The 'show me' generation

New Labour must end tribalism and look to the future if it is to secure a fourth term

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Speech by Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP
Progress, Monday 30th April 2007

Ten years ago, New Labour took the country by storm.

A new dawn was breaking.

New Labour was, as Victor Hugo put it, an idea whose time had come.

Today we are about to embark on another great change and, once again, the spotlight is upon us.

This time we are electing a new leader, but not a new government.

But let’s not let this opportunity go by.

We have a responsibility as a party and a government to take stock of what it is that people want from us and how that has changed from ten years ago.

We cannot debate the priorities of 2007 in the language of 1997.

I believe we should use this leadership change to open up a wider conversation with the people of Britain.

But if we want them to listen to us, really listen to us, then we have change ourselves.

We have to bring an end to tribalism in New Labour.

So no more Blairites and Brownites.

Too much has focussed on personalities and, over too long, politics has been characterised by a Westminster Village debate conducted in a code that reinforces that tribalism.

This has left people in the real world, beyond Westminster, with no idea what’s going on at times.

People they have never heard of jockeying for position – which has very little to do with them.

So we have to break the codes:

• When we can’t talk about the need for ‘debate’ without being accused of being divisive or anti-Gordon

• Or you can’t talk about ‘renewal’ without seeming to want to bury Tony Blair

• When all the talk about timetables, contests (or no contests), and ‘orderly transitions’ will finally come to an end.

We must be united through this process of change.

But unity cannot be just an instruction.

It has to be a unity of hearts and minds, around the propositions that defined New Labour, and still define the left-of-centre progressive consensus:

• The compatibility of social justice and economic efficiency
• Pluralism and the competition for ideas
• Democratic empowerment
• Active citizenship and personal responsibility
• A dynamic, tripartite relationship between the state, communities and citizens
• Security and responsiveness to global change.

These are common assumptions that unite us all - and I defy anyone to deny that.

During this time of transition, personalities will change, but the basic architecture of our progressive politics remains the same.

And while there may not, in the end, be a major leadership contest, we can and we must start a conversation again with the people of this country.

A conversation involving a chorus of voices.

About ideas to shape the future; that capture the public imagination; that are in tune with the times.

That was the spirit that swept us to power in 1997. That spirit must live on in 2007.

So much has changed in the last decade.

Labour has been an agent of change and the country itself has changed.

As politicians we have to go on renewing our ideas in the face of the profound changes affecting social and economic life today.

Take global communications – a completely changed landscape:

• In 1996, nobody in the UK had ever sent a text message, there were 37 billion sent last year
• In broadband, we have gone from being a poor relation among developed nations to having the most extensive market in the world with broadband now in 13 million homes
• Ten years ago Google didn’t even exist.
• A new generation is kids are growing up today using MySpace and Youtube expecting to participate and create, not just consume.

In the past decade we have together achieved a huge amount. Thanks to Labour’s stewardship of the economy, most people in Britain are better off.

Because the economy is doing well we can invest in and improve our public services, but expectations have risen and people still sometimes feel something is missing – they want to feel ‘warmth’ and ‘respect’ when they engage with public services.

It’s not enough just to be dealt with efficiently.

• More people are in employment and being in work pays off for more people than ever, but let’s face it for most couples there is no choice but for both partners to work to help pay the bills and bring up the kids decently, but the struggle to balance job with family life is tough.

• There are complex issues of identity, migration and multiculturalism. Migration is increasing diversity; this brings economic benefits but can cause fear and resentment at the same time.

• We all face new challenges too: the future does not always seem bright and optimistic, bringing with it climate change, an ageing population, and global challenges to jobs.

All this changes the nature of the political conversation.

But we run the risk of it being a one-sided conversation if government just asserts facts as truth, when people are not experiencing it in their own lives.

This is a generation looking for a “show me” rather than “tell me” government.

Labour won in 97 because we were in tune with the times. We embraced the zeitgeist, we reflected it.

That’s not so easy when you’re in government.

Bureaucracy can overcomplicate simple ideas and get in the way of people feeling able to contribute and participate.

But we remain proud of what politics is and what it stands for.

Unlike the Tories our policies are underpinned by lasting values: decency, fairness, social justice and opportunity for all.

Unlike the Tories, we genuinely believe that we achieve more together than we do alone.

People want more control today - what David Miliband calls the “I can” generation – to be players not just spectators.

People want to feel they are the agents of change rather than its victims.

The owners and creators of public services rather than passive recipients of them

Designers of the future, rather than anxiously waiting for it to occur.

This is what people mean when they talk of a new culture of collective individualism.

We all talk about finding new ways to engage with the public.

