Meeting held on Wednesday 16th July 2025.
Seven people were present. six gave apologies.
Participants shared their views about why they had stayed in the Labour Party. No one expressed views about why they had not joined or had left the Party. It was suggested that many stayed in Labour because ‘there was nowhere else to go’.
Some achievements of the present government were recognised, but we explored why so little progress appears to have been achieved. Was this because Labour is concerned to make changes whose benefits are inevitably long-term?
But other changes were either not attempted (such as moves toward a wealth tax) or were indeed negative (such as refusal to remove the benefit cap). The power of the Bond Markets and financial interests, together with a press that largely reflects such interests, were put forward as reasons for this lack of progress. The common argument against a wealth tax was that it would lead to wealthy individuals leaving and removing their wealth. But we questioned the claim that the wealthy would, in fact, leave the country, and also that this would impact negatively on the public. It was suggested, for example, that the super-rich do not invested in the productive economy, but in assets, such as property whose value is therefore increased to no benefit for the public.
Furthermore the arguments against more progressive policies are often framed in terms of an economic model the Treasury uses which is increasingly challenged by more progressive economists. Thus, for example, the Treasury’s expectation that reducing Bank interest rates to zero following Covid, or the 2008 crash, would lead to growth, turned out to be incorrect and our economy was largely stagnant.
We reflected upon whether the voices of Labour backbenchers in parliament were heard by the leadership, and whether local activists were listened to by their constituencies.
A brief reference to local government reorganisation indicated that such matters are of little interest to many who are largely ignorant about local governance.
The next meeting will be on August 20th.