Members of the Twickenham CLP were guests of our comrades in Richmond Park when they hosted Yvettte Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, and Marie Tidball, Labour candidate for the ‘Red Wall’ seat of Peniston and Stockbridge.  

Marie is a nationally renowned disability rights activist who grew up in the ward she now seeks to represent. She talked passionately about the Tories’ failure to understand the importance of community, about how Labour’s values of fairness, equality and justice have guided her activism, and about fighting for a fairer, greener future. It was also fascinating for a London audience for whom the folly of Brexit is an article of faith to hear from a Red Wall candidate whose constituents feel quite differently on this topic.

Food For Thought

Yvette spoke for twenty minutes without notes and leavened hard-hitting political insights with humour. She said the public school system should be in ‘special measures’ for all the damage its alumni (Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Kwasi Kwarteng) have inflicted on Britain. The biggest laugh of the night came in her response to a question about the relative lack of diversity among our party leaders when she said, “Not due to any lack of effort on my part!” a self-deprecating reference to her own leadership bid.

She was scathing about her counterpart in the Home Office, criticising the ‘appalling language’ Suella Braverman used in the aftermath of the attack on the Dover Migrant Centre, accusing her of ‘not getting the basics of the asylum system right” and doing nothing to tackle the criminal gangs behind the people smuggling. Yvette was also clear that, while Labour seeks to govern for the whole country, she wants to see the party focusing on ‘marginals where we can make the biggest difference’.

Five dividing lines from the Tories

The Labour leadership is keeping its powder dry ahead of the next election, but Yvette was clear on five themes that articulate why Labour should replace the Conservatives.

1. Restoring credibility in government: “The Tories are in chaos and are damaging our country,” she said, adding that people just want “to see some grown-ups in charge”. She claimed that the Tories have ‘no respect for standards, values – or even the rule of law’ – with one rule for them and another for the rest of the country.
2. Fair Choices: the Tories are hammering working families, rather than living up to their claim that  ‘those with the broadest shoulders will carry the heaviest burden’. She listed removing tax exemptions for non-doms and a windfall tax on energy companies profiting from ‘Putin’s illegal war’ as examples of what labour would do differently.
3. Plan for Growth: Yvette talked about a ‘”lost decade of growth where people have to choose between heating and eating” with growth in our economy now two thirds of the OECD average, compared to 50% above that average in the last Labour administration. She pointed to published Labour plans around GB energy and the green economy as policies that would drive Labour’s growth agenda.
4. Rebuilding our NHS: Yvette criticised the Tories for their “laissez-faire attitude to public services”. She highlighted Labour’s plans to train more doctors and nurses to address the strains that the system is now under and plans to use proceeds from non-dom taxation to better fund the service.
5. Safer Streets: Yvette bemoaned the loss of 8,000 neighbourhood police and the recent statistics that point to low rates of crimes now being solved. She also echoed Marie’s point about the importance of community and the need for people to feel secure in their own environments.

As the end of the session, Yvette was asked about the likelihood of a general election. “The Tories don’t look like they want a general election anytime soon,” she said. “But bring it on. We’re ready.”