Patrick SP: Deputy Leadership Election Campaign Launch

[Sir Grant Kingston]

Today in Peterlee, Durham, the Shadow Home Secretary and MP for Sedgefield, Sophie Patrick, spoke before a crowd including locals, Labour members, and the British press, to officially launch her campaign for Labour Party Deputy Leader.

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you all for coming here today to this event. It has been great speaking with you all, as well as spending some time in my hometown of Peterlee - it is always great to be back home. I am a proud Durham lass, and have never forgotten where I have come from - and I can say with the utmost pride that I am glad to come from where I came from and for who I am. It was my upbringing in Durham who has made me who I am today. I would also like to take the time to thank my Labour colleagues for forwarding my name to have the opportunity to run for Deputy Leader of this esteemed party.

From the moment I was conceived I was a dyed in the woll Socialist - a fact I am totally unashamed of. I grew up on a housing estate, in a low income family with my mother raising three of us, and providing for us on her own through the hard times of Thatcher’s Britain, and almost twenty years of an anti-working class Tory Government. Times were hard, but my family and our community’s spirit was never broken. We fought to survive the hard times placed on us by the Tory Government of the time, and a lot of that was thanks to the hard work we put in through working low paid jobs, and banding together as a community to ensure we survived. While we had nothing, we were still happy and without sounding cliche - it was the good old days. This type of compassion and community spirit is something I am still a strong believer in, and a strong believer in what we - and the Labour Party - need to get back in touch with. The Labour Party needs to get back in touch with its roots, and build a better Britain for all. We cannot allow the country to return to the Tory Tyranny we saw for almost twenty years.

Getting back to the Labour Party’s roots is something I strongly believe we need to bring back to the Party, these values are what we need to get back in touch with the British Public, and to create a better Britain. We need a Labour Party that stands on good Socialist working class values. We need a Labour Party that fights to better the lives of each and every person in this country whether it be economically, socially, or other. 

I hold in my hand here a pamphlet featuring some of my background, beliefs, and the plan I will look to enact to reform the Labour Party into what it used to be - a party of the people. I am elated to be able to share this pamphlet with you today. Labour must return to a party that holds working class values and ethics, in a bid to help those less off in society and to uplift their lives - as we did all those years ago. We must return to being a party that fights for the workers of this country, and overturn the destruction of the trade unions that was instigated by the Thatcherite regime. We need to put the power back into the hands of the people, not the elite. The Tories have just returned to power, and the writing is on the wall as history has shown, that they will leave those at the bottom of society, those less off, and those in need thrown to the curb, all in favour of enacting policies that will turn Britain into a dog eat dog country where only the rich and powerful prosper and survive. 

What would a banker and career politician like Sarah Hastings, the current Chancellor, know what it is like to live on the breadline, working paycheque to paycheque, or having to survive on benefits? What would our Prime Minister, Nicholas Colton, a barrister by trade and then straight into a career in politics know about the plight of the working class? What would a Communities Minister such as Andrew Mitchell, a man born with a silver spoon in his mouth and an investment banker know what it’s like to live in a rough, low income community? What would Michael Ashbridge, the Health and Social Welfare secretary know about healthcare and social welfare issues, when his background is law? The same goes for Dominic Grieve, another man with a law background but has somehow found his way into becoming the Infrastructure, Innovation and Environment Secretary? 

I understand that I may only be twenty-seven. I may be a young politician. I may not have the life experience of many of my colleagues - but rest assured I will not stand by idly while the old boys club of Eton and Oxbridge in the Tories bring hard times back to the good working class people of this country. Bringing these hard times back because they don’t know what it’s like to be working class, they don’t know what it is like to struggle through everyday life not knowing where your next meal is coming from. This needs to change. We need politicians who understand the everyday man, and what can be done to help them. These silver spoon, upper class Tories, are not what the people of Britain need. I believe I have the experiences from my childhood, my work in the health service, and as a union rep will prepare me with the knowledge of what it takes to fight for those in need.

In this pamphlet I have a five point plan of ideas and policies that I believe will help mould the Labour Party to get back in touch with who we are, and back in touch with the people we have sworn to fight for and represent since our creation over one hundred years ago. A plan that I believe will help to regain the trust of the great people of Britain, to reject these elitist Tories, and vote for a party that will work for them - the Labour Party.

In my pamphlet I have provided, planned and highlighted a series of key areas I would like to see the Labour Party to concentrate on and commit to enacting to see us return to our roots and to deliver a better Britain for everyone.

Firstly I would like to see our party amend Clause IV of the Labour Party Constitution to better reflect our updated values of a Socialist party based on working class values. We must return to our original cause of protecting working class people, and especially in a time of great economic uncertainty. This includes empowering workers and trade unions.

I believe that it is time we review our current system of taxation, a system that is wholly unfair to low income workers. That is why I believe we need to introduce a fairer system of taxation that sees those better off shouldering more of the burden. It is about time we help and support low income families, and not let the super rich get off scot-free.

As someone with a background in healthcare, which I worked in almost all my working life, I believe that it is paramount that we focus on improving public services across the board. Specifically I want to see us introduce a National Care Service, as well improving the current standards of education and healthcare.

Overall what we need is a Labour Party to get back to the party of the people. What we need is a Labour Party that delivers compassionate and community politics. Politics and policy that looks after the people of Britain and that seeks to advance their quality of life.

Today I am asking Labour members to kindly lend your vote to me, Sophie Patrick, in this upcoming Labour Deputy Leadership Election. Myself and our great Leader, Mr. Jim Connelly, have a strong working relationship, and I want to continue this great work in conjunction with our leader to help lead this party back to its former glory, as a strong united front. I want to see a Labour Party that returns to its Golden Age, back to the days of success seen under heroes like Nye Bevin and Clem Atlee - both two heroes of this Party, and the United Kingdom. Without them we would never have seen such a strong recovery post-war, with unemployment down, housing for the people, a stronger social welfare system, and world class public services - namely with the creation of one of our great institutions, the National Health Service. I believe in the spirit of the Attlee Government, and I believe that it is time that Labour got back to being that party - the party of the people, and the party of Britain.

I firmly believe our loss at the last election came from the fact that Labour lost our touch under New Labour, and the public rejected that vision of New Labour for a party that will cause nothing but wreck and ruin on this country and its working class, the Tories. The time for change is now! And it is clear that it is time we got back to our roots.

It is time for compassionate and community politics!

Thank you! And I hope to count on your support in this upcoming Labour Deputy Leadership Election!"

[Google Docs Version - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a-1hpXd5er9OhOb-kC-tYgtv_0Utes2bxy2AyUOnfGc/edit
PDF - Sophie Patrick for Deputy Leader.pdf]