Lewisham Deptford Labour For the many, not the few
Wednesday 8th May – Rebuilding our NHS with Vivek Kotecha from the Centre for Health and Public Interest
7-9pm, Goldsmiths RHB 251 (find it here)
Last week’s news that more than 300 NHS nurses have committed suicide in the last 7 years was a horrifying reminder of the extent of the crisis our NHS currently faces after decades of Tory-led cuts and privatisation.
Labour’s promise to rebuild our NHS by boosting funding as well as various public and mental health initiatives is certainly encouraging, but is it enough to tackle the underlying problems resulting from years of privatisation, marketisation and deregulation?
This week, we will be joined by Vivek Kotecha to discuss the big picture of what is happening to our NHS, and Brian Fischer, from the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign and the Reclaim Social Care Campaign.
The suggested readings for the week are:
Why the next Labour Manifesto must pledge to legislate to reinstate the NHS, by Allyson Pollock
Vivek Kotecha’s reports on the NHS
Session will be followed by an informal social activity.
Looking forward to seeing you all!
Programme in full
March 20
Creating an economy that works for all – Hilary Wainwright, Red Pepper, Ruairidh Paton, The World Transformed
March 27
Local economic development – Dr. Martin Laffin, Professor of Public Management at Queen Mary University of London, Luke Raikes, IPPR
April 3
Inequality, employment and wealth redistribution – Dr Alexander Guschanski, Dr Rafael Wildauer, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre, IWGB representative
April 10
A Green New Deal – Jason Hickel, Goldsmiths
April 17
Taking back control of public services Sukhdev Johal, Professor of Accounting and Strategy, Queen Mary University of London, RMT representative
April 24
Alternative models of democratic ownership – Rob Calvert (Lecturer in Economics, University of West of England)
May 2
National Education Service – Marian Carty (Goldsmiths UCU)
May 8
Rebuilding our NHS – Colin Leys and Vivek Kotecha (CHPI)
May 15
De-financialising the UK Economy – Jeff Powell Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre, Simon Youel, positive money
May 22
Worker co-operatives and the solidarity economy – Jim McMahon MP – British Labour and Co-operative Party, Sion Whellens – Calverts co-operative
May 29
3 million new social homes? – Owen Hatherley
To sign up for the sessions, please complete this form
A space for education and discussion on how the Labour party can build new forms of public ownership that redress inequality, increase accountability, promote participation and empower communities.
Concept
In recent years the Labour party has put forward bold, far-reaching proposals for a major redistribution of economic and political power in our society— out of the hands of the few to the many. The bedrock of this transformative vision is to shift our economy away from its paralysing dependence on finance and introduce new forms of public ownership.
We might have the ideas, but creating an economy that works for all also means harnessing the energy and broad participation of ordinary Labour members together with workers and communities. New forms of public ownership need to be both democratic and participatory— a project based on the experience, knowledge and proposals of the people involved.
The 2019 launch of Labour’s National Policy Forum consultation contains the seeds of how these new democratic and participatory forms of public ownership can be built. As John McDonnell and Rebecca Long-Bailey write:
“Democratic public ownership is a chance for the biggest transfer of economic power the UK has ever seen—a way of putting people in control of their lives, not just after clocking off, but at work too. Giving people a direct say in decisions about working hours, wages, investment, new technology, and health and safety, promises to make people both more fulfilled and more secure.”
In the spirit of deepening participation and education around the Labour Party’s transformative proposals, this political education series brings together guest speakers from nearby universities and organisations with local Labour members, workers and community groups. The series will cover a range of topics, from local economic development, democratic public ownership, and de-financialising the economy to rebuilding a public NHS and the National Education Service. The aim is to deepen our understandings of the economic and political dimensions of democratic public ownership in order to empower Labour members in Lewisham to put forward our own proposals and solutions in the National Policy Forum.
We strongly recommend reading the documents in Labour’s National Policy Forum— policyforum.labour.org.uk. Some other very useful readings can be found in John McDonnell’s 2018 collection of essays ‘Economics for the Many’, and Mike Phipps’ 2017 collection of essays ‘For the Many’. We will also provide short, optional readings to prepare for the sessions.
Spaces are limited and priority will be given to Labour party members.
If you are interested in attending any of the sessions, even if you cannot commit to all, please complete this form.
Sessions will include speakers from the Goldsmiths Political Economy Research Centre, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre, the Centre on Labour and Global Production at Queen Mary University of London, the Centre for Health and the Public Interest, the Transnational Institute, the Ella Baker School of Transformative Organising and many trade union, cooperative and public sector leaders.