What a leftwing leader needs to do to earn credibility
Owen Jones makes the case that a credible leftwing leader needs to win over alienated voters and dodge culture wars (The left needs to halt the UK's slide into Farageism. This is the kind of leader who could do it, 3 April). That starts by rejecting the terms left and right – where people sat in revolutionary France's national assembly does not accurately define today's politics.
The leadership team of any new political movement must convince voters of two things. One: 'I trust these people to run the country.' Two: 'They have got my back.'
Economic credibility requires exploding the austerity myth. Speaking as someone who ran an arm of government – successfully – I found that when you make the case, people, including businesspeople, think it's common sense. That keeping kids in poverty is economically illiterate. That investing in health and education makes us all wealthier in the end, and happier too. That public ownership will lower utility bills and improve services. That the climate crisis is real, and we must invest in a resilient future or see our economy crippled.
Having someone's back means saying that we won't throw you under the bus for an easy headline. We will put your right to a secure home above your landlord's right to make a quick buck. We will put your kid's mental health above the right of global corporations to avoid regulations. We will fight your corner when you're victimised for being disabled, or black, or LGBTQ+.
There is a truth to why governments can't afford to invest. Money flows to very, very rich people. They make 8% to 12% a year from parking money in big tech, utilities, property, finance and care homes, while the rest of us do the work and actually generate the wealth. That money needs to be taxed to pay for the safe, sustainable, prosperous society that everyone needs.Jamie DriscollFormer North of Tyne mayor
Owen Jones is right to some extent – a populist left with a charismatic front person is badly needed. However, his suggestion of Mick Lynch as such a leader is laughable. A new populist left alternative needs to think radically and organise broadly, connecting with and building alliances between social actors who are philosophically and/or theoretically critical of Labourism and the labour movement, especially the macho, workerist tendency that Lynch and others represent. Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise is a good example of a project with some populist potential that is failing to break out of such a straitjacket. We should learn from this.Tony SamphierBeckenham, London
I agree with Owen Jones that Mick Lynch would be the ideal candidate to take on Labour from the left and stave off the sinister threat of Reform. However, I would suggest that, in the absence of Mr Lynch wanting to take up this mantle, the Independent Alliance should form into a political party and merge with the Greens and those seven Labour MPs recently suspended from the party for voting against the retention of the appalling two-child cap.
Such a new party would not only be 15 MPs strong – three times the size of Reform's parliamentary presence – but would represent those predominantly middle-class former Labour voters who have turned to the Greens in disgust at Starmerism, and the traditional white working-class demographic in the 'red wall' seats and other similar constituencies.
Only such a unified party of the left can hope to stave off Reform and provide the 'broad church' that Labour likes to tell us it is but so woefully is not, as the party's lurch to the right under Keir Starmer leaves us in no doubt as to where its priorities now lie.Michael WaltonBath
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ITV News
an hour ago
- ITV News
UK has one of ‘worst statutory leave offers for fathers in developed world'
The UK has one of the 'worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world', the chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee has warned. In a new report, the House of Commons committee said a maximum of two weeks' paternity leave is 'completely out of step with how most couples want to share their parenting responsibilities' and 'entrenches outdated gender stereotypes about caring'. The committee has urged the Government to either amend the Employment Rights Bill to legislate for a day one right to paid leave or commit to 'considering this vital change within its review' in consultation with employers. It has also called on the Government to consider raising paternity pay to the level of maternity pay in the first six weeks – 90% of average earnings. The paternity and shared parental leave report by the committee said working parents 'will be let down by a review that leads only to tinkering around the edges of the system'. Chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee Sarah Owen said the UK's parental leave system was in 'urgent need of an overhaul to fit with the reality of working parents' lives'. The Labour MP for Luton North said reform 'must start with longer and better paid paternity leave'. Ms Owen said: 'It's essential the Government's proposed review addresses the system's fundamental failings, including low statutory pay, inadequate leave periods for fathers and others, exclusion of many working parents and guardians, plus design flaws and unnecessary complexity in the Shared Parental Leave scheme. 'The UK's parental leave system has fallen far behind most comparable countries, and we now have one of the worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world.' The Labour MP added: 'Ministers must commit to meaningful reforms in the medium-term, with a view to going further towards a more gender equal parental leave system. 'Tinkering around the edges of a broken system will let down working parents. While much-needed substantial change to our paid parental leave system will require considerable financial investment, this would be outweighed by wider societal and economic benefits.' The report states that the UK's rate of statutory parental pay is 'completely out of kilter with the cost of living, has not kept pace with inflation and is far below rates in most comparable countries'. It recommends phased introduction of increases to statutory pay across the system to bring rates for all working parents up to 80% or more of average earnings or the real Living Wage. The lack of provision for self-employed fathers is 'deeply unfair', the report adds. The committee recommends that the Government consider options for providing statutory paid leave for all self-employed working fathers as part of its review of the parental leave system, including introducing a paternity allowance for self-employed fathers and other parents, similar to maternity allowance. The report states that the shared parental leave system is 'extremely difficult for most parents and their employers to understand'. It said a forthcoming review must examine the function and necessity of eligibility rules, with a view to 'simplifying or removing the employment status, time in service and earnings criteria'. The committee said the review should examine approaches taken in overseas systems, including the German 'partnership bonus' and Portugal's 'sharing bonus', which provide additional paid leave to couples in which both parents take a substantial portion of leave while the other returns to paid work.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Winter fuel humiliation: After huge U-turn Rachel Reeves bizarrely claims she was 'right' to cut handout - while Sir Keir Starmer is ridiculed for suggesting move is now possible because Labour's 'fixed' stricken economy
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