Rebuild Labour in the South through the Economy

Murray Rowlands explains how trades union grassroots activity has a role to play in delivering a Labour revival in the South

I believe a principal reason for Labour’s low profile in the south is its lack of economic profile in the region. This is reflected in a low trade union membership particularly in the private sector here. The absence of a trade union perspective means that in so many areas Labour is seen as an irrelevance to the needs and aspirations of those the Party are seeking to represent.

It is essential that two “souths” be recognised in terms of regeneration. Radice and Diamond in their Fabian tract address the south in terms of winnable parliamentary constituencies such as Reading and parts of Kent. The south they neglect and should be our concern is Surrey, much of Hampshire, the Sussexes, and parts of Berkshire. There is negligible Labour influence in these areas. These areas constitute a crucial industrial hub for Britain and it vital Labour rebuild here.

Take my area, covering Surrey Heath, Rushmoor, Fleet, and Sandhurst – the Blackwater area with 300,000 people. The industry and commerce it boasts could be found in many areas of the South. At one time the military/industrial complex, the Royal Aircraft Establishment was based here. It has since been privatised and the unionised manual jobs have largely disappeared into technological and scientific centre called QinetiQ where there is very little union membership. Marks and Spencer have a very large retail complex called The Meadows again with only patchy union membership. The area is served by Frimley Park Hospital again where union activity seems to be in the doldrums. As with elsewhere in the south there are scores of smaller firms, many in the hi-tech area, with negligible union membership. It seems to me then no coincidence that the total number of Labour councillors in the area for over a quarter of a million people is 8.

There is of course no magic bullet to remedy this situation, but something must be done if Labour is to be considered to be a national party. What the current wave of resistance in the movement to the cuts in services and jobs has revealed is that far from working together often the two sides of labour are deeply suspicious of each other. This is what I found when I played a part in organising a march in nearby Woking against cuts in services here.

At one time there were Trades Councils throughout the south. Many of these have withered and died reflecting a general decline in trade union support. They provided an essential link into the community for local trade unions. If we are going to rebuild Labour here I believe there is a need to open trades councils wherever possible throughout the region. Building on the need to resist Tory attacks on the living standards of working people trades councils could become the focus for labour activism uniting the two sides of our movement. They should include representatives from the cooperative movement working through its ideas of regeneration. The view should be – new recruits to trade unions are potentially Labour’s members as well. Reconstituted trades councils would highlight the growing levels of unemployment particularly among 16 – 19 year olds not in education or training.

Trades councils could play an exciting role in revitalising the Labour Party in the south. Where they are opened or reopened they should do so not to provide a talking shop for both sides of the movement, but to again make the ideals of labour relevant to the people in the region. The danger of the Diamond/Radice approach to Labour’s decline in the south is that its focus is on limited success at Parliamentary level. Even if Labour successfully regains seats here, they will stick out like red pin pricks in a sea of blue. Regeneration in the south must involve a grassroots recovery that should be assisted by active trade councils and proportional representation.

Murray Rowlands is Chair of Surrey Labour Party and Vice Chair of Surrey Heath CLP