Boosting the economy
Fiona Mactaggart, Labour MP for Slough
Fiona Mactaggart was elected as the MP for Slough in 1997 and during
her time in office has served as a Home Office Minister and as
Parliamentary Private Secretary for Chris Smith. Before becoming an MP,
Fiona worked for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and a private company. She
was a London primary school teacher and a university lecturer.
Twitter: @fionamacmp
Labour lost the argument about handling the economy while we were looking
inwards after the last general election and it’s not clear that we have a strategy to
reverse that. But unless we do, we cannot win support in the South. The risk is that
the next general election will be a repeat of 1992, when despite predictions that
Labour would win, the British public chose “to hang on to nurse for fear of worse”.
“The risk is that the next general election will be a repeat of 1992”
In 2015 we need a strategy which will grow our economy in a way which benefits
voters. Although UK growth between 2003 and 2007 outstripped that in many other
countries and home-owners benefited from a boom, many workers were no better
off. Despite the recent recovery, Britain's economy is still smaller than it was in 2007.
Labour now has so little representation in southern seats outside cities that we can be
insensitive to the attitudes of voters there. 750 people in Slough are affected by the
bedroom tax, but ten times as many live in expensive overcrowded private sector
rented accommodation on a housing waiting list with little prospect of a move. They
resent the spare bedrooms available to people who got housing in times when there
was enough to go around.
And it is in these urban and suburban areas that Labour should look to regain seats.
We can appeal to commuters who resent the fact that they travel for longer, and to
residents in coastal towns forced out of cities by high housing costs. These people
are committed to work, and we need to make that available and financially rewarding.
Britain’s strengths are clear: we are world leaders in financial services, creative
industries and science. We also have some of the best universities. We are part of the
largest trading bloc in the world, the EU. We speak English, have strong legal systems
and a good record of paying debt. These qualities combine to make us a more
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