Milburn calls for ‘new orthodoxy’
New Labour must adopt a “new orthodoxy” which deals with the 21st century challenges of globalisation, terrorism and climate change, Alan Milburn has said.
The former health secretary and arch Blairite said that in the face of a “more competitive challenge” from the Conservatives, Labour must ensure it has the answers to this “new political terrain”.
“The first volume of the New Labour narrative might be closing. But a second volume is opening. It will have a different set of policies but be bound by a common set of values,” he said.
Mr Milburn admitted that his contributions might be seen as a bid for the Labour leadership but insisted he was merely contributing to a necessary debate about where the party goes from now.
In a speech in London last night, he called for a “more grown up” relationship between the citizen and the state, and said all government policy should be focused on empowering individuals.
“There remains at the heart of New Labour an unresolved ambivalence about the role of the state,” he said, adding: “We have not done enough to recognise there is a power gap in society that needs to be closed.”
He admitted that despite the government’s efforts to devolve power, it was institutions and agencies that had benefited, not individuals.
“As a parent I don’t want power in the hands of either councils or schools. As a patient I don’t want it in the hands of either managers or hospitals. I want it in my hands. This is the new political agenda,” Mr Milburn said.
The Darlington MP admitted that under Labour social mobility had slowed and noted there was still a “glass ceiling of opportunity” in Britain. He argued. “We have raised it, but we have not yet broken through it.”
He called for greater devolution of power to local communities, for example to elect local police and health bodies, and suggested people be given control over their local services, for example in holding the budget for street cleaning and rubbish collection.
Mr Milburn also argued the case for a change in the electoral system to better reflect voters’ wishes, echoing a call by Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain earlier this week, and demanded a limit on Whitehall’s control of services.
Closer to home, people should be encouraged to own shares and also to buy their homes. “Ownership works. It enhances responsibility,” he said.
He concluded: “Empowering citizens. This is the politics of the future – a new orthodoxy for a new age.”
