We recently asked Your Party supporters what their priorities were for a new left party. And five key priorities shone through.
Amid Your Party’s growing pains, it’s more important than ever for ordinary supporters to make their voices heard and to keep our focus where it needs to be – on pulling together to create a better country and a better world.
An analysis of the comments we received shows five main areas people want Your Party to focus on. These are:
- Democracy and decency
- NHS, education, and public welfare
- Housing
- Tax justice and redistribution
- Sustainable economy and climate
1) Democracy and decency
A mix of 14 years of Tory rule and the corporate capture of the Labour Party has understandably destroyed people’s trust in establishment politicians. That’s not just on the left. It’s across the political spectrum. Ordinary people feel too often that the political class ignores their opinions, and many now understand that our electoral system is a big part of the problem. As one person said:
Inequality, electoral reform… many things need addressing but initially focus on inequality that resonates with most people.
To try and break free from our highly unequal system, people want more participation. They want to shape policies directly. And they want measures to prevent and punish bad behaviour from politicians. A number of people, for example, called for rules to end corrupt and immoral behaviour from MPs (like, for example, supporting genocide), opposing both second jobs and money from corporate lobbyists. One comment said:
Proportional representation, the fairest system that can be devised. Cap individual and corporate political donations, and ban donations from foreign states and individuals with close ties to foreign states. Cap election spending – and enforce the rules! Within the party, mandatory reselection for all elected representatives.
Another insisted:
All elected representatives at any level are free from the cost of sponsorship that buys influence. A party of peace not war. Elections and selection at local level and policy comes from a manifesto passed at conference. 1 member 1 vote.
We currently have a corrupt government of liars, which is supporting war crimes abroad while repressing peaceful protests at home and attacking disabled, immigrant, and LGBT communities. And many Your Party supporters desperately want an inclusive and compassionate organisation, which completely severs the toxic link between politicians and war profiteers in particular. For them, fighting for democracy and transparency are essential for ingraining ethics and empathy into the transformation they want to see.
2) NHS, education, and public welfare
People have seen the long decline in public services due to decades of ideological privatisation. And they’ve had enough. The vast majority of people in Britain want the NHS to be “free at the point of use”, “available to everyone”, and “funded from general taxation”. But severe underfunding and backdoor privatisation have left the service on its knees. The same is true with the education system and other public services.
Your Party supporters are passionate supporters of a public NHS. Indeed, many people see it as the number one priority to renationalise it and fund it properly. As one person said:
For me the NHS is a priority. Stop the privatisation. Health should not be a commodity
Another added:
We need our publicly owned, publicly funded, free at the point of use NHS to be reinstated with adequate numbers of properly paid, fully qualified staff. We need more beds and proper funding with private elements removed. For the UK to have a healthy economy it first and foremost needs a healthy workforce. Plus a national pharmacy, as Corbyn planned, to stop big pharma ripping us all off.
There were also calls to expand it to include better mental healthcare and social care.
In short, people want to see an end to private profiteering in our public services.
3) Housing
The UK has a housing crisis, in part due to the sell-off of social housing in the 1980s. And many comments focused on addressing this issue.
One said:
Build truly affordable housing. Re-establish a meaningful social housing base with local government responsibility.
Another stressed:
Social housing has to be high on the list, waiting lists are horrendous, people are having to wait years on end, can’t afford to buy and private rented is too expensive for families on a low income.
Another added:
Major Home building program – Good quality social housing with affordable rents.
The issues of rent controls, taxation of second homes, and limits on landlord profiteering all came up.
4) Tax justice and redistribution
The question of how to actually fund public projects for the good of the country also came up. People mentioned countless ideas, including a wealth tax, financial transaction tax, and the closing of loopholes and tax havens. One person suggested this should be a key focus for a new left party:
I’d want it to be fundamentally about re-distributive taxation. Yes tax wealth and tax it heavily, but also put very high taxes on high incomes.
Another insisted:
Simple message – ‘Tax wealth not work!’
There is a lot of economic inequality in Britain. And it’s clear there are many ideas out there on how to distribute wealth more healthily. Some think those in the 2017 and 2019 manifestos of Jeremy Corbyn‘s Labour Party were already on the right track. Others think progressive economists should actually play a role in the new party. But the desire for more economic equality is strong.
5) Sustainable economy and climate
People also highlighted that it’s the capitalist profiteering and inequality that’s been driving so much destruction in the world. And there was a strong sentiment that caring for the planet more is part of caring for ourselves and our own future. As one person said:
tackle climate change for heavens sake and plastic pollution, bee killing chemicals, undersea mining, over fishing, the task is huge if we are to save the planet let alone the NHS
Another pointed out that meaningful climate action needs to target the people running and benefiting the most from the current economic system:
By all means let’s clean up the state of the world but not by taxing the people, by taxing the corporations polluting the planet.
A different person stressed the urgent need to address the current dynamic between humans and the planet, insisting:
we ARE nature and the health of the natural world and the health of us human mammals are the same thing… There is more than enough evidence out there, showing that the multiple and interlinked crises, we face come back to this root cause of separation and disconnection to ourselves as nature.
Listen, engage, and unite
It’s important to mention that, in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of people who signed up to support the creation of a new left party, the comments we received were a drop in the ocean. And the most accurate representation of what all of those supporters want will be when they vote on the new party’s policies.
Social media is its own world. But it gives us a snapshot into how people are thinking. It shows us the hope, creativity, empathy, and wisdom that so many ordinary people have. It also reveals their disappointments and frustrations. And too often, it can bring the worst out of people, intensifying distrustful or unempathetic behaviour. But listening to each other and connecting with each other is vital.
If we look past the negativity we stumble across, we can find real inspiration. And the more we connect, the more we can agree on a common cause. We want meaningful democracy, quality public services, a stable living situation, an economic system that’s fair, and a world that’s worth living in. Sure, there’ll be some disagreements on the details. And there are other issues of concern on top of these. But in the knowledge that the rich and powerful will do everything in their power to defeat or undermine the left, we must maintain focus.
Utopia isn’t just around the corner. It’s on the horizon, and we need to build the path towards it brick by brick. But it’s too far away for us to build it alone. We need to work together – respectfully. And empowering each other and engaging with each other is an important first step.
Thank you to everyone who responded to our request for comments. There were many excellent contributions, and we really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. You can see all of them here.
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.