New deliberative processes to make people feel more included in what government does and make government more accurately reflect peoples’ changing needs.

Not just a one off consultation, but a continuing conversation.

Don’t’ talk about a New Politics – do it.

And then talk about it once people can recognise change.

In today’s world, this means we have to define new rules of engagement between government and people.

Have a clear sense of the extent and limit of the role of government.

Let me use the Olympics as an example of what I mean.

There would have been no Olympics bid without the Government.

And the UK wouldn’t have won without Government backing.

But the Government didn’t win the bid.

The UK won because we had a great team of political, sporting and cultural individuals involved in putting the bid together.

And we won because the image of our country – as a modern, diverse, young and innovative nation – appealed to the global judges.

We cannot always capture this spirit of political and civil society working so closely together on a joint enterprise, but we should try.

And government definitely should not try to take all the credit; otherwise people will stop listening to us.

The opportunities to do this are all around us, in the public realm.

What you might call, Ourspace.

Democratic spaces where people meet as equals.

Where engagement and debate takes place – where experiences are shared and a collective identity shaped.

Something that goes much wider than just the State to encompass, for example, public service broadcasting; the arts, culture and sports; public open spaces; the internet.

User-generated content in the internet – citizen journalists– is just one example of this.

But as power shifts increasingly into the hands of people, responsibility must follow.

The internet is transforming the way Government interacts with people and the way people interact with one another.

Today 40% of adults with internet access have used social networking sites (like MySpace); that figure rises to 70% among 16-24 year-olds, with over half in this age group using them at least weekly.

But change never comes without challenges.
I welcome the initiative by Web pioneer Tim O'Reilly and Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, for a "Blogging Code of Conduct".
The wonderful, anarchic, creative world of the Blogosphere shouldn’t be a licence for abuse, bullying and threats.

There is a need for serious discussion about maintaining civilised parameters for debate, so that more people (and women and older people in particular) feel comfortable to participate.

Part of the answer of course is improving media literacy, starting in our schools.

In adapting to change we should reinforce the cohesion of our society as far as possible.

Globalisation and increasing migration has brought the politics of identity to the forefront.

We can’t duck this issue. But we should be looking at using creative tools to help address it.

The arts, for example, create a cultural space in which to address hard issues – such as conflicted identities.

The arts community have the freedom to expand the boundaries of what it is legitimate to discuss. They can sometimes be braver than politicians in discussing issues such as the challenges of living in a multi–racial, multi-faith society.

Which is why artistic freedom and experimentation is so important.

Government can and should fund and promote this work, in the public realm, through bodies such as the BBC, but also by providing for the kind of renaissance in our regional theatres that we see going on today.

This extends beyond our shores.

Our cultural institutions have a vital role to play in international relations.

Particularly in times of global tension, international cultural activity can play a discrete role to promote understanding and help build trust between different nations and different cultures.

While the internet is the ultimate tool of public engagement, we also need to continue to develop face-to-face deliberative techniques – deliberative councils and polling and citizen’s juries – and to incorporate the findings more into parliamentary and governmental discussion.

We are doing a great deal through the Olympic Games, which is a unique opportunity for us to help people grow their aspirations, increase public participation, and explore new and interesting ways to include people in decision making.

Not just in London, but right across the country.

There will be, for example, be

• A local schools consultation in East London to help design the Velopark.

• Extensive local dialogue focused on the park and its future uses.

• Townhall meetings across the country, deliberative forums and online discussions to involve everyone in shaping and creating the Britain we want to put on show in 2012

The great strength of new Labour in the 90s is that we were focused on the condition of Britain and we were open to innovation and new thinking.

Today we bring to that the experience of ten years in government.

Ten years ago we set out on a programme of radical public service reform.

Today we should widen our goal to encompass the wholesale remaking of the public realm.

To ensure that its institutions are open, fulfilling and as secure as possible in the years to come.

Ideas like this are Labour’s future. Ideas that all of us in the Party share.

That we can unite around.

There will of course be sadness when Tony departs.

He has led this Party to historic victories.

A loss will be felt, and he will undoubtedly be appreciated more after he is gone.

But we have to take a lesson from the American songwriter, activist and trade unionist, Joe Hill, whose last words to his supporters were:

“Don’t mourn; organise.”

And that is exactly what we must all do together.

Organise for victory and a fourth term Labour Government.

I have 40,000 voters in my constituency.

Like so many Labour constituencies, these are people who need a Labour government to help them realise their ambitions and aspirations.

So the choice is ours, because it is ours to lose.

So let’s choose to win.

END

Tessa Jowell is Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and minister for the Olympics. This is a transcript of a speech given to Progress on 30 April 2007.

30 Apr 2007 00:00

 

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