'1997 mindset' blamed for Labour defeat

Saturday, 22 May 2010 12:00 AM

By Alex Stevenson

Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber has blamed Labour's general election defeat on its failure to come up with a "compelling new vision" for Britain.

Speaking at the opening of the left-wing group Progress' annual conference in London, Mr Barber said fundamental new questions about how the economy could deliver prosperity and justice had not been answered by Labour in the wake of the recession.

He said Labour was viewed as the party least interested in regulating finance, was "too timid with takeovers" and did not act firmly enough on executive pay.

"While the most recent Pre-Budget Report and Budget were progressive, no-one put them into a coherent package of moving to a permanent fairer tax system - instead the increased top rate tax was seen as rather unfortunate, and probably temporary," he argued.

The union chief claimed Labour was stuck in the 1997 mindset which shrank from taking steps like rethinking capital gains tax, which is now being adopted by the other parties.

"Boldness and radicalism would not only have been right but arguably would also have paid real electoral dividends," he added.

"This is not to say that the Labour government did not have tremendous achievements to their credit. On diversity and social issues they've a fantastic record - and what's more moved the centre ground so that the new government will do little or nothing to challenge them.

"But self-imposed constraints meant that ministers ended up keeping quiet about popular policies that resonated with voters but which did not fit with that 1997 narrative."

Labour is now embarking on a leadership contest in which all the main candidates have pledged to 'listen' to party members and beyond.

That approach has echoed its response to previous electoral setbacks, but Mr Barber rejected the idea that the party had not been concerned.

"It is not that it wasn't listening - it was that it didn't know what to do with some of the things that it heard" he said.

"And it also meant that Labour had stopped talking - at least in language that made much sense to ordinary people."

The Progress conference is being attended by three of the main Labour leadership contenders.

Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham are speaking in separate panel discussions before former foreign secretary David Miliband gives the event's keynote speech this afternoon.

Tags:
• economy and finance
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• labour
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• party politics