Rebecca Long-Bailey calls for Labour to drop cautious approach to economy
Former Labour leadership contender Rebecca Long-Bailey has called for Labour to drop its cautious approach to the economy and fight the next election on a radical manifesto including state ownership and a living standards contract between government and public.
In her first significant economic policy intervention since the 2020 leadership contest won by Sir Keir Starmer, Long-Bailey said Labour would need transformative policies if it was to win the next election.
Long-Bailey, who as shadow business secretary was one of the leading figures in Jeremy Corbyn’s team, said her proposed contract would deliver a defined decent standard of living for all citizens, guaranteeing housing costs, food and fuel bills were affordable.
A minister for living standards at cabinet rank in the Treasury with the same standing as the chief secretary would ensure the contract was delivered and legally enforced, she said.
Starmer, who said earlier this year the “slate had been wiped clean” since the 2019 election, will make a speech on the economy in Liverpool on Monday.
Speaking to the Guardian, Long-Bailey said she understood the difficulties in announcing policies too far in advance of a general election because it gave Labour’s opponents the chance to either steal policies or pick holes in them. But she added: “You can’t fatten a pig on market day.”
The fiscal responsibility pledged by Starmer and the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was necessary but not enough on its own to win back the trust of voters.
In recent months, Labour has opened up an opinion-poll lead and is currently more trusted to deal with the UK’s cost of living crisis. Long-Bailey warned this was unlikely to last.
“It is naive to think Labour can maintain a poll lead without
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