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Billy Hayes calls for accountability from MPs

17th June 2009

Addressing the "No Turning Back" conference of the left think tank Compass Billy (left) declared "the political elite that got us in this mess need to be held to account."

He highlighted how instead of using public money to nationalise the banks it had been used instead to bail out the same institutions. As a result 27 per cent of people had endured a pay cut, 24 per cent have had their hours cut and 24 per cent had benefits cut. "And 37 per cent of people have experienced one of these changes," said Billy, who highlighted how the top 10 per cent had grown disproportionately richer since 1987.

Billy suggested if the government needed to make cuts in public spending it could save £56 billion by scrapping the ID cards scheme and discontinuing the Trident nuclear deterrent.

He called for electoral form and a sustained campaign to force back the BNP whose leader Nick Griffin, who he described as "qualitatively different" to what had gone before from the fascists. "Nick Griffin is the Hannibal Lector of British politics," said Billy.

Compass Chair Neal Lawson (left) applauded Billy as a trade union leader willing to rock the boat and called on Gordon Brown "to drop the nonsense of mail privatisation and look for modernisation in the public sector."

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman described the challenge of the next 12 months as being to answer the question as to why the country needs another term of a Labour Government.

She acknowledged the anger over MPs expenses but pointed out that most MPs are decent people who do not come into politics just for personal gain.

Harriet made repeated reference to the new Equalities Bill going through the Commons at the moment. "We have to close the gap between top and bottom," said Harriet.

She called for an organisational response to the BNP winning two seats in the European Parliament. "We can't let the BNP say we're here you've been deserted," said Harriet, who told how the Equalities Bill will make it illegal to exclude people from a party on the basis of race. "The Labour Party of Black and Asian people is demeaned by the BNP."

Director of War on Want John Hilary called for no turning back to the economics of the past that had cost millions of people their jobs.

He regretted that the indications from the recent G20 summit meeting were that there was no new mindset, it was a case of let's get back to the old ways of free trade and free markets. "The power is to be given back to the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in fact those who got us in the mess in the first place," said John. "We need a new redistributive justice, we need to take back democratic control."

John recalled how campaigners calls for public services to remain in public hands had been ignored. "On the international stage this government has done more than any other to push for the privatisation of public services worldwide," said John, who recalled the march of more than 50,000 trade unionists, environmentalists and people from faith backgrounds calling for people to be put first.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas told how her party got more than one million votes in the European elections for the first time.

She called for qualatative development not quantative growth.

Neal Lawson declared that the Labour Party had been led in the wrong direction. "We want Labour MPs with the right hearts," said Neal. "It is not about a change of leader but a change of direction," said Neal, who said the Party went wrong when it stopped being the party of social democracy.

He called for "a transformation of the Labour Party" to represent a popular and progressive consensus.