A Socialist Abroad: Labour Can Win

I set this website up when I was campaigning for election to Labour's national Policy Forum. This was my "manifesto".

To win in 2020 - and I believe we can - Labour needs the right strategy, the right campaign and the right policies, and that is where the NPF comes in.

The key battleground, in policy terms will be the economy. Voters know that Labour will support the NHS and the welfare state but we need to tell a better story about how Labour has the best approach to the economy. Credible policies need to be based on sound economics which will be effective in government.

By contrast Osbornomics, with its deficit reduction obsession, fails the test of orthodox economics and fails to deal with the gap in productivity, the collapse in business investment, the stagnation of incomes, the rising deficit in the current account, and the increasing risks of deflation and high levels of household debt.

Labour needs to craft the policies now which will leverage higher investment, public and private, to drive rising productivity, leading to rising wages and lower household debt. Polices will be needed to support business investment, increase R&D effort, reform corporate governance, and expand industry. With European elections in 2019, Labour needs to work with other socialist parties across Europe on policies to challenge the pursuit by Mrs Merkell and her allies of deflationary economics.

By 2020 deficit reduction will be yesterday’s issue. Labour needs to set a new agenda and demonstrate how government can act to build rising and widely shared prosperity.

Why the National Policy Forum?

The NPF brings together representatives of all parts of the party to prepare the policy positions adopted by the Party Conference. Its 186 members are drawn from politicians elected to Parliament, the EP, local and devolved governments, trade unions and affiliated bodies as well as individual members, the Shadow Cabinet and NEC.

CLPs elect 55 members mostly through regional elections. labour International has the right to send one representative hence this election.

The NPF provides a means for LI members to engage with setting the policies for the next Labour government. We need a representative who will engage actively with LI reporting back to LI members and involving them in consultations and discussions.

Who Am I

I set up this site when I was seeking election to Labour's National Policy Forum. I am now proud to represent Labour International on the Forum.

I have been a member of the Labour Party since 1979. I was very active from the 1980s, including as Constituency Chair, Parliamentary Candidate and delegate to party bodies at District, County and regional level.

In the 1990s, my professional role in local government began to restrict my political activities but gave me the opportunity to work with Labour politicians for example successfully lobbying on the Maastricht Bill in the House of Commons or supporting councillors on the EU Committee of the Regions.

My career has been in economic development firstly at local and regional level and more recently in international development. I began lobbying Brussels for local government and I ended up based here in 1999. Apart from 3 years in Botswana, I’ve been here ever since.

I have a lot of policy development experience and worked with left-leaning think tanks over the years, contributing to conferences and seminars and organising fringe meetings at annual conference.