New world ‘in sight’

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell today (September 25) painted a picture of Britain as it is and the Britain it could one day be under a Labour programme that will hand power and wealth to the true wealth creators – working people.

Skyrocketing household debt was a chief concern for Labour, McDonnell said in his speech today at the Labour Party Conference, as he outlined steps the party would take to ease families’ unfair debt burdens as their wages have stagnated and predatory lenders cash in.

“The last seven years of Tory economic failure has created the perfect storm, as wages have fallen behind, more and more families are being pushed deeper into debt,” he said. “Household debt in this country stands at the record level of over £1.8trn.

“We have seen with pay day loans; some companies were making massive profits from people’s financial difficulties,” McDonnell noted.  “Under pressure, the government has been forced to cap interest payments on payday loans.

“But more than three million credit card holders are trapped by their debt. They’ve paid more in interest charges and fees than their original borrowing. The Financial Conduct Authority has argued for action to be taken on credit card debt as on pay day loans.

Pledge

“I am calling upon the government to act now apply the same rules on payday loans to credit card debt,” McDonnell pledged. “It means that no-one will ever pay more in interest than their original loan.

“If the Tories refuse to act, I can announce today that the next Labour government will amend the law,” he said, joking that it could be called the McDonnell amendment.

The shadow chancellor explained how Britain is standing at the precipice of the fourth industrial revolution – within a few decades it’s been estimated that half of all jobs will be automated away.

What remains, McDonnell said, is a political choice.

“The jobs that remain can, if we let them, be exploitative, dangerous, degrading, and dead-end,” he said. “Or the jobs we create can provide good, secure employment, in work that is fulfilling and meaningful, in communities where pride and prosperity has been restored.”

He contrasted this vision to what the Tories have offered – a revolution in technology being used to “enrich a tiny elite, whilst creating a life for many workers of long hours, low pay, and insecure employment.

“There’s a choice to be made,” he said. “We can remain a low-wage economy, specialising in zero hours contracts. Or we can use the state to help shape Britain’s future in this new world.  We know it can be done.”

McDonnell highlighted other key Labour policies, such as bringing back privatised services like rail, Royal Mail and energy back into public hands; pulling out of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals which have heaped billions of debt onto an NHS already on its knees; and setting up a new Strategic Investment Board which will rebalance the economy away from financial speculation and towards production, research and development.

 

Disparities

He spoke of the disparities in investment between London and the Home Counties and the rest of the country, adding that Labour would “no longer accept these disparities”.

“We will legislate for a fair distribution of investment. We’ll devolve decision making through the Regional Development Banks, our Mayors, and regenerate the powers and resources available to local councils,” he said.

“We’ll build Crossrail for the north, connecting our great northern cities from west coast to east, and extend HS2 into Scotland. We’ll deliver the funding for Midlands Connect, overhauling transport across the Midlands. And we’ll overturn decades of neglect and lack of investment in the South-West. We’ll electrify railway lines from Cornwall right through to London.”

He slammed the Tory government for presiding over a decade of stagnating wages, pledging to scrap the public sector pay cap and introduce a real statutory living wage of ÂŁ10 an hour.

“In the election campaign Theresa May was asked why nurses were being forced to resort to foodbanks and she replied that the issue was complex,” he said. “It isn’t complex. It’s simple. They just aren’t being paid enough.”

He pledged Labour would scrap the Tories’ Trade Union Act which has blocked working people from effectively negotiating with their bosses for better pay, terms and conditions, as he paid tribute to those trade unionists still fighting against the odds, such as the young people organising for the first time ever for higher wages at McDonald’s.

Above all, Labour would implement a wholly different vision for the nation, in which economic growth means shared prosperity for all and success is measured in more than a headline GDP figure.

Quoting the late US senator Bobby Kennedy, McDonnell said, “The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry.”

Care

“The performance of our government will be measured by the care we show to all our people and the richness of their lives,” he noted.

“We proved in the election, and we will now go on to prove in government, our belief that hope will always overcome fear. Kindness and generosity will always overcome greedy self-interest. And that the flame of solidarity in our society will never be extinguished.

“For years we have proclaimed that ‘Another World is Possible,’” he concluded to a standing ovation. “I tell you now, that world is not just possible, it is in sight. Let’s create it together.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner hailed McDonnell’s speech.

“It presented a sweeping vision of a world in which working people are in control of their destiny and are no longer held back by the sustained Tory attack on their wages, on their public services and their future,” Turner said.

“Especially welcome was the new pledge on introducing a cap on credit card interest payments,” he added. “Reckless, predatory lending is not only keeping working families buried under ever-growing mountains of debt that are impossible to escape, it’s also leading us sleepwalking straight back into another financial crisis.

“Repealing the Trade Union Act, setting up a ministry of Labour and restoring collective bargaining will, taken together, empower workers to negotiate for better pay, terms and conditions. And forward-thinking investment underpinned by a proper industrial strategy will ensure that our economy grows and prospers for everyone – not just the elite few.

“We need bold, new ideas for the new world we’re entering which will see work change because of automation, and employers seeking to take advantage of that. And that’s exactly what McDonnell’s speech laid out – a cohesive programme that has the power to transform working people’s lives.”

Watch John McDonnell’s speech here