Cruddas: “Opposition politics is about story-telling”
In a new interview for the Autumn 2012 Fabian Review, the Telegraph's Mary Riddell speaks to Jon Cruddas about policy, the art of being a middleman, frustration and belief. He talks of the fine balance between Labour's grassroots and those it...
In a new interview for the Autumn 2012 Fabian Review, the Telegraph‘s Mary Riddell speaks to Jon Cruddas about policy, the art of being a middleman, frustration and belief.
He talks of the fine balance between Labour’s grassroots and those it needs to woo:
“You have to retain a wide and deep coalition. I’ve never liked the idea of slicing and dicing the electorate and micropolicies that address specific cohorts of voters, [such as] Mondeo Man. You have to speak in bigger, primary colours about the nature of the country.”
He notes the ways in which New Labour got caught in a cycle of wooing and small ideas:
“New Labour got preoccupied with swing voters and marginal constituencies and small policy nuggets, rather than family and community and nationhood, which is where the Labour Party always is when it wins.”
Despite some political differences, Cruddas reflects on Ed Ball’s quality:
“I like Ed Balls. He’s a big political character, and he doesn’t hedge. He’s not afraid to get stuck in. He might not be impressed with some of what became Blue Labour, but I think we can work through that. It’s small beer compared to the bigger things we would agree on.”
On an EU referendum, he talks of timing, making the case and involving the country in a conversation:
“I am not going to disinvent the positions I took. I abide by the [view] of shadow cabinet that this is not the right time for an EU referendum. However, we have to consider how we rebuild a case for Europe. At some stage this issue must stop festering, and that means recognising that the people are going to have to be invited into this conversation.”
And on the policy review he talks of being “bold and radical”, suggesting it might just be the only way Labour can win:
While offering no ultimatum, Mr Cruddas makes clear that he will not preside over a feeble manifesto. “No. It’s not in my instinct. The notion of a strategy of small differences is anathema to me. The Tories would trump us. We have to be bold and radical, and we’ll fail if we aren’t. There is no safety first option. That doesn’t mean we’re left wing. We have to become slightly more conservative, and we have to be bold.”