A challenge to every Labour member

As Jo Cox famously reminded us in her maiden speech in Parliament, “we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than the things that divide us." Unfortunately, having attended Labour conference fringe events organised by Momentum, Progress and various other groups, I’ve sometimes found it hard to identify what those things are.

It’s not that representatives of the different factions are necessarily disagreeing with each other, as such, it’s that they’re not even speaking the same language.

At the Progress rally I attended, the overriding theme was electability. Nobody went into much detail about what winning an election involved, possibly because of the nature of the event, but there was widespread agreement that it’s the only way that the Labour Party is going to get things done. Members, including MPs such as Wes Streeting and Liz Kendall, listed any number past Labour achievements: minimum wage, equal age of consent, maternity rights, higher education access.

Over at Momentum’s "The World Transformed" fringe festival, the atmosphere has been very different. The questions asked are broad and sweeping and almost all of the focus is on what happens next. What kind of society do we actually want to live in? How do we collectively deal with both the threats and opportunities created by technological advancement? What can we learn from the new social movements and parties that have emerged across continental Europe?

The joint Unite and Daily Mirror event was different again. Speakers including legendary 98-year-old trade unionist Betty Tebbs spoke about the suffering that has been inflicted on ordinary people at the hands of the current Conservative government. The panel was split somewhat awkwardly between those who were vehemently pro-Corbyn and those who were somewhat sceptical about his abilities and suitability—Unite’s Len McCluskey began by criticising the Daily Mirror for failing to be supportive—but the room largely seemed to be on the leader’s side. Unsurprisingly, everyone agreed on the importance of the trade union movement.

The thing is, almost everyone has seemed to be talking a great deal of sense. Winning an election is vital if we want to make a real difference to people’s lives. We do need to be asking big questions and thinking creatively about how the Labour party should operate and what it should aim to achieve in the 21st century. Many ordinary people are suffering under the Conservative government and trade unions are centrally important in fighting back against that.

The question is: how do we join the dots to come up with a vision and strategy that takes all of these concerns into account? It seems clear to me that nothing much can be achieved until a genuine ceasefire is established between various warring groups. The longer this goes on, the less Labour looks like a realistic party of government. Already, many ordinary voters seem to have decided that it's a joke.

A necessary first step is for people on all sides of the dispute to recognise that the people they’re arguing with are well-intentioned, and that all factions are making some valid points. If we can transform the combatitive atmosphere into something that feels less hostile and more open, we might begin to work out solutions to the problems that our party faces.

This might sound unrealistically optimistic, but the fact is that we don’t really have a choice. The alternative is a continued war of attrition that destroys the party participants claim they want to protect.

Here’s a challenge to every single Labour member, inspired by the cooperative spirit of Jo Cox: chat with someone from a different part of the party to you and try to identify as many things as possible that you agree about. If enough of us make a sincere effort to start building bridges, who knows, maybe we can actually make this work.