The Labour Party

 So I guess the first thing to mention is the most obvious, that is the fact that The about party is a political party in the UK that is said to be the part of the working man(and woman). It is guided by the principles of socialism, supporting trade unions, and being the hero of the working class and underprivileged. 

Let’s begin by describing what the Labour Party is. As the name suggests, it’s about the ordinary citizens of the UK, giving them a voice and striving to improve their lives. There was a time when the hardest workers in society, the miners, the mill workers, farmers and labourers of all kinds had no real representation in government.  

What mainly worked for the party was its friendly association with trade Unions, and it formed a tough competition for the other main party in the UK, the Conservative Political Party. We have a post on the Conservatives, here's a link. It signals back to the interesting history of the Labour Party that resulted in its origin in the UK. 

Its initial foundation dates back to 1893 with no mass support but gradually gained membership and popularity among locals after WWI. The party was officially founded in 1900 growing out of the need for representations of the trade unions in politics. Soon members from other socialist parties joined the ranks and Labour grew into a sizable movement in politics. As 1924 marked the success of the Labour Party with the formation of the first Labour Government under James Ramsay MacDonald.

The Labour Party next found itself in power in 1945. This was in no small thanks to the members of the Labour Party who joined Winston Churchill’s wartime coalition government. We can also attribute this life-changing recovery to the Party’s determination to serve the community and work for social reform amidst economic downturns and severe unemployment. 

I think it is the ideals that formed in the post-war period that helped labour find their base, after struggling in the inter-war period, working in a national coalition really re-energised not only the labour party members but also its leaders and representatives in government. It could be said that the war and its government were the best things that could have happened for the party. I won’t go as far as to say it saved the party, but it was certainly faltering prior to this.

The Labour Party worked wholeheartedly in the following five years to take the state out of the Post-war crisis. To the surprise of many at the time, considering the economic and health conditions after the war, it had managed to do this exact task. Getting people back to work and getting the economy transformed from a wartime economy run mostly by the state to an economy run by the people. It was however a slow and painful transformation. Yet, despite this, the Labour Party faced another crisis in 1950 as it lost its majority against the Conservative Party. 

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the party struggled with coordination as the membership and party leaders were at odds with each other. They had different ideals on the way Britain should move forward as a nation, the party found a way forward with its olf allies the Liberal Party. Forming the Lib-Lab pact, Unfortunately, its controversial policies also jeopardized its relations with the trade union and other allies. 

It could be said that the Labour Party was in continuous turmoil from its earliest years until today. Despite this, the party has managed to form governments, and in many situations has managed to make vast changes to not only the health and wellbeing of everyday workers but also the way those workers view their place in society. The blue-collar workers and local socialists provide the major electoral support to the Labour Party, and the trade union aids the party in not only financial terms but by offering their public support

After all this, I think it’s time to talk about what holds the labour party together. Despite the fact that its members, leadership and MPs all have different views. The party is bound together by a wish to support, and improve the lives of everyday people. As time went on Labour took on more socialist issues, dealing with the likes of benefits for the workers, the elderly, and those who cannot work due to ill health. Labour has become the party of support, supporting those most in need in society. 

They are seen as a high-tax low growth party. In many ways, this is the truth. On average labour has higher taxes for those who earn the most and lower economic growth. But it also offers the most support to those in society that need it, families on a low income, the sick and the elderly. Historically they were seen as the party that took on mountains of national debt, and conservatives as the party that dealt with this. But as we can see even the conservatives are capable of taking on significant amounts of debt. 

Despite the obstructions, the Labour Party has stood for the labourers who they believe can lead the state to a better future. It was the plea of these workers and middle-class labourers to protect them from what they perceived as the evil giants that were destroying them. 

There are many issues that are said to have contributed to the struggles of the working class in Britain. There were pandemics, unemployment, inflation, and issues with meeting even the most basic needs at times. Poverty is unfortunately still an issue in British society, in some households, the only hot meal a child will get is the meal provided by the state through school lunches. It is these low-income, poverty-stricken people that make up a fair portion of Labour voters. 

In my opinion, this is actually an issue for the party. The party strives to uplift people, to give those worst off in society a future, and it is this uplifting that is their issue. As they bring people out of poverty and give people opportunities, they convert them into conservative voters. They become homeowners, land owners, and even business owners. They earn more and the increase in social mobility leads inevitably to more people wanting to vote for the party of lower taxes, and historically, that party is the Conservative Party. 

Continuing with history, the Labour Party re-recovered under Clement Attlee, who started following the party’s manifesto soon after they gained power. They developed a working social security system, built houses for the labourers, and provided the public with the ownership of well-established industries to work and grow together for change. 

The National Health Service is, I believe, the best achievement of Attlee. It has worked wonders for the socialists and continues to this day to be used as a drum to beat by the Labour Party. The NHS as we call it continues to provide care and maintains the health of the nation. But of late it has faced many challenges, low funding levels, understaffing, and hospitals in desperate need of repair and maintenance. 

After 18 years of Tories rule, the new governments of the Labour Party indeed worked as a light amidst the dark. The supervision of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown brought many reforms to the UK. They renewed jobs with considerable wages, improved the educational and social security system, and ensured justice and equality in the state. 

Talking about recent times, in many ways Jeremy Corbyn reinvigorated the party, he beat the drum of social reform. Enticing a whole new generation of potential labour voters. He was seen at some of the most unusual locations, such as music festivals. He was popular and so the media and the Conservative party had to find something to bring him down. During his time of leading the party, membership grew to over half a million making it the largest political party in all of western Europe. 

But, there was a sinister side to the party. Antisemitism was seen to be an unfortunately far too common occurrence in the party. Not only this, despite the fact that it was brought to the attention of those in the highest ranks of the party, all the way to the leader Jeremy Corbyn himself. Little was done to combat these beliefs in the party. Nothing was done to weed out the blatant discrimination that had corrupted some in the party.

The media and the Tories pounced on this, making a large show in the media, on the internet and even in the hose of common that the party had widespread issues with antisemitism. Although the issue was not as prevalent or widespread as reported, it did, however, lead to the downfall of Corbyn due to a bad showing in the 2019 general election. 

I think it would be unfair to put all of this on the reports of antisemitism, but also the Labours' way of performing their duties as an opposition party. It was soon by the public that the Labour party wanted to do too much. They questioned if the country could afford it and these fears were played on by the media. In the end, Labour say the worst result in a general election since 1935 and Corbyn was forced to resign.

I do have to question if it was not for the media, who made it seem as if the party would bankrupt the nation, would they have performed better? Many of these media outlets are owned by Conservative members and they have a reason to keep the red party out. The reason is taxes, for the plans of a complete rebuilding of the social security system, free education, a massive investment in the NHS and a large renationalisation plan to work. Taxes would obviously have to be increased. This was well known and it embolden the media and those highest earners to stop the party at all costs. 

Keir Starmer has taken over the leadership of the Labour Party in the UK. In many ways, he has not been given a fair shake at the job due to the many issues faced by Britain. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, Brexit. They have time and time again put him in a place where he had to toe the line. He is seen as a weak leader, struggling in the house as an opposition figure and often failing to hit the nail on the head during PMQs. But he is improving, I don’t know if it is simply experience or if he is being coached, but he is slowly blossoming into a powerhouse of a politician who I think will give a fierce fight during the next election.

The Labour Party has proven time and time again that it will champion the poor and trodden on, it will be a shining beacon of support and care when the country turns dark. In the hardest times, it will try its best to uplift the lowest echelons and main the highest earners pay for the improvement of society as a whole. 

So now you know about the party what do you think, would you support them, in their aims to provide for the lowest and worst off members of society. Or do you think the higher tax, state own enterprise route is a limiter of economic growth? Let me know in the comments below. 

- Spec