Since writing my last piece for Transforming Society when I laid out some cautious optimism in the early days of Labour’s historic win, the wheels have come off. In the swirl of events from the August riots, mismanaged winter fuel announcements, freebies and the chaos of Sue Gray’s departure from Number 10, we have watched a government learn the hard way that you either set the agenda or have it set for you. To this end, it would not be unfair to accuse the government of not having the best grip on political strategy.
The worst example? Waiting an unbearable four months to make your first budget announcement: an own-goal and a gift to those who sought to fill the vacuum with attack lines that began to gain traction. Those craving an ambitious political vision that indicated something more than the vanilla election campaign were left hanging. Those of us who worry about long-term damage to political trust became increasingly frustrated as the scandals about free concert and football tickets were not dealt with in either a timely or reassuring manner, set against the revolt against the proposed means testing of winter fuel allowances. All of it smacked of poor planning and political naivety.
Well, the wait is finally over, and we have our first Labour budget in 15 years. And they put on quite a show in the House of Commons on October 30th. Reeves delivered from a position of authoritative confidence, supported by the Prime Minister and surrounded by jubilant Labour MPs who cheered her along. The Tories booed at every attack line, but she was forensic in destabilising them, shining a glaring light on the financial mismanagement of the last government. She established her credentials as a bona fide economist and began, at last, to paint a vision of what a future under Labour’s ten-year renewal will look like. The emphasis on creating the conditions for investment and a set of sensible growth projections felt grown up.
The careful balancing act of framing the inherited economic mess with Labour’s own positive plans was, in the main, achieved. She closed with a powerful challenge to the new Tory leadership to declare what they would oppose and what choices they would make. In doing so, the dividing lines were clearly drawn. Labour is on the side of working people and for investment in public services, whereas the Conservatives are not.
To be fair, the bar for inspirational rhetoric had been set very low. This has not been a government that has even attempted to balance its gloomy assessment of the current state of Britain with a compelling vision for the future. But Reeves kick-started something. In highlighting the role of Labour as the rebuilder of Britain and the guardian of the public good, she reminds us of the successes of the Atlee and Blair governments in reshaping society. There are parallels in word and deed with both these pivotal moments in Labour and social policy history.
In speech that contained no mention of the word ‘inequality’, there was plenty for the left to be exercised about. Perhaps in a parallel universe, political point scoring on the backs of the most disadvantaged would have been consigned to history in a brave new Labour era. Here instead was a careful compromise that recognised the need to fix things urgently whilst setting the ground for a longer-term repair.
There is no denying that the UK faces significant ill-health both in productivity and investment. The scale of the challenge is enormous, and the constraints on what taxes could be raised was self-imposed by a government still scarred by the success of the Osborne era attacks on Labour economic mismanagement. Reeves, though, is setting a course that harks back to the power and potential of government activity as an economic stimulator. I loved the uncited acknowledgement in the speech of the Keynesian multiplier effect. Every pound of government investment creates a return, and it is time once again to be bold in this claim and get right behind it. It may not be remotely close to ending the neoliberal economic orthodoxy, but it certainly curtails its potency.
Reeves declared the end to ‘short-termism’ and all the markers are there to back up her claims. The absence of any industrial strategy is now being addressed but requires work outside of the scope of this budget. Other than an urgent and much needed cash injection to stop the NHS from collapsing, it is for the Health Secretary to present a review later that will shape the next decade. Their three-pronged reform agenda for healthcare is genuinely exciting, especially if there is a plan and the resources to move healthcare from managing sickness to prevention. In this respect, I think the messages of reform are very welcome indeed so long as we don’t slide into further proliferation of internal markets, disjointed health and social care systems, creeping privatisation for its own sake, and the like. This must be about a new health settlement akin to the foundations of the NHS in its scale and scope.
Welfare reform is also for another day. The budget gave us some welcome news, chief amongst which was the reduction in debt repayments from universal credit and the long overdue uplift in the carer’s allowance. Be wary though, for later comes the Work and Pension Secretary’s review into the derided work capability assessment. Add to this that 1 in 10 working-age individuals claim a health-related benefit with forecasts by the IFS predicting a rise to 5.4million individuals by 2028-29.
It is simply not good enough to ignore this bleak picture, but I worry about what turn the government will take. Are we set for more punitive and conditional workfare measures? Or might this be an opportunity for bold and ambitious experimentation that favours dignity and rights, over feeding the culture of ‘shirkers versus strivers’ that has so damaged our social fabric. I crave the latter.
This was a budget that should animate social policy watchers, not only for what it contained but also for the signals of what is to come. We are entering the era of a social investment state and one which recognises government as a force for good. There was no way that this was going to be a painting of socialist sunlit uplands, but I’m not sure we’ve ever really had that at any point in history. Instead, we’ve got a healthy dose of optimistic realism set within what is frankly a failing state.
All that remains now is the twofold challenge: get to work on delivering and begin to rebuild our trust in politics as a force for good once more.
Dr Jason Wood is a trained youth worker and academic and has spent over two decades teaching, researching, and campaigning on social justice issues. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and an Associate Professor of Social Policy at the University of Nottingham Malaysia.
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