London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 02, 2026

Now Labour must end the leave-remain divide. Another future is possible

Now Labour must end the leave-remain divide. Another future is possible

After Brexit, this Labour generation can summon the courage and radicalism of the postwar era to help rebuild our country
Tomorrow, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. Some will celebrate, some will mourn, and others will just get on with their lives. The debate over whether we are in or out of the EU is over, but the debate over the kind of country we want to become has only just begun.

As a country we’ve been bitterly divided for three and a half years. Our politics has been frozen instead of tackling the real and deep-rooted problems we face.

Now the leave-remain divide must end. Defining people by how they voted in June 2016 merely upholds a divide that we must overcome. There are no leavers or remainers any more. In 2024 there will be no leave or remain constituencies.

This morning, in a typical classroom of 30 children, nine of them will be living in poverty. The morning after we’ve left the EU, this will still be a reality for those children and their families. It will be the same in a year’s time, and a year after that, unless we do something. The Conservatives are using the rhetoric of sovereignty as cover for the systematic disempowerment of all of us – ever lower wages, fewer workplace rights, weaker environmental protections. Inequality is not an act of God or nature – it is the result of political decisions, but we can change them if we choose to.

Brexit will not put right the problems that led so many to vote leave. They are the result of years of failure, which we will put right only when we stop diagnosing and start treating. We can fix the broken political system that closed off investment and opportunity to whole regions and communities. We can take on the failed market economy that has pushed millions into poverty. We’re not the luckless victims of the unimaginably wealthy. But power concedes nothing without a demand. We can make those demands, because we know what is needed to create the country we want to live in.

Seventy-five years ago Britain’s great generation won the war, helping to free occupied Europe and liberate the concentration camps. They dreamed of a better future and they trusted Labour to “win the peace”. That Labour generation rebuilt our country after the devastation of war and created a new settlement that lasted for generations. The NHS, the welfare state, decent affordable council homes, the promise of the new towns and civic pride and placing great industries and national infrastructure under democratic control: this was their achievement and it created a better life for millions. Our present Labour generation must summon that same spirit of courage and radicalism to “win the peace” again after the divisions of Brexit.

It’s clear our politics is broken. This week I’ve travelled the length and breadth of the UK talking about radical plans to devolve power away from Whitehall to the nations, regions, cities and towns. But this can’t just be about transferring power from one set of politicians to another. I believe the fight for social, economic and climate justice can only be won if we put real power directly in the hands of the people.

The market economy has failed and left millions in poverty. Under privatisation our probation service does not work, our railways do not work. I want new forms of common ownership that give frontline workers and the people who use our public services the power to influence how they are run. Real democratic accountability to the people, not statism.

The green new deal must be hardwired into everything we do because we’re in an epochal battle to save our planet. That means a major role for government in stronger regulation and redirecting investment. It also means empowering communities and activists to take action for themselves, like Labour-run Plymouth council has done by setting up dozens of community-owned sustainable energy co-ops.

And I want to scrap the Tory welfare reforms that humiliate the very people they should be helping. I will end the cruelty of work capability assessments and halt the punitive sanctions that push people into destitution. Instead, people who are unemployed or living with disabilities will have a say over the kind of support they need. A real voice for everyone and the power to make it heard.

Britain is an outward-looking country with a proud history of internationalism and co-operation. When Boris Johnson decided last week to turn away child refugees, he stood in the face of those values. Instead of this, the government ought to begin to heal divisions. We need long-overdue security for EU citizens. The government should give all 3 million EU nationals living in the UK full voting rights in future elections. The way they have been treated over the past three years is shameful. We were never just “tolerating” EU citizens living in this country – they are our neighbours, friends and families. To see their status in doubt devastates our sense not just of justice but also of fellowship.

Basic social justice demands that we always stand up for citizens’ rights and oppose trade deals that put our NHS or public services up for sale. We must make the case for a close economic relationship with the EU that protects jobs and allows us to cooperate in other fields.

We’ll shine a light on the Conservatives’ failures and the damage they will inevitably do. We must raise our sights with a vision that matches the ambition of the British people. We must summon the courage that led Labour’s post-war generation to remake this country with a radical vision of a fairer future.

Labour has lost four elections in a row: we simply cannot afford to lose the next one. I will move our party on from the division of the past and remake our party as a democratic movement that faces outwards towards the country, not inwards on itself. Endless Conservative government is not inevitable. I’m here to lead Labour to victory because I know that another future is possible if we come together and fight for it.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Finland Deploys Commercial-Scale Thermal Batteries Using Crushed Rock to Store Renewable Grid Energy
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
Sainsbury Agrees to Sell Argos in £120 Million Deal to Private Consortium
High Court Clears Way for Construction of Chinese Embassy at Royal Mint Court
UK Fuel Prices Climb to Multi-Month Highs as Strait of Hormuz Tensions Disrupt Oil Supplies
Severe Summer Drought and Record Heat Put UK Harvests at Risk
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Faces Labour Backbench Opposition Over Potential Support for New North Sea Oil and Gas Drilling
Bank of England Warns Inflation Will Stay Above 3% as Middle East Energy Shock Prolongs Cost-of-Living Pressures
Andy Burnham has Announces Plans to Redistribute Income Tax Revenue to English Mayors
Early-Release Scheme Faces Fresh Scrutiny as Reoffending and Prison Recalls Rise
Police Phone Checks Followed Report on Murder of MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin
Archbishop of Canterbury Reaffirms £100 Million Reparative Justice Fund During Ghana Visit
Charities Allege French Police Used Tear Gas Against Channel Migrants
Norwegian Teenager Convicted Over Iran-Linked Murder Plot in Britain
Christian Organisations File Charity Complaints Against Amnesty International UK
Ofgem Tightens Grid Connection Rules for New Data Centres
FTSE 100 Reaches Record High Despite Global Technology Sell-Off
Millions of UK Households Urged to Check Eligibility for Winter Energy Discount
Labour Restores Parliamentary Whips to Diane Abbott and Joani Reid
UK Supreme Court to Hear Challenge Over Palestine Action Ban
UK Commits More Than £8.4 Billion to Dreadnought Nuclear Submarine Programme
England Declares Severe Drought as Wildfire Burns Near Sizewell Nuclear Site
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75% as Middle East Tensions Fuel Inflation Risks
Drought Status Extended Across All of Wales as Heat and Dry Weather Deepen Environmental Strain
Record-Low Danube Exposes Probable Mammoth Remains in Bulgaria
UK Business Confidence Climbs to Four-Month High
Greater Manchester Gains Expanded Powers Under Regional Funding Reforms
UK Supreme Court to Hear Appeal Over Palestine Action Terror Ban
Shell's Quarterly Profit Doubles to Nearly $10 Billion on Higher Energy Prices
UK Government Removes VAT From Household Electricity Bills
Exceptional Drought Grips Half of England as Wildfire Threatens Sizewell
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75% as Inflation Risks Persist
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
The chief executive of the popular gaming company laid off many employees and his pay rose to 38 million dollars
UK Employment Holds Steady as Wage Growth Remains Moderate
England to Introduce Artificial Intelligence into Secondary School Curriculum
Wales Launches £1.2 Billion Industrial Regeneration Programme
High Court Upholds UK Digital Surveillance Framework
Northern Ireland Reaches Budget Agreement on Infrastructure and Public Sector Pay
Home Office Expands Digital Border Checks Nationwide
UK Approves Major North Sea Wind and Carbon Capture Project
The World's Most Terrifying Smartphone: Recording, Documenting, and Reporting to the Regime
Scotland Approves Major Renewable Energy Expansion
UK and United States Sign AI and Semiconductor Cooperation Pact
UK Treasury Tightens Fiscal Controls After Gilt Market Volatility
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 4.5%
UK Unveils £10 Billion NHS Funding Overhaul and Workforce Reform
The AI User Nightmare: Private Claude Conversations Leaked to the Internet
UK: Former Football Association Leaders Call for World Cup Boycott Over FIFA Privatization Plan
Forbidden Love: China severs millions from their virtual partners
×