Iain McNicol’s speech to his party’s conference this afternoon picked up on one of Ed Miliband’s big themes from this morning’s Marr interview: the idea that Labour is an anti-politics political party. The party’s general secretary praised the work of Labour members on various social campaigns, and then added:
‘Politics is fractured and needs mending. Earlier we stood in silence to remember those of our friends who have passed away this year including the fantastic Philip Gould. I remember him once saying politics was like a vital football match being played out between the reds and the blues. But as the players fight for every ball, strain for every goal, the crowd is drifting away. The game goes on, but the stadium is emptying. Soon there’ll be nobody left.
‘But politics is too important to leave to wither… it breaks my heart, when I know how different we are. And the cynicism that declares that politics can’t make any difference to people’s lives. This makes me angry, when I see the change that politics can make.’
The point Miliband was making this morning, and the one he made in a speech a few months ago, when he said that he wasn’t the sort of politician spin doctors would invent, is that voters are looking for something sincere rather than polished, that they can trust rather than be persuaded and cajoled by. McNicol later said in his speech that Labour’s community organisers ‘don’t just ask for their vote. They ask for their views. They construct real campaigns to solve real problems.’ He described Labour as a ‘movement, not merely a parliamentary party’.
It was interesting that McNicol referenced the party’s decision to pay all its staff a living wage, and that the campaigns he praised were grassroots community campaigns on anti-social behaviour, libraries and loan sharks. Shadow ministers appeared much later in the speech. And when the Conservative party finally reared its head, it was one that ‘believes the best days are behind us’, ‘fears the worst’ and ‘fears the “plebs”‘. This speech was the equivalent of one of those Marks & Spencer ‘this isn’t just a chocolate pudding’ adverts for Labour: this isn’t just a political party: it’s so much more than a political party.
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