John McDonnell MP sets the stage for an important conference on the first anniversary of Labour’s election.

Recent weeks in Parliament have been dominated by the issue of disability benefit cuts, the latest in a line of unpopular austerity policies put forward by an increasingly unpopular Government.

From the moment the cuts were first proposed by the Government. To voting against the Bill in its latest form this Wednesday, I have been getting hundreds of emails from my constituents every week, expressing grave concerns at the effects the cuts will have.

These concerns are shared by people I meet on the bus, in the shop, or at community events. All these people have been – and are – extremely distressed about this legislation going through. Rightly, they will not forget lightly that it was a Labour Government – just one year on from a landslide victory in terms of seats won – who were the architects of these cruel cuts.

These cuts still amounted in the legislation passed this week to a massive £3 billion cut to universal credit payments, at a time when millions are struggling with the cost-of-living emergency, and poverty continues to rise.

And as sure as night follows day, when cuts go through on this scale, people will lose their lives. People will suffer immense harm, just as they have during fifteen years of failed austerity.

I will always vote against legislation that cuts benefits to some of the poorest people I represent, and we must continue to mobilise against any further cuts to come.

We must also clearly put forward the argument that these cuts – and the decisions to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance and not scrap the two-child benefit cap before them – are inextricably linked to the Government’s failing economic approach, including Rachel Reeves’ self-defeating fiscal rules.

Prior to last year’s election, we said that the inheritance from the 14 years of Conservative austerity would be the worst any Labour government had faced. Unfortunately, as the policy choices cited above have clearly illustrated, one year in, it is obvious that the incoming Labour government was inadequately prepared for this challenge.

The result is that a year on from the elation of ejecting the Tories from office, the policy programme of the Labour administration is so disillusioning many of its supporters that it is opening the door to far-right populists, with the threat of Reform making this a particularly dangerous moment.

Even where progressive policies have been pursued, they have been watered down by corporate lobbying and combined with Treasury-imposed policy decisions that have alienated even some of Labour’s loyalist supporters and provoked rebellion in the PLP.

If the Government’s approach is not changed, then not only will more cuts follow, but we will not see the investment in public services, the green jobs of the future, or measures to tackle poverty and inequality, that this country so desperately needs.

It is therefore time for an urgent rethink and redirection. And that is why on July 19th in central London, just after the anniversary of its election, we have called a major conference to assess the Labour Government’s performance and pose the question: where next?

This conference aims to provide an objective assessment of Labour’s performance in office over its first year and a discussion of the redirection needed in key policy areas. It will address the central question of how this can be achieved, while also effectively fighting the further cuts to come if the Government continues to wrong-headedly refuse to change course

We will be joined by a range of expert speakers and prominent campaigners to discuss different key policy areas – from the need for a new approach to ending poverty and inequality, to how we tackle climate catastrophe in the age of Trump 2.0, to how we defend our rights and resist the rise in racism. I hope to see you there.

• CONFERENCE: Labour in Government: one year on. Saturday, July 19th, 10am, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London, WC1H 9BB

Speakers include civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti; Kate Pickett, author, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better; economists Prem Sikka and James Meadway; Asad Rehman, prominent campaigner for climate justice; Ellen Clifford, DPAC; Ali Milani from the Labour Muslim Network; eminent radical lawyers John Hendy and Shami Chakrabarti; and MPs John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Clive Lewis.  Register here.

John McDonnell MP was Labour’s Shadow Chancellor from 2015 to 2020.

Image: John McDonnell MP. Author: Sophie Brown, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.