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Edited by Jonathan Rutherford and Alan Lockey
© Soundings 2010
Contributors: Philip Collins, Sally Davison, Jeremy Gilbert, Stuart Hall, David Lammy, Neal Lawson, Doreen Massey, Anthony Painter, James Purnell, Michael Rustin, Jonathan Rutherford, Marc Stears, Allegra Stratton, Heather Wakefield, Stuart White
In May 201 Soundings and the Open Left project at Demos brought together 50 people associated with different political perspectives to discuss the future of Labour. A number of papers were given and Jon Cruddas and David Miliband gave responses. The aim was to explore what common ground might exist and the prospects for a political axis around which to build cross-party political renewal.
There were some sharp differences of opinion. But there was also a shared agenda around pluralism and the importance of alliances in a time of political realignments. There was agreement about the need for the democratic reform of the party and for developing community and workplace organising. The day itself was a demonstration of the kind of non-factional debate and inquiry people wanted for the future. Pressing issues included the need for Labour to develop a new political economy and a new model of a social and democratic state. It was also generally accepted that Labour has to evolve a more ethical and emotional language for its politics, reviving its traditions to become once again the party of association and mutualism.
This e-book offers a series of short essays from participants that we hope broadly reflects the debate and that offers some of the groundwork for developing a wider discussion about Labour's future. Published jointly by Soundings and Open Left at Demos
