The hull of a boat keeps it afloat. It displaces water, acts as its protective shell and provides stability. The hull handles waves and rough water.
But a hull is not enough. A boat needs something else. A sail. A sail provides propulsion. Wind pushes against the sail to move the boat forward. By changing the angle, the sail provides direction and control of where the boat is going.
If the hull is not strong and watertight, the boat sinks. We all need those foundations in our lives. A family that loves us. A secure home. Money to survive.
But without a sail, we are going nowhere, we are bobbing back and forth on the ocean, prey to the elements.
Too many of us lack a sail – the ability to steer our boat to the destination we want. For too long, the country has not had wind in its sails.
In a world of chaos, it is tempting for politicians to put their firepower into repairing the hull of the boat – to stop it leaking, to strengthen the foundations – increase defence spending, more money in transactional cost-of-living handouts. Of course that is important. But it is not enough.
And it often comes over as patronising – we’ll give you a bit of cash for your vote. It misses the deeper malaise, the psychological hurt people feel when they are not making progress. It leaves people bobbing up and down in the water but not moving forward.
Buffeted by the economic crash, Brexit, Covid, Donald Trump and Ukraine, people feel becalmed – lacking a sense of purpose, direction and progress.
To put wind in our sails means having agency over our lives, able to control what happens to us, not being at the mercy of the elements, being able to get on, move forward, see a better life for ourselves and our children. It is about having aspirations and knowing they have a chance of being fulfilled. Seeing the community we live in on the up and not in decline. It is about taking pride in our country because it has purpose and direction.
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That politics of opportunity, hope, aspiration is what is missing from Labour. And throughout its history, these have been the ingredients of success.
This is the big narrative that will put Reform on the back foot. Reform is not about empowering people. Their politics is about treating them as victims. Victims who need saving by the great populist leader. Reform revel in people having no control of their lives, making them feel the system is against them, that there is no hope. That is their fuel.
That is why those who seek to defeat Reform need to paint a picture of a better future. For Labour this means making good, finally, on the key clause of its constitution – to put “power, wealth and opportunity” in the hands of the many, not the few.
Power in the hands of communities with massive devolution from Westminster. Mayors should control education and skills in their entirety. They should have tax-raising powers, be charged with growth, providing opportunities for young people and attracting investment. Local communities should have the powers and freedoms to do whatever is necessary to redesign their crumbling high streets. It requires a new political settlement: the abolition of the House of Lords, a new voting system, the overhaul of the House of Commons, and a much smaller and more strategic central state.
We need to tackle the huge inequalities of wealth. Universal basic wealth should be the entitlement of all. That means the chance to own an asset – a sum of money that can be spent, for example, on upskilling, the chance to own their own home, the ability to use their pension pot flexibly. The tax system should be overhauled to support employment, wealth creation and fairness.
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Opportunity is the engine of this revolution. I have spent the last few months speaking to young people across the country who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) as part of the major Milburn review for the government.
Britain has one million young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are NEET. This is a disaster for them and a disaster for the country. We are shafting the next generation and we need to take urgent action.
It is clear that education hasn’t worked for them. There have not been strong enough pathways for those not going to university. Too many find it impossible to get a job despite hundreds of applications.
Many who don’t have someone to help them at home have no adults on their side guiding them at those moments of transition – like leaving school and going out into the world. Others live at home into their late 20s and 30s because they can’t afford to move out. Giving young people their future back must be at the heart of the agenda for anyone who wants to become Labour leader.
And any new Labour leader will need not just fresh policy thinking, but brilliant execution. In short, better government. A government and a state that doesn’t find a hundred reasons to go slow, to bob up and down on the waves.
A state that is reformed to champion devolution and experimentation. A way of reforming the civil service so that it has the expertise and incentive to produce real impact. Now is the time to replace bureaucratic inertia with dynamic teams led by people with a track record of delivery.
Yes, there have been some improvements. Waiting lists are coming down, growth is slowly ticking up, but so much of what it does is smothered in caution, the tiptoe, not the long stride.
‘Any new Labour leader will need not just fresh policy thinking, but brilliant execution. A government that doesn’t find a hundred reasons to go slow, to bob up and down on the waves’
Why are there still asylum hotels? They should have been closed in the first year of the Labour government.
Why is the government building so few homes when it promised 1.5 million?
Why, in the age of AI and one million young NEETs, is Labour so timid about reforming the curriculum and the exam system?
Why have they not embarked on root-and-branch reform of the welfare state to support the millions who want to work?
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Why are we taking such small steps towards Europe when for the sake of our economy and security they need to be giant steps?
The government needs to give it more welly. It has nothing to lose.
There is much talk of the rise of populism. My conclusion, having studied it, is that people can overcomplicate this.
Populists fill a vacuum. They move in when mainstream parties fail. They capitalise on politicians who are incapable of telling a story, driving an agenda or connecting with voters.
The answer is simple: mainstream parties need to get a grip. They need to offer not just a boat bobbing on the stormy seas but a ship sailing to an exciting destination. That is the challenge now. Time is running out.
Peter Hyman is a former adviser to Tony Blair and Keir Starmer and a former headteacher. He is author of the Substack Changing the Story
