A common criticism of left-wing politics is that activists always know what they are against, but struggle to articulate what they are for. After this week’s Labour Party conference in Brighton, this taunt can safely be retired.
Labour delegates backed a range of radical policies including the introduction of a four-day week with no loss of pay within a decade; a Green New Deal that commits to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030; the abolition of private schools; a radical shakeup of the pharmaceutical industry; free personal care for the elderly; a host of radical housing policies including the right to requisition empty homes; the extension of free movement; and the closure of all detention centres.
These policies build on an already ambitious policy platform that includes worker ownership funds; plans to double the size of the co-operative sector; a new public banking network; a National Transformation Fund and the nationalization of key utilities. Taken together, Labour’s agenda amounts to the most radical political-economic transformation for a generation.
