It may have been a surprise election, and only been a six-week campaign, but for many people the ‘festival of democracy’ inspired little genuine enthusiasm (writes PTER KELLY, Chief Executive of The Poverty Alliance).
Perhaps this was because the outcome was so widely predicted and, in the end, seemed almost inevitable. More likely was that after years where many politicians were increasingly distrusted and political debates appeared disconnected from the realities of day-to-day life, the election held little interest for many.
Of course, the result was by no means guaranteed, no matter what the polls said. And if the result was not guaranteed, what comes next is still very much a subject for debate. What was clear from the result, though, is that the decline in trust in politics was very much in evidence at this election: turnout fell to 60%, the second lowest in more than 100 years.
But now that the votes have been cast, historic landside secured, MPs sworn in, and Ministers appointed, many of us who want to see progressive social and economic change are asking: now what?
Almost two weeks after the result, we are moving from the territory of ‘hot takes’ and instant analysis to a place where we can begin to see the emerging opportunities where progress could be made. The question for anti-poverty campaigners is how these opportunities can be turned into real change.
At a basic level, we need only look at the manifesto that the new Labour Government was elected upon to see what comes next and where the opportunities lie. In it we will find commitments that are to be welcomed.
For example, the package of change intended to improve the lives of working people, especially for those at the tough end of the labour market who get by on low pay and insecure contracts.
These are changes that reflect some of the priorities that we called for in our own election manifesto, especially around commitments to increasing the minimum wage and providing minimum working hours.
The Labour manifesto also contained a pledge to create a new child poverty strategy. One of the undoubted disappointments of the election campaign was the lack of discussion about poverty and inequality, particularly by both main UK political parties. At best the cost of living crisis was a proxy for discussions about poverty, but at no point was there any serious attempt to say how an incoming government would act to address the systemic failings at the heart of poverty.
Although commitments to labour market change and anti-poverty strategies are all very welcome, much of the detail on delivery remains unclear.
How, for example, will a child poverty strategy accommodate the current retention of the two-child limit? The reality is, of course, that any child poverty strategy must start with the scrapping of this policy, and then look to strengthen our social security system. The pressure building around the two-child limit in recent days is emblematic of the tensions that exist in the new Government’s current approach.
The new Prime Minister and Chancellor have been clear in this approach – economic growth is the central objective, the overriding mission, and at the same time public spending to be contained within the previous Conservative Government’s plans.
Neither of these commitments leave much immediate space for addressing poverty, despite the promise of a new strategic approach. As the IFS have said: ‘delivering genuine change will almost certainly also require putting actual resources on the table.’
It is this tension that the Government’s approach – a desire to address poverty but within current spending limits – that opens up a new space for anti-poverty campaigners. We must use the high-level commitments that have been made to deliver the substantive changes we know are needed.
This includes not only scrapping the two-child limit, but ending the benefit cap, stopping the five week wait for UC, introducing an Essentials Guarantee, and more. It also means seeking to shape debates about economic growth, highlighting that growth on its own will not solve poverty and that distribution and pre-distribution of resources needs to be part of the who our economy works for.
There are genuine opportunities to engage with the new UK Government, opportunities that have not existed for more than a decade. I’ve highlighted just a couple above, more will emerge in the months to come. For civil society organisations in Scotland and across the UK these opportunities to engage will be very welcome.
But it will be important for all of us seeking progressive change to remember what has been learned from engaging with Scottish Government’s over the last 25 years – access does not always equal influence. Simply having a meeting with a Minister, being invited onto an advisory group, responding to a consultation does not mean that demands will be translated into action. Of course, we need to engage in these discussions and activities, but we need to consider what else should be done to create change.
There is hope for change at the moment, but to turn that hope into action, to transform our demands into tangible, practical improvements in people’s lives, we need to be better organised across civil society.
We must do more to engage and raise the voices of the thousands of grassroots organisations and campaigners across Scotland and the UK that hold communities together. By raising these voices, by activating those who are in the frontline of the fight against poverty, we will create the necessary sense of urgency that is needed.
Our sector in Scotland involves more than 45,000 organisations, employing 135,000 people, with more than 1.1 million volunteers involved. We need to turn those numbers into an organised social movement, one that is broad based, inclusive and can make the demands the system change to both the Scottish and UK Governments.
At the Poverty Alliance we believe that there are real opportunities ahead of us to make change, but they will only be realised if we work together across civil society. Please join us to make these changes happen.
