By Matt Dickinson It’s strange to be in the midst of a debate about Labour’s clarity of vision at a moment when YouGov puts the party 15 points ahead in the polls.   Even sympathetic writers have challenged what they see as Keir Starmer’s “neutral, depoliticised approach”, whilst others argue that the leader “should be confident that his lack of vision is a strength,” suggesting that his adversaries are “only using this…

By Pat McFadden There was a revealing moment in the House of Commons debate on the Government’s Brexit deal.  Labour MP Peter Kyle asked the Prime Minister about the absence of coverage for financial services in the deal.  The Prime Minister ducked the question but said he was glad Labour was “backing the bankers”. The Prime Minister’s response summed up how the financial services sector has been viewed by much…

Sheffield is packed with people with PhDs. The Tees Valley is home to a skilled workforce of which Britain can be proud. The City can do more to invest in talent and support entrepreneurialism in these regions. Those were some key takeaways from a Labour in the City panel discussion focusing on how the financial services industry can contribute towards a “levelling up” of Britain’s dangerously geographically lop-sided economy. Jessie…

Your business may be global – but think locally about hiring, and mentoring, young people. That was the message to City employers from Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP for Bethnal Green & Bow, during a Q&A session with Labour in the City members. Rushanara’s constituency neighbours the Square Mile – it includes Spitalfields, Whitechapel and a chunk of Bishopsgate, together with East End neighbourhoods such as Stepney and Bow. She…

The 2019 general election was disastrous for Labour. At the heart of the party’s defeat was the loss of the so-called Red Wall, around 60 seats stretching from the Midlands to the north of England To examine how these seats were lost, we’re delighted to be joined at 1pm on September 30th by Deborah Mattinson whose new book, “Beyond the Red Wall”, examines this titanic shift in party loyalties. Deborah…

Thoughts on the election of Keir Starmer as Labour Leader from our COO There’s been a sigh of relief from many moderate Labour Party members at Keir Starmer’s election as leader. Disconcertingly, though, that relief has also been expressed across the political aisle in a cosy mood of establishment collaboration. George Osborne has taken to the airwaves to welcome a return to sensible opposition. Sajid Javid is looking forward to…

Thoughts from Labour in the City Chair, Sophia Morrell, following the General Election.   We are just three weeks out from Labour’s most disastrous election result since 1935 and there have already been many thousands of words offered on what went wrong. Where I’d like to offer a perspective is on Labour’s approach to business relations and wider economic policy. Renewing both of these in tandem will be critical to…

Thoughts from Labour in the City Membership Officer, Dave Clarke, on the General Election. The election result was obviously bad, but the evidence suggests that a progressive majority is possible. The result was widely heralded as a triumph for the tories, but their vote share only increased by 1.2% over the result of the 2017 general election under Theresa May’s leadership. In 2017 the combined share of the Tory and…

Reflections on the General Election from our Vice Chair, Bilal Mahmood Anyone who tries to give you a hot take about this election with one simple answer is selling you a dud. Part of the reasons behind our defeat have arguably been generations in the making. The fall of the red wall certainly happened on Jeremy’s watch, but even his most ardent critics would begrudgingly admit it wasn’t all down…

Some reflections from LITC Treasurer, Christian Mole Whilst Jeremy Corbyn is correct in saying that a period of reflection is needed, the danger is that this morphs into excessive navel gazing: the reality is quite simply that we need to start thinking properly about what the electorate wants, rather than the socialist fantasyland that we seem to have targeted in an policy programme which by the time election day came…