Anniversaries that marked sea change in politics

SOMETIMES ANNIVERSARIES of public events can, frankly, be an artificial construct; irritating because someone, somewhere wanted a peg on which to hang a particular story. Forgetting personal anniversaries is, of course, an entirely different matter and some birthdays make you wish you could start turning the clock back!

My column this month is devoted to two anniversaries of a very different kind, but both had a major impact on the politics of the UK. The first is the 40th anniversary of the invasion of the Falkland Islands by the Argentinian regime, and the military conflict that ensued. The second is the 25th anniversary of the election of the Labour Government led by Tony Blair, and the landslide on May 1, 1997 which put me into the British Cabinet.

The political impact of the Falklands conflict was profound. Despite the split on the left of British politics – with the creation of the Council for Social Democracy (which became the SDP, and later the combined Liberal Democrats) – the Labour Party, under Michael Foot, was ahead in the opinion polls. Yet a combination of a divided opposition against Margaret Thatcher’s leadership, and the undoubted impact of her image as the ‘Iron Lady’ in driving Argentinian forces out of the Falkland Islands, resulted in a majority of over 140 seats in Parliament in the election the following year.

But it isn’t the politics I think about most 40 years on.

It is being there, as the thenleader of Sheffield City Council, in the city’s Cathedral, as we commemorated the losses incurred in the sinking of HMS Sheffield and, for some controversially, the loss of life in the Belgrano, sunk as it made for port in Argentina.

The loss of life from both vessels, from those fighting on land and, in particular, the tragic losses at Goose Green, brought home the price that was paid for the self-determination of the Falkland islanders.

This still resonates today as we contemplate the magnificent struggle of the Ukrainian people to retain self-determination and see off their aggressor.

What I’ve discovered about my memories, as I teach students at the University of Sheffield, is that what I consider to be almost yesterday, is ancient history to them. May 1, 1997 is of course just that: history of a time before many of them were born.

They don’t remember schools having a leaking roof or windows falling out. They don’t remember the outside toilets – not just a toilet outside, but the toilets for the school being outside – and the four-day weeks in many schools because of teacher shortages.

They don’t remember that there had been an eightyear freeze on the number of students going through to higher education, and a staggering cut in the amount spent per student of 40 per cent. They don’t remember that there was no National Minimum Wage, no civil partnerships or same-sex marriages, no Freedom of Information Act or comprehensive childcare and nursery education programme. They don’t remember the long waiting lists for NHS treatment which have sadly returned in the last two years.

I wasn’t in London on that first fateful dawn morning, May 2, when Tony Blair issued that rallying cry of “a new dawn has broken, has it not?” I had decided to stay in Sheffield for the counting of the votes in my constituency, and to go down to London at midday.

Other than Gordon Brown, who had been designated the Chancellor-in-waiting by Tony Blair, I was fortunate enough be the only other Shadow Cabinet Member who was certain that, were we to be elected, I would be the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. Whilst it was uplifting to go into Downing Street and be “anointed” before coming out to face the press, I was not so much elated as apprehensive. Not worried, but just aware of the enormity of what we had taken on, the expectations which were way beyond anything we could immediately deliver, and the trust, which was crucial not

At last, we could stop talking about doing something, and actually do it.

to lose, from those who had put us in office. That first weekend, therefore, was one of establishing the priorities, appointing my own special advisers and forging a working relationship with the senior civil service team. In retrospect, it was exhilarating, but at the time it also felt daunting. At last, we could stop talking about doing something, and actually do it.

Reflecting back on those 25 years, I realise just how fortunate I was. To have had the opportunity of supporting those turning round the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people, driving down youth unemployment; and then, in the Home Office, to have grappled with some of the biggest challenges of security, crime, immigration and much else was a privilege. Above all, to appreciate, once again, just how important it is to be in a position to make a genuine difference to the lives of others. To be the government rather than the “opposition”. To recognise that with all the failings that are so obvious around us in the political arena, you can, with the support of the British people and your colleagues around you, really change the world for the better. Twenty-five years ago we had an opportunity and, in the fullness of time, there might be a fair judgment of what we made of it.