Ruth Kelly, MP - "A Third Labour Government"
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Ruth Kelly, MP for Bolton West and Minister at the Cabinet Office (latterly Secretary of State for Education) addressed members on what Labour's priorities will be for a third term in government at the Branch meeting on 9th December 2004.
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Ruth was warmly welcomed by the members present and recalled that so much has happened in the last year. She has changed jobs from Financial Secretary at the Treasury to Colin Milburn's deputy at the Cabinet Office, concentrating on Civil Service reforms, including pensions. She is also involved with the Strategy Unit and Policy Directorate - thinking about what Labour should be aiming to achieve in its third term and putting together the policies for the general election manifesto. Ruth said that in our first term we had created economic stability; it was the first time that Labour had done this. We now have two million more people in work and just about full employment. The UK's is the only economy in the western world to have not gone into recession for a prolonged period.
Our second term has been about improving public services - investing in health and education and we are now seeing the results. It's taken a long time but considerable progress has been made and Bolton has seen the benefits.
In the recent five-year health plan a pledge was made to cut the maximum waiting time from visiting one's GP to seeing a consultant from 18 months to 18 weeks. This will be a difficult target to meet but it is achievable.
The "Big Debate" was to consult people about the problems they face in their everyday life and the priorities that they feel government should have. Its aim was to make sure that Labour's third term gives people what they want and the discussion is continuing. If we get a third term we'll make big strides. We'll extend paid maternity leave to nine months with the objective of extending that to a year and fathers will be eligible too. We need to empower people in their local communities to make sure that they can live their lives peaceably and without fear of crime and vandalism.
However, to do this we will need to win the next election and that's likely to be during the coming year. Ruth said that she has been given the task of winning the women's vote. She believed that women predominantly identified with Labour but when you ask them whether or not they intend to vote, very many say "probably not". We have to make sure that women know that politics matters.
One of the issues that really works with women is that the economy is in good shape - inflation low, mortgage rates low, unemployment low. One of slogans should be "Britain is working, don't let the Tories wreck it again".
It will be on the "big issues" such as these that the national general election campaign will be fought but local campaigning will be different. We will be aiming to get the message across about "your school", "your hospital", "your streets", "your neighbourhood" and it is hoped that, we will be able to do away with the daily national news conferences that are mostly irrelevant to ordinary people. Keith and James are working on the local campaign, identifying the areas and issues that will form the focus of our efforts.
Ruth's talk was followed by questions and answers:
| Bob: | Where will you mostly be during the general election campaign, Bolton or London? |
| Ruth: | In Bolton as much as possible as it's very important to maintain contact with local people. |
| John: | Was it wise to announce changes to civil servants' pensions just six month before a possible general election? |
| Ruth: | Actually the changes that I announced today will especially help lower paid civil servants. They will actually be better off. Only the highly paid mandarins will lose out. It's a redistributive package. |
| Alan: | How can this be when their pension will be calculated on their average salary over their working life instead of the best of the last three years? |
| Ruth: | The accrual rate will go down from 80ths to 50ths. |
| Terry: | What should our strategy be towards the Lib-Dems? |
| Ruth: | We need to take them seriously but they vary very much from area to area. In some places they are much more left wing, whereas in others they are very much to the right. They initially voted against Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) but are now in favour of them. ASBOs have been very successful in Bolton. |
| Joyce: | Low interest rates haven't really affected homebuyers except to increase house price inflation and price first time buyers out of the market. |
| Ruth: | Housing is much more affordable than previously if you are already on the housing ladder. But it's a real problem for first time buyers to get onto it and we are aiming to provide help after the next election. |
| Alan: | What's happening about inheritance tax? |
| Ruth: | It's difficult to do anything about it. In any case, less than 5% of people pay it. |
| Ian: | What's happening about NHS dentistry in Bolton? |
| Ruth: | Dentistry is a real weak point in Labour's health programme. Against the context of a very much improving health service it's very difficult to get dentists back into the NHS and two training schools were closed in the 1990s. |
| George: | Prescott was determined to try to get house prices down to more like the European levels but NIMBYism has prevented local authorities from opening up land for house building. |
| Ruth: | There are a number of long-term problems in the housing market. Compared with our European neighbours there is a much greater demand for home ownership whereas in other countries it's much more common to rent. In addition we have a very inflexible planning system and fewer houses than there is demand for. Kate Barker came forward with proposals for first time buyers, especially so-called "essential workers" and suggested more building in some areas that are currently underdeveloped. 200,000 people will be housed in the Thames Gateway area. This will be combined with a stronger greenbelt policy. |
| Tom: | Investment and changes in the NHS are applauded but the real concern is over the privatisation of healthcare - the 15% of medical work that will go private. |
| Ruth: | We need extra capacity if we are to achieve our ambitious 18-week waiting time target and we will need to work with the private sector to achieve this and other improvements. |
| Bob: | We have to have value for money. |
| Terry: | The Tories and papers such as the Daily Mail are making a huge issue over asylum seekers. |
| Ruth: | We have to tackle issues such as this head on. They can't be ignored because the right wing press whips up emotions. Asylum applications have been halved and the average time for dealing with applications is down from twenty to two months for the first assessment. There never really has been a mechanism for removing failed asylum seekers. The press is immensely proactive on this. |
| John: | Won't the implementation of the ban on hunting, that we (nearly all) support cause problems during the general election campaign? |
| Ruth: | Well, the ban should have been delayed for 18 or 30 months but the House of Lords wanted to introduce it immediately. The legislation should have been introduced very much sooner during our second term. I voted for the ban. |
There were several other questions and a general discussion. Sheila sincerely thanked Ruth for her talk and the discussion that followed as well as all members who had participated. She declared the meeting closed and it was followed by Christmas buffet supplied by Joyce and Alan for which they also were thanked most sincerely.
All members and their families were wished a very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.
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