“Radical incrementalism” does not sound much like a stirring political slogan. But it is what Britain will get if Labour wins the election. It will be radical in its objectives because so much needs to be done to repair the damage done to the country’s economy and society by 14 years of Tory rule and incremental in its methods because of the time that will be needed to implement lasting improvement after the under-investment and growing income inequality that have been going on even longer.
The phrase “radical incrementalism” is coined by Torsten Bell in his timely new book* analysing the full extent of the Britain’s avoidable inequalities and unfairness in every aspect of life, from the home to the workplace, the poverty of many of its people, the poor life prospects for its young people and the sheer incompetence of its rulers. Spelled out in the shocking detail that it is, it is enough to outrage any fair-minded person.
Radical change will require hundreds of policy decisions across different departments and levels of government, reforming the country bit by bit until the radically new Britain is achieved over the long term. And Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer agrees with that assessment.
Realistic hope
We know from the whole tenor of Labour’s election campaign that this is Starmer’s view of the mammoth task facing him and his party. The Labour manifesto itself speaks of a decade of renewal. An interview given to Jim Pickard of the Financial Times was just one of those in which Starmer confirmed this approach:
“There’s no sort of magic wand we can waive the day after the election, no quick fixes, and we have to do the hard yards”, he told Pickard. However: “I do think people need hope, but it needs to be what I call ordinary hope, realistic hope”. Starmer is a man rolling up his sleeves for the long haul, not putting on his skates for a sprint. This is another way of stating Bell’s incrementalism.
And what exactly would radical incrementalism look like? Bell gives a helpful example of the practical, bread-and-butter measures he means: the introduction of Good Work Agreements, starting with social care and warehousing, two sectors where staff are not just poorly paid but sometimes treated with lack of respect; such Agreements would guarantee decent sick pay, ban the use of zero-hours contracts and ensure advance notice of shifts.
As far as tax increases are concerned, like the politician he now is, Bell – who is Labour candidate for Swansea West – gives no clear answer. Time will tell, he says, if taxes need to rise further to rescue public services. If they do, it will be taxes on wealth that will have to bear the strain, not those on wages. That will mean closing loopholes in existing taxes such as Inheritance Tax and carrying out a long-overdue re-evaluation of property for Council Tax purposes.
Devolution
This is a book about the UK as a whole, not its nations and regions. But regional economic development does have its place. More devolution is part of the answer, with the focus on the biggest cities. Bell wants to see investment to close the economic gap between London, Birmingham and Manchester. Other cities like Newcastle are not specifically mentioned but would benefit too from the increased powers recommended for metro mayors like those in the North East and Tees Valley. Instead of relying on Westminster hand-outs they would get greater powers over council tax and business rates and a share of the income tax paid by local people, building on the devolution already enjoyed by Scotland and Wales.
Given the tens of millions of people and diverse interest groups suffering from the current dire condition of Britain’s economy, public services and national life in general, the new government will not be short of those offering it advice on how to proceed. The civil service, special advisers, paid lobbyists, opposition politicians, professional lobbyists, business organisations and trade unions, media barons, factional, sectional and regional interests such as metro mayors, public service leaders from local government to the NHS, charities representing every needy group you can think of and think tanks parading as academically rigorous and ideologically unbiased will all crowd the Westminster space to press their views.
Given too that the new government already has its own guide to action in the form of its manifesto, to which it has made a commitment to the voters, should it listen to any of these would-be influencers beyond consulting on how, not whether, to implement policy? And if it should, which should have its ear, and why?
Bell’s book is as good a place to start, and as he is likely to be a Labour MP by 5 July he is well placed to promote his ideas. He has experience as a former Treasury insider, Labour Party director of policy and, latterly, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a well-known think tank which works to raise the living standards of households on low to middle incomes. He may be a minister in the not too distant future.
Generations
But as he is not yet in that position, he does not shrink from offending some sensibilities, with small-c conservative older people taking a good deal of the criticism. Older voters are not getting the health and social care they need, we are told, but in the next breath that they stand in the way of economic growth and pretty much anything getting built. The 2015 decision of the Conservative Party, dependent on older rural voters, to effectively ban the construction of onshore wind turbines, is described as “bonkers”. Inter-generational wealth imbalances, particularly in housing, are among the chief issues he addresses, and he is deeply sympathetic to those of the younger generation struggle to find good jobs, get a foot on the housing ladder and save for a pension. Our patriotism he describes as describes as nostalgic, seeing the country as too woke, too multicultural and too educated instead of being rooted in an understanding of our present and ambition for our future.
This is a book that is appropriately serious to address a serious situation and full of facts. But it is still an enjoyable read, leavened by occasional anecdotes like the time Bell and Alistair Darling, then Chancellor, came across a group of pensioners protesting naked on the beach at Brighton. Above all, it is realistic about the country’s problems without sinking into pessimism. On the contrary, it is a recipe for a brighter future, not a warning of inevitable continuing decline. Its vision is not of the boosterish, world-beating type, just a cool calculation that by working together with the right policies we can achieve the same economic level as our peer countries. Our task is to make Britain normal again, as Bell puts it. This is another respect in which is book chimes with Starmer’s aim is infusing us with normal or realistic hope.
*Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back. By Torsten Bell. Published by The Bodley Head, London.
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