Spurred on by the hope that Labour is a "government in waiting", tens of thousands congregated last week in sunny Brighton, eager to be part of Britain's brave new political chapter led by Jeremy Corbyn and his promise to move the center ground in U.K. politics to the left.
Little in the way of protests or antagonism stifled the euphoric mood of the four-day Labour Party Conference conference. Meanwhile this week, as the Tories descend on Manchester, chaos has unravelled in the streets. Theresa May, her cabinet and Conservative Party members arrived at their annual conference on Sunday and were greeted by thousands of demonstrators demanding the government put an end to austerity, and calling for a second E.U. referendum.
All week, protestors have been marching through Manchester waving "Stop Austerity" banners and chanting "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn." With around 30,000 demonstrators gathered in the city center, Greater Manchester Police were forced to bring in 1,000 extra officers as part of a £2 million security operation at the Conservative conference venue.
National Tory Resentment
This much is clear: Labour and its members are still riding high after quashing Theresa May and the Tory majority in June’s snap General Election. The stark contrast – between the triumphant, optimistic temperament felt in Brighton during the Labour conference, and the chaotic anti-Tory anger unfolding in Manchester for the Conservative conference – is an poignant symbol of the national resentment people feel towards a government that continues to make life more difficult for the poorest while boosting conditions for the better off.
The upbeat mood in Brighton last week got a further lift from the pro-Corbyn group Momentum, which ran its annual fringe event alongside the Labour conference. The four-day World Transformed festival held by Momentum, the social movement that formed after the election of Jeremy Corbyn, drew more than 5,000 attendants.
With an energetic mix of politics, culture, art and music, the festival hosted some 150 talks, workshops, exhibitions and gigs across Brighton, where the public mingled with Labour conference attendees, sharing their thoughts on Labour and Jeremy Corbyn’s vision of a more progressive Britain. Some of the biggest names in politics as well as inspiring grassroots voices participated in the many fringe events.
For example, I went to a pub quiz hosted by the former Labour leader, Ed Miliband. Labour and Momentum enthusiasts young and old battled it out to answer Miliband’s questions focusing on Labour and politics in general. These relaxed, cheerful, collaborative events reflected the escalating support for Corbyn and Labour’s move to the left – with the aim of removing politics from the clutches of privileged political elites and putting decision making power in the hands of everyday people.
And Corbyn’s keynote speech, the party conference highlight, didn’t disappoint as the Labour leader mapped out a vision of Britain as a fairer, more equal country for all.
Child Poverty on the Rise
At the beginning of his speech, Corbyn noted that over 4 million children now live in poverty in the U.K. Official figures show that around 30 percent of children in Britain are living in poverty – numbers that are at their highest levels since 2010. Around two-thirds of children living in poverty are from working families.
Additionally, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that income for working age adults today is no higher than what it was eight years ago, despite rising inflation.
Growing poverty among working families in Britain has been a core feature of the government’s biggest – and one of its most controversial – public-sector reform programs, the roll-out of Universal Credit. The aim of Universal Credit was to encourage people to work a greater number of hours by allowing them to keep their low-salary benefits even if their income rises.
However, research has shown that the poorest families are worse off under the working benefits reform. A study by The Guardian revealed eight out of 10 social housing tenants moved on to Universal Credit are unable to pay their rent. Many of the poorest families are unable to manage on the 42-day regulatory wait until they receive their first payment, and are being forced to rely on food banks as a result.
Scrapping the Public Sector Pay Cap
Corbyn in his speech also pledged to scrap the public sector pay cap, saying the cap is not “an act of charity” but “a necessity”. His comments came just weeks after Education Secretary Justine Greening confirmed that key sector workers such as teachers would have an overall 1 per cent pay rise this year.
“Year after year the Tories have cut budgets and squeezed public sector pay, while cutting taxes for the highest earners and the big corporations," said the Labour leader. "You can’t care for the nation’s health when doctors and nurses are being asked to accept falling standards year after year.”
Anger at the miserly 1 per cent pay rise granted to public sector workers was a dominant feature at the anti-austerity protests outside the Tory conference in Manchester. In fact, in direct contrast to the pro-Corbyn Momentum festival that ran alongside the Labour Party conference in Brighton, the Tories conference coincided with the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, promoting its own huge "Tories Out" political and cultural festival.
Speaking at the People’s Assembly, Public and Commercial Services Union boss Mark Serwotka urged a general strike in response to the outlandish public sector pay rise, to “bring the Tories down.” Tory policies are “literally killing people,” said Serwotka.
Don’t Blame Migrants for Society’s Ills
With Brexit negotiations ongoing and seemingly getting nowhere, the British people are yearning to see more concrete plans relating to Brexit and immigration. One of the most poignant moments of Corbyn’s speech regarded immigration.
“Labour will never follow the Tories into the gutter of blaming migrants for the ills of our society. It isn’t migrants who drive down wages, but the worse bosses, in collusion with the Tory government. Labour will address this, not pander to scapegoating or racism,” Corbyn said to a standing ovation in the conference auditorium.
While the Tories pledge to cut net migration to below 100,000 a year, Labour promises “fair rules and reasonable management of migration” and to stop scapegoating migrants for the country’s economic failures, he added.
Pro-Corbyn, left-leaning Labour voters may be feeling optimistic for now, but the argument still remains among those less sympathetic to Corbyn’s policies and his intentions to move the middle ground to the left: how will a Labour government pay for ending austerity?
On the train back to Manchester from Brighton, one traveler asked me this question exactly. But Corbyn and his allies’ answer is simple: Get big businesses and the rich to pay more tax, and let Labour roll out plans from its 2017 manifesto, which will define taxation according to one's ability to pay. The Tories' repeated answer – increased austerity that hinders poor people's ability to pay for food, housing and other basic living necessities – clearly is not the answer.
Finally, to end the Tories’ lackluster conference in Manchester, Prime Minister Theresa May gave a disastrous speech that she spluttered through with a tickly cough. The PM's questionable leadership was epitomized when a prankster handed May her P-45 mid-speech and said: “Boris, tell them you told me to do this,” as he was dragged out.
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