Former Labor leader Rebecca Long-Bailey has urged Labor to abandon its cautious approach to the economy and attack the next election with a radical manifesto that includes state ownership and a standard of living contract between government and the public.
In her first significant economic policy intervention since the 2020 leadership contest won by Sir Keir Starmer, Long-Bailey said Labor needed transformative policies if they were to win the next election.
Long-Bailey, who was a key figure on Jeremy Corbyn’s team as shadow business secretary, said her proposed treaty would provide all citizens with a defined decent standard of living and guarantee that housing costs, food and fuel bills would be affordable.
A cabinet-level minister for living standards in the Treasury with the same standing as the chief secretary would ensure the contract is delivered and legally enforced, she said.
Starmer, who earlier this year said the ‘slate has been wiped clean since the 2019 election’, is set to deliver a speech on the economy in Liverpool on Monday.
Speaking to the Guardian, Long-Bailey said she understands the difficulties in announcing policies too far ahead of a general election, as it gives Labor opponents the opportunity to either steal policies or poke holes in them. But she added, “You can’t fatten a pig on market day.”
The financial responsibility pledged by Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was necessary, but not enough on its own to regain voter confidence.
Labor has gained an opinion poll lead in recent months and currently enjoys more confidence in tackling the UK’s cost of living crisis. Long-Bailey warned that this will not last.
“It is naïve to think that without radical and transformative policies Labor can maintain a poll lead,” she said.
She dismissed the idea that Labor lost the last general election because their economic policies scared off voters. “There were a number of reasons why we didn’t do well, but government support wasn’t one of them. All the evidence is that our plans to nationalize Royal Mail, railways and water were very popular.”
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Amid fears on the party’s left that Starmer plans to abandon plans to nationalize public utilities, Long-Bailey said state ownership is more popular than ever with voters wanting an end to the “grand privatization rip-off.”
She added: “We are witnessing the worst cost of living crisis in decades, with household fuel and water bills skyrocketing while rail fares continue to rise.
“It is crucial that Labor stays on the side of public opinion here and that we go into the next election with our existing public ownership policies.”
Long-Bailey said her deal would include an amendment to the Companies Act to give directors a legal obligation to employees and shareholders and the deferral of a portion of profits for pay increases. The package would aim to restructure the UK economy to restore balance vis-à-vis workers.
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