Keir Hardie House 
49 Top Moor Side 
Leeds 
U.K. 
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Under Tony Blair's leadership, the Labour Party committed itself to a society run in the interests of the many, not the few.

Now, with Labour in office, it has the responsibility for turning that aspiration into a reality; or, at least, to making some progress in that direction.  The Labour government carries with it the hopes of many people for a better life.  They are looking to New Labour to make a difference.

Achieving such a worthy ambition is a different matter, however.  Governments are constrained by powerful external forces, and we live in a capitalist society that reproduces gross imbalances in wealth and power. Labour inherited a Tory legacy which includes massive social inequality, serious unemployment, precarious public finances, run-down health and education services, many unfit homes and high levels of homelessness.  This adds up to a great deal of hardship for many people and a great deal of insecurity for many more.

In assessing Labour's performance in office, we must be scrupulously fair.  We should not instantly condemn it for not doing enough.  Nor should we defend it regardless of whatever it does or does not do.  Instead, we have to be clear about what we can reasonably ask; but we are entitled to have expectations of a government that has committed itself to social justice.

To that end, we think that, if Labour is to build a society in the interests of the many, it needs a membership that is both politically informed and active, and one that has a real say in the party's affairs. The ILP wants to help to promote that kind of membership, the basis on which to develop Labour's commitment to democratic socialism. 

Doing it for ourselves
Of course, there is more to politics and achieving social justice than a Labour government and the Labour party, important as they are.

Much of the energy and impetus for improving society will have to come from people like ourselves.  By acting collectively, we create a living politics.  As we do so, we become more confident that we can make a difference, in a society that constantly tells us otherwise.  Indeed, the ILP believes that any moves towards a better world will depend upon a broad range of popular initiatives, linked to democratic socialist perspectives and co-operative ventures encouraged by an enabling Labour Party. 

Popular democratic demands can also play an important role.  They can help counter the formidable pressures on a reforming Labour government by rich and powerful elites.  Contemporary capitalism is primarily organised to further their vested interests, to meet their need to accumulate wealth.  Real change therefore depends on loosening their extensive and undemocratic grip -- and challenging the prevalence of their ideas.

For us, the basis of a better society rests upon extending democracy, co-operation and social justice into all spheres of life, including the economy. Here, we have to create new ways of organising economic  life, including a range of democratic initiatives such as co-operative and community enterprises.

As we see it, the challenge for any democratising and egalitarian government is how to redistribute power: to seek to favour the many, not the few.

Our aim is the creation of a democratic liberating society and the ending of injustice and gross inequality.  Today, there are many creative and exciting forms of resistance to discrimination and  excesses of capitalism.  We welcome the fact that movements for democratic change have many voices.  Social diversity is not just something to be tolerated: it is to be welcomed.  For no-one has all the answers.  We have to listen to and learn from each other -- and find ways of working together.