Samson Dada, a Labour MP, is interviewed about his support for Ed Balls in the Labour leadership contest and his views on the coalition government's budget and welfare reforms. He criticizes the budget for disproportionately impacting the poor and believes Labour should pursue a fairer tax system, cooperation between public services, and cracking down on tax avoidance. He also argues that Labour had already begun welfare reforms to increase employment and that the coalition's plans lack support for disabled workers and adequate income support for jobseekers.

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The two Ed’s, Diane, Andy or David. Which of the Labour leadership candidates
are you backing?
I’m supporting Ed Balls. He put up a great fight against Michael Gove’s botched
announcement to cut funding for new school buildings, and he’s really ready to take
on the coalition government and expose the damage it’s doing to our economy, our
public services and ordinary people’s lives. But we’re lucky that all the candidates for
the leadership are really skilled, committed and principled, and I’ll be proud to have
any of them as our leader.
You hate the Lib Dem – Tory budget. Got a substantial alternative plan to cut
the deficit? A Robin Hood tax? Extending the top rate of tax to people earning
£100,000?
First off, the Coalition are going in way too hard with their plans. Labour is
committed to a plan to halve the deficit in 4 years, now the Con-Dems say they’ll
wipe it out completely. But public borrowing is what is paying to protect jobs and
services, and if we cut so hard and so fast, we’ll put more people out of work, and risk
plunging the country back into recession.
Second, as we saw from the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies’ report, their
budget is hitting the poorest much harder than the better off. That’s unfair, and it
exposes the lie that this government’s interested in reducing inequality.
But we do have to get the deficit down, no one wants to be spending money on
interest payments that could go on front line services. So we need policies that can do
this fairly and safely. For example, I’m in favour of extending the top tax rate to those
earning over £100,000, I believe there are good savings to be made by local service
providers working effectively together rather than duplicating provision, and I want to
see much tougher action on tax avoidance which costs the country billions each year.
You voted against the government’s VAT increase. Aren’t you deluding
yourself? According to Peter Mandelson’s memoirs, “Third Man”, Alistair Darling
wanted to increase VAT to 19 per cent. Would you have voted against a VAT of 19
per cent?
The overall effect of this government’s budget is to hit the poor the most. Labour
wouldn’t have done that, we’d have had a budget that protected the poorest. A budget
is a package of measures, and it’s not about voting for or against just one element,
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you’re looking at the overall effect. During Labour’s 13 years in government, the gap
between rich and poor widened.
Your party failed to reverse the growing inequalities in our society. What can your
party do to convince electors that Labour is the party for social justice and fairness?
Inequality and poverty rose massively under the Tories between 1979 and 1997.
Labour halted the rising trend in inequality (though you’re right, we didn’t reverse it)
and we lifted millions of children and pensioners out of poverty. I’m proud of those
achievements. Of course we need to go further, and that means a fairer system of
taxation, adequate benefits for people who can’t work, and giving everyone the best
opportunities. That’s what Labour stands for, and it will be a priority for our new
leader.
In an article in the Guardian on Monday, Andy Burnham criticised the
“metropolitan elites” that have dominated the Labour Party. Agree or disagree
with this?
I think we do have to make sure all members of our party have a real say in our
policies and our decisions. We need to reform the way we consult and involve our
party members. Thousands of new members have been joining us since the election,
and we can learn a lot from listening to them and to all our loyal members.
If you believe in the voluntary sector, why have many Labour MPs criticised the
“Big Society”?
The voluntary sector does great work but it can’t replace state provision. It’s too
small, it can’t guarantee people’s rights, and its job is to speak out for those who are
getting a raw deal – it might be harder to do that if you are delivering services for, and
being paid by, the state. Labour MPs are sceptical because we’re worried the Big
Society is just an excuse for cutting public services and leaving people to rely on
charity. Of course we want to see more support for community organisations and we
support voluntary activity, but decent public services are at the heart of a fairer
society.
In an article on August 7th, you described Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reform
plans as a ” remarkably thin document” with “many worrying gaps”. But at
least he is attempting to tackle the problem. Under your government, the welfare
system got out of control – so what do you suggest Labour should do to reform
the welfare system?
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Labour was already