Why Labour must take a strong position against current ATOS Work Capability Assessments

Recently journalist Sonia Poulton wrote an open letter to Ed Miliband on the Mail Online titled 'Will Ed Miliband stand up for the disabled against distressing and unreliable work capability tests?' this was in light of two documentaries recently on Panorama and Dispatches both showing the shocking treatment the disabled face having to go through the Work Capability Assessments which are administered by ATOS.  The documentaries showed cases of individuals clearly incapable of work being found fit for work, with some even dying after going back to work.


The government blame Labour for bringing in this system, but that does not mean we have to stand by it.  The system is clearly not fit for purpose and at its worst inhumane. 

A search of the Labour website does not find one mention of ATOS or WCA.  By being silent we are condoning this practise.  I hope Ed and the Labour leadership takes note of the thousands of signatories to Sonia's letter calling for Labour to take a stand against this, otherwise what do we stand for?

At the end of the statement on my Labour membership card it states

"and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect."

If we do not come out against this system we are clearly not living up to the pledge we make and I will return membership card, as I will not be able to stand on doorsteps campaigning for a party which does not stand up for those who are unable to work in our society.

Find out more and watch the Dispatches programme at http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-117/episode-1


Find out more and watch the Panorama programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lldrc

If Trade union votes are being looked at so should the MP/MEP block

The Guardian reported recently that Ed Miliband is looking at changing the rules to reduce the influence of trade unions at conference and in the leadership election.

I am not going to argue that the place of unions within the party shouldn't be looked at, but they should be revised alongside all other power bases and groupings within the party.

Many argue that if it wasn't for the trade unions Ed Miliband would not have won the leadership election.  This is true under the current leadership rules, but it is also true that because MPs and MEPs hold a third of the vote and their votes boosted David Miliband's vote.  If the perceived unfairnesses are to be addressed it should be to bring in a genuine one member one vote system where every members vote has the same weighting on the basis of being a member of the Labour Party, and that member should only have one vote, not up to 5 based on how many other groupings that person belongs to such as The Fabians, The Co-Operative Party etc.  Only then can we say we have a truly democratic means of electing the leader.

Is it such a bad thing to drop shadow cabinet elections?

I am a strong supporter of bringing in more accountability and democracy to the Labour Party, but the shadow cabinet elections are a rather problematic arrangement and I can understand why Ed Miliband would want to get rid of them.

The leader is elected by a 3 way split of MPs & MEPs / Trade Unions and Labour party affiliates / Ordinary Members.  Ed just scraped in with more votes when all 3 constituents were taken into account, but David Miliband had a clear lead in the parliamentary labour party.  This means that many in the shadow cabinet are supporters of his brother David.  In total there are - members of the shadow cabinet who supported David:

• Douglas Alexander
• Angela Eagle
• Tessa Jowell
• Caroline Flint
• Ivan Lewis
• Jim Murphy
• Mary Creagh
• Meg Hillier
• Shaun Woodward
• Liam Byrne

If you also take into account those who supported campaigns for the other candidates it only leaves a few cabinet members who actually campaigned for Ed to be leader.

While I am not for one minute suggesting any of these people are being disloyal, it is possible that there are some people who feel that Ed is taking the wrong direction.

It surely makes more sense for a leader to pick his/her own cabinet which more strongly represents the general thinking of the leader.  It also gives the leader the opportunity to put a shadow cabinet together who will continue in those roles once Labour are re-elected, rather than the leader having to carry out a re-shuffle of places once in government.

"Red" Ed has the Tories worried

Red Ed?

It didn't take long for the Conservative attack dogs and right wing media to lay into Ed Miliband once it was announced he was leader.  Labelling him "Red Ed" and claiming the unions now have a hold over him.

Headlines have appeared such as:

'Red' Ed Miliband says New Labour is dead but vows to stand up for the 'squeezed middle'  Daily Mail

RED Ed Miliband was elected Labour leader last night after snatching the crown from under his big brother's nose. & Left-winger Ed, 40, was catapulted into the job thanks to the backing of union barons who urged activists to vote for him. News of the World

The fact it that there is nothing "Red" about Ed Miliband.  He is a centre-left politician, admittedly to the left of his brother David and some of the Blairite old-guard, but this is not a bad thing.  The policies Ed has proposed are not leftist policies which will alienate the electorate.

A graduate tax will speak to many middle class as well as working class families in the UK who are worried about increasing student debt, debt which may well increase significant if tuition fees rise later this year.

Saying it was wrong to go to war with Iraq is not a leftist policy.  The majority of the country now believe it was wrong, and I believe one of the reasons why David lost was that he continued to defend it.

Ed wants the banking industry to make a bigger contribution to reducing the deficit.  This is hardly radical, and again the majority of the country will agree, especially once the cuts really kick in after the spending review.

It is rare for me to quote Norman Tebbit, but he was right in his Telegraph blog when he said:

The narrowness of David Miliband’s defeat and his brother Ed’s victory says more about the closeness of their views than any deep split in the Labour Party at the present time. Ed is the man most likely to get Labours five million lost voters back to the polls. He is unlikely to neglect the chance to feed off the discontented Lib Dem supporters, but he will not neglect to strengthen the party’s natural constituency.

I think this is why the Tories and right wing press are worried.  Ed really does have the potential to win back lost voters, particularly the many who stop supporting Labour after the Iraq invasion.


He is also helping to continue the rise in Labour party membership, as a recent @uklabour tweet said:

Since @Ed_Miliband was announced as our new Leader at 5pm yesterday 726 people have joined Labour. One new member every 1 min 48 secs #Lab10

The voting system


Some are questioning how fair the voting system is, as the union votes from the electoral college sealed Ed's win in the 5th round.  But union members are not mindless automatons who blindly follow their leadership.  If you look at the results many union members did not give Ed first preference.   


If the voting system is to be reviewed, it will be important to also look at the 1/3 of the electorate college which is given to MPs and MEPs.  Surely this is less democratic with a few hundred voters having a significant say on the outcome of the election.

Why I'm supporting Ed Miliband for leader

A month ago today I blogged in support of Diane Abbott.  I still very much support Diane's policies and will give her my 2nd preference, but after a month of campaigning and having watched several hustings online I do not believe Diane is the right person to lead the Labour Party.

I don't feel she has proven that she can be a unifying force to lead the party into the next election, and unless we are unified we will not win the next election.

I therefore decided to back Ed Miliband.  I feel he offers the policies which I can unite behind:

Equality and dignity in work – tackling the gap between rich and poor, campaigning for a living wage and a high pay commission for both the public and private sector.
Rebuilding prosperity – supporting new industries, training opportunities and taking on the Coalition’s cuts and unfairness.
Building a sustainable future – putting climate change at the centre of everything we do, including our economic future.
Foreign policy based on values – not simply our alliances, learning lessons from the mistakes of Iraq.
Fairness in education – excellent schools in every community and fairer funding in higher education.
Protecting individual liberty – support for measures like CCTV but opposition to unnecessary state intervention in people’s lives, like excessive use of stop and search powers.
A 21st century democracy – support for the Alternative Vote, reform of the House of Lords, votes at 16 and more power for local government.
Building a movement – more voice for party members and a culture change in the way we do business, with women comprising 50% of the Shadow Cabinet.