigning and tactical voting that could come about from a commitment to PR incentivising Green and Liberal Democrat voters could be exactly what Labour needs to win after their steady plateau in recent years (bar Corbyn’s rogue 2017 spike).

But, as the Tories sink further into the churning waters of a government embroiled in the Covid-19 scandal and economic chaos under Truss, it seems Starmer’s lack of commitment to PR comes from hopes that Labour will sail smoothly into the rarely-sighted port of a Labour majority at the next General Election. Whether that’s as presumed in 2025 or sooner with a petition to remove Liz Truss recently reaching a sizeable 500,000 signatures. Starmer’s declared stance of a switch to PR not being a ‘priority’ makes it clear he believes Labour can achieve this without the last dash to a system that would transpose divided Labour votes into more seats.

However PR, in its nature, would decentralise what has been standard for UK politics in recent years and help to displace the powerful elites that have reigned under the FPTP system that fundamentally discourages change. By committing to PR Starmer would show that Labour’s next manifesto is going to truly represent the UK in all its political diversity and vibrancy, and that Starmer himself respects the democratic rights of Labour voters. If he will not cooperate with the opinions of Labour delegates, it does not bode well for an already ideologically fissured Labour Party.

If Labour is ‘for the many’ – shouldn’t Starmer put that which ‘the many’ plead for into action?

Image Credit: Flickr