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Prosperity and Work
The Prosperity and Work Commission, August 2006
By Deborah Gardiner
The setting for this NPF was astonishing, and a testament to the investment that has been made in this deprived part of London. Looking across the river at a large and very lovely housing development, I was told that 40% of the development was social housing. It should go without saying that this level of investment would not be happening without a Labour Government.
Hazel Blears gave a very positive, but realistic, analysis of the current political scene, highlighting the fact that the messages the electorate are giving political parties are complex e.g. Cameron doing reasonably well in the opinion polls but almost losing the Bromley by-election. She acknowledged that is was a difficult time for Labour party members, but reminded us that an active opposition, difficult decisions being taken and the need to work hard to get the story across is really just politics as usual. It’s easy to forget this, as we have been rather used to a supine opposition and a huge majority.
The NPF also heard speeches by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Jack Straw and John Prescott. There were discussions on the Energy Review and Party Funding. Your SE CLP representatives had already undertaken a consultation on funding, and the results were fed into the discussion.
The Prosperity and Work Commission section of the policy document was broadly welcomed, with some additions to the subjects for discussion within the Party, including what more we can do to tackle inequality and poverty; what further support families need and how best do we help people move into work? It was also suggested that there should be further emphasis in the document of fairness at work, health and safety, corporate social responsibility and women and work. In particular, NPF representatives were keen that the greater participation of women in science should be encouraged and fostered, and more generally that the role of science, engineering and technology should have a greater profile in schools. It was also suggested that challenges presented by globalisation should have a much higher profile, with particular reference to what we should be doing to help lower-skilled workers, what impact globalisation has on economic migration. The issue of security and dignity in retirement was discussed, and although, broadly, people were happy with the Pensions White Paper, there was a request for a more information to be given to Party members on this issue, and a greater emphasis on the important contribution made both socially and economically by carers.
I really hope that when constituency parties receive the document, they will continue to make submissions on these vital areas of government policy in preparation for the next manifesto