‘We’re in an endless cycle of despair about the country’s future’

SPEAKING at the University of Huddersfield, former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a renewal of the “social contract” that he claims kept people out of poverty and did not allow executive pay to soar to unacceptable levels.  He also scorned right-wing Brexiteer MPs as “back seat drivers” who are endangering the national interest.

“We are in an endless cycle of despair about the future of our country,” said Mr Brown, who called for a national conversation on how to end disunity.  He was speaking to a 650-plus audience when he delivered the annual Harold Wilson Lecture, which commemorates the Huddersfield-born Labour leader, victor of four general elections in the 1960s and 70s.

Mr Brown, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for 10 years before becoming Premier himself in 2007, praised the late Lord Wilson’s legacy and its relevance to the UK in 2018.

“The starting point is to learn lessons from Harold Wilson’s life, so that no matter how important economic objectives are, your priorities are not that the successful run away with all the gains and that you have a social conscience that benefits people in need,” said Mr Brown.

He analysed the achievements of the Wilson years, praising the Huddersfield-born politician’s internationalism, his determination to give every citizen the best possible chance in life – by founding the Open University, for example – and social justice legislation in areas such as race relations.

Mr Brown also expressed admiration for how Harold Wilson handled his party over the issue of Europe, at the time of the 1975 referendum, when Labour had a powerful Eurosceptic element.

“We forget sometimes how difficult it is for leaders to manage parties when they are such broad churches.  He kept Labour in the game and prevented it coming out as hostile to Europe,” said Mr Brown.

By contrast, the Conservatives in 2019 had allowed extremists on the right of the party – who believe that Brexit is the only answer – to take control of the public debate, said Mr Brown.

“These are the back seat drivers who are making it impossible for the national interest to be the issue that decides whether we are members of the EU, or how we negotiate, because their ideological considerations are driving the debate.”

Social contract

Mr Brown delighted the audience with his polished delivery of several humorous anecdotes.  But he also produced facts and figures on poverty – claiming that Conservative governments had reversed improvements under Labour – and he described the foundations of the post-1945 social contract that existed in Britain and Europe.

They included a consensus that wages would earn people a decent income and keep them out of poverty.  But this was no longer the case, and three million working families stood to lose money under the Universal Credit system, said Mr Brown.

He also lambasted the massive pay awards for some executives.  “There always was top pay in our society, but it had to be justified on the basis of merit or effort or contribution to the community,” said Mr Brown.

“In the 1980s, people at the top in business felt that their merit and their effort justified them having 20 times the salary of the average employee,” he continued. 

“So why is it that suddenly people at the top have a ratio that is not 20 times the average income but 120 times!  It is just because they can get away with it.  That is wrong and it is causing the social contract to break down,” said Mr Brown.

He said that none of the building blocks of the social contract was intact today and this explained the rise of popular protests such as anti-globalisation, protectionist, xenophobic, and isolationist movements, plus cultural pessimism and anti-politics sentiments.

Mr Brown was welcomed at the University of Huddersfield’s Oastler Building by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan.

“It is no surprise that the event was fully subscribed several weeks ago – almost as soon as tickets were made available, in fact – because for the first time in the history of a lecture series commemorating a former Prime Minister, we have a former Prime Minister!” he said.

Professor Cryan welcomed as guests Harold Wilson’s son, Professor Robin Wilson and his wife Joy, and paid tribute to the ex-Premier’s widow, Lady Mary Wilson, who died in June, aged 102.

The Harold Wilson Lecture is organised in tandem with the Huddersfield Episcopal Area, and its Bishop, The Rt Revd Jonathan Gibbs, presided over the question-and-answer session that followed Mr Brown’s talk.