Stoke's new Labour Voice - Tristram Hunt

Had a great day in Stoke today - where the newly selected Labour candidate Tristram Hunt was clearly well into his stride, campaigning hard for the mandate to be Stoke-on-Trent Central's Member of Parliament. We met at the campaign HQ for Rob Flello, and then headed off for the #labourdoorstep. I was surprised at how open towards Labour people were - in an area that was supposed to have a high level of support for the BNP. People raised bread and butter issues like jobs for young people and cost of living. Issues that I hope after a fourth term will no longer be top of mind, because we'll have found a way to solve them. Good luck Tristram - your selection may have been controversial, but like Mike Ion, I believe you'll be a fantastic MP.

Neil Kinnock joins Rusharana Ali at launch - Uniting the East End

I joined Rushanara Ali at her launch event, which was held in a packed community centre in East London. It wasn't the first time I've been out with Rushanara - an old friend and someone who continues to hugely inspire me. She's standing in Bethnal Green and Bow, Labour's target seat no 32. It's currently got a notional Respect majority and is one of the most deprived constituencies in the country. The UK Polling Report website explains how it loses the Tower of London, St Katharine's Docks, Wapping and part of Shadwell to Poplar and Canning Town. With 11 candidates and some complex community politics, she faces a real challenge winning back the seat for Labour. But if she pulls it off, it wont be long before the people of Bethnal Green and Bow feel the impact on their lives of her political leadership and influence.

Is victory in sight for Labour in Islington?

Had a fantastic evening out on the #labourdoorstep in St George's Ward with excellent young candidates Alex Smith and Jessica Asato. I'm amazed at the energy of both of them, and also hugely proud of their contributions to the Labour party and campaign through running LabourList and Progress. Islington watch out. You have very impressive talent that will keep pushing and challenging for a better community and better Britain.

Haircuts, not Tory Cuts!

Haircuts, not Tory Cuts! Great visit by Hilary Benn to visit an excellent Labour Candidate Rachel Harris  in Dudley South on the general election campaign trail. See below for the new campaign poster designed by a Black Country hairdresser.

'Bold and Realistic' - Labour Manifesto Launch in Birmingham

Had an amazing day today helping with the launch of Labour's manifesto. Almost 600 people came to the event, and I heard that even at short notice spaces for the event went in a matter of days. It was a rich and diverse audinece - young (very young - a two month old baby!) to those who are in their seventies and eighties. My favourite quote from Gordon today - 'The future can be Progressive or Conservative, but not both." That's what you call a choice, and its at the heart of this election.

The Economy for the many, not the few

It's been a fascinating roller-coaster week on the economy debate, beginning with the #askthechancellors (for all you Twitter fans out there) Channel 4 debate, which had over 12,000 tweets during the hour. What is reassuring for us all is the extent of consensus with politicians of all parties about the need to cut the deficit, and incentivise growth. Ostensibly the debate between the parties seems to be on matters of when, and how much we cut spending and where we safeguard - and at least at this level, political consensus on the broad way forward is an important backdrop for market stability.  However it is clear that the technical skills of our leading politicians and their hard graft rather than panic has steered us through the downturn. Tackling the downturn is when I believe Gordon Brown came into his own as Prime Minister. We haven't become a Greece or Iceland, we haven't seen the rises in unemployment that might have been expected based on previous recessions, we have made progress in arresting the number of repossessions. For many voters it may seem like the difference between the parties is just a level of detail and that there isn't much difference . But whilst the debate may seem like detail, of course that's where the devil is. Who's going to pay, and who's going to gain from the partys' different policies? What political philosophy underlies those choices, and will we risk a double dip recession if we stifle growth too early? There are no easy routes, and even the NI rise is not one I'd want to see if there was an affordable way of not doing it. However when employer NI has gone up previously, there hasn't necessarily been a reduction in jobs. We need to see these policies in the round - including the support made available for SMEs for innovation and skills, support for apprenticeships and flexible payment terms for businesses. And the biggest question. With the results of Labour's strategy coming through, do we really want to risk political instability or should we let Labour finish the job of recovery?
For a great blog on Osborne's economic policy - read Sunder Katwala's piece at http://www.nextleft.org/2010/03/why-painless-gershon-savings-wont-fund.html

The "Detached Eye" of Ann Widdecombe

Heard a really interesting discussion on the Radio yesterday about whether constituencies benefit from having local candidates represent them, or you can come to a constituency from outside and be a great representative. Ann Widdecombe conjured up an intriguing image when she talked about the benefits of the "detached eye" - the person from outside the constituency who on going there can learn very quickly about it but take a fresh perspective on dealing with the challenges. It's obviously not a new debate, but seems to be one that has come into sharp relief with selections in all parties in recent years. Clearly people have travelled to find seats previously; Tony Benn lived in London but became MP for Bristol South East in 1950, and then Chesterfield. Ann Widdecombe was new to Maidstone. Bruce George - MP for Walsall South for 36 years, was new when first elected in 1973. Of course this is all triggered this week by the selection of Tristram Hunt for Stoke Central, and his impending challenge by the secretary of the local Labour Party. The answer  of course is in a balance across the country. We would be in a far worse place in terms of the quality of our democracy and our nation's progress if all people grew up, lived and worked in the same area and then represented that area. It's a great model to aspire to - Julia Goldsworthy is one who meets that profile - but it surely isn't the only way. However any representative should show and convince the membership and electorate of what they bring, their wider sense of connection and what they will help change. And we should have better ways of holding MPs to account for what they actually deliver for an area, and how hard they work that should obviously include, but go beyond the oft-quoted measure of how often they vote against the whip. And how people can do this should be a key part of political education.

Launch of Labour's Campaign Pledges

Alongside the national launch of Labour's pledges in Nottingham today, the Stengthen Fairness in Communities Pledge was launched in Birmingham with party members from across the West Midlands joining in a day of discussion with Alan Johnson and David Miliband. Nice to see politicians looking relaxed and happy - a really upbeat mood. Only downside - pledges are better when they are tighter and more specific. What we shouldn't do is see them as the equivalent of the pledges in 1997 that were drummed into us by the Prescott battle bus. They are however sensible themes that help us get a consistent message about Labour's priorities, and a more consistent narrative. Even Alan Johnson agreed with me! A consistent narrative is something we've needed for the last few years. An upbeat day.

Time for Job-share MPs?

Yesterday I was asked to join a cross-party roundtable discussion facilitated by the Fawcett Society on Women in Parliament – Implementing the Speaker’s Conference recommendations. The Speaker’s Conference reported recently after a year-long inquiry into how we increase diversity in Parliament. It was a fascinating debate reviewing recommendations the Speaker’s conference has made around what political parties could do more, what needed to change in terms of how Parliament works, and whether we should move to a discussion around quotas if the number of women MPs doesn’t significantly improve. A high number of countries use quotas in some form – and sometimes for a fixed period of time. It is interesting that finally Parliament is set for a nursery – incredible that it should be a controversial concept (see Private Eye “political correctness gone mad”) - when all three main political parties supposedly support a better gender balance in parliament, and measures to help keep families strong. Perhaps one of the most interesting possibilities to support more women in Parliament not yet getting prominence – which was one of the suggestions in the Fabian Women’s Network’s evidence to the Speaker’s conference – is the idea of job-share MPs. For some reason we celebrate when Parliament passes laws around flexible working options and then balk at the idea of Parliament implementing some of those measures itself! Perhaps also finally we’ll start to see a better discussion around moving Parliament’s hours to a more 9-5 structure – in line with most of the rest of society. Some interesting stats though. The Centre for Women and Democracy suggests that the number of women MPs looks set to increase from a fifth to up to a quarter of MPs – a step in the right direction but still woefully low on the international league table of women in parliaments. And the challenge remains stark when you also hear that there are 200 constituencies where all the candidates are male, with only ten that have all female candidates – all of which are in marginal seats.

A Labour Budget - and a budget for Britain

Against my own expectations, I actually found myself quite excited and optimistic following Alastair Darling's budget today. It was a Labour budget - and a budget for Britain. I was particularly listening out for what Labour will do to support small businesses and entrepreneurship. Not least because SMEs are the real backbone of our economy, and have continued to suffer through the recession through lack of credit and variable speed with which Government backed support has reached them. Not to mention the gender aspect - women are increasingly the drivers of small business growth; the small businesses of today that may well break through to be the big businesses of tomorrow. And the Budget indeed did not forget small businesses. Just some of the measures include a £2.5bn package for small business to boost skills and innovation, a one year business rate cut from October to help 500,000 companies, a doubling of the investment allowance for small firms to £100,000 and a doubling relief on capital gains tax for entrepreneurs. However Labour's challenge - and indeed the Government's challenge, will be that this support reaches SMEs - as indeed does bank lending - as fast as possible. And not just the businesses that shout the loudest, but the entrepreneurs from diverse communities who may be less connected to Business Link and other networks with less understanding of how to access the support available. The Government must ensure that it monitors how funds are being used, and that businesses in more deprived areas which often do much more to skill up the local population do not miss out.