We must labour to provide work

Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham

THE election results were brutal but clear: The Tory victory of

2019 was no one-off.

Labour has lost an emotional connection with working-class people. It didn’t fall out of the sky.

We weren’t blindsided. It’s been festering for years and threatens the existence of the party.

The stakes are that high.

This is not just a problem within a Red Wall of seats in the Midlands and North.

It is everywhere, including London, where Labour lost among working-class voters.

So how can we rebuild? The clue is in the name – Labour.

We should start with work and commit to guarantee decent jobs – “jobs you can raise a family on” to quote President Biden – for every citizen in the country.

From this day on, everything Labour does and says should focus on creating good work.

Industrial policy and solutions to the climate crisis – plans for housing, roads, rail, bridges, ideas to rebuild our social care system and our health, education and council services – should all be driven by a duty to create millions of decent, well-paid, unionised quality jobs. On

Saturday, victorious Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham talked about giving everyone “the dignity of decent work”.

He is bang on. With furlough ending, things are going to get bumpy. Expect more sharp practices like the hundreds of British Gas workers sacked for refusing a worse contract.

Tesco and Network Rail tried to fire and rehire their workers and it persists in local government.

Even the Supreme Court said recently that the power imbalances in companies such as Uber must be rectified.

The Tories won’t confront this stuff despite their bluster.

People value and desire meaningful work. Alongside our best councils and mayors, Keir Starmer should now plan to create good work for everyone.

I would go further – commit to new basic rights for all citizens, including decent housing, medical care, security, and free education. But let’s anchor everything around a new right to work. Such big bold ideas can inspire people, unite our party and heal the country.

■ Jon Cruddas’s book The Dignity of Labour is out now.