‘Hope finally on offer’

Liam McCafferty, postgraduate education officer for the University of East Anglia’s students union, is one of Unite’s newest members – he just signed up this week.

 
McCafferty, 23, has been involved in student campaigns for many years, which inspired him to join Unite.

 
“Through my experience, I saw just how effective and valuable community organising can be, and joining Unite I see as an opportunity to continue to do this work.”

 
McCafferty is originally from a former mining town in Yorkshire, where prospects for many young people are bleak.

 
“There’s very little hope for young people where I’m from, but I believe hope is finally on offer in this Labour leadership election – young people’s issues are now truly part of the debate,” he said.

 
McCafferty noted that the leadership election is especially important because the Labour party is now at a “crossroads”.

 
“We’re really at a historical turning point now where the party must decide whether it’s going to be a party that stands by and represents ordinary working people, or whether it panders to big business and private interests, the way it has been doing for many years now.”

 
He criticised those who have said that the anti-austerity policies now on offer in the Labour leadership election are taking the country “backwards”.

 
“This policies aren’t taking us backwards – for young people, it’s taking us forwards because we’ve never been exposed to these policies. All we’ve known is neoliberalism and we’ve experienced first-hand how harmful it’s been.”

 
McCafferty helped register students to vote in the most recent general election.

 
“At the time, yes we were signing up students and encouraging people to vote, but always with the feeling that what we, as young people, weren’t being offered any real sense of hope,” he said. “I honestly can’t blame any young person that wasn’t inspired enough to vote in the general election.”

 
This leadership election, however, McCafferty senses an unprecedented mobilisation of young Labour supporters who have a renewed interest in the future of the party.

 
“A renewed focus on young people has the power to galvanise new voters up and down the country, and it will be what the Labour party needs to win in 2020.”

 
Interested in signing up to vote in the Labour leadership election as a union member? Find out more here, and don’t forget the last day to sign up is August 12.