Kmflett's Blog

Haringey Labour Manifesto 2022: Vote Labour but get active yourself

The Labour Manifesto for the 5^th May Council Elections was released on Monday (a link is below).

Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party may not to be to the liking of all, although hopefully the focus remains on ejecting Boris Johnson from Downing St. However this is a local election, with local priorities and interests at its centre.

Of course these are impacted by and the Council is constrained by what are now far too many years of Government led austerity attacks on the funding and public services of areas like Haringey. So the test is whether the elected Councillors are still doing what they can to improve the lives of ordinary people in the Borough in that framework.

Manifestos are not the most well read of documents so the presentation of the 2022 Haringey Labour document represents a step forward. There are fewer blocks of text and more visual representation of achievements and policies and these also lend themselves to social media where they are more likely to be glanced at.

What is planned on climate, discrimination, inequality and fairness and housing all signals a decent commitment to act on key issues for the period 2022-26. Not changing the world exactly but at least giving it a push in a progressive direction.

Of course most will find issues where they disagree or think more should be done. I’m concerned that there is no focus on trade unions and the workplace. Haringey Labour should flag itself as leading the way on being a living wage and better employer and one that encourages trade unionism not just with its own direct employees but for all employers in the Borough.

The commitment to continuing insourcing services where they are currently done by third parties is welcome as is the focus on what the pandemic and furlough have done to people’s working lives and incomes.

I would also have liked the Council to commit to work with campaigns active locally on key issues such as Haringey Defend Council Housing, Extinction Rebellion and Stand Up To Racism. Hopefully this will happen in practice even if putting it in a Manifesto might raise eyebrows in the wrong places.

Of course too the Manifesto has silences on some of the wider issues that over the years Haringey Labour has become justifiably well known for championing, and which often have a good deal of support locally.

My conclusion on May 5^th will be to vote Labour but to continue to urge people to be active and organise with others. Policies good though they may be only go so far without people at the grassroots to make sure things actually happen.

Keith Flett is former Secretary of Haringey TUC and remains an active socialist and trade union representative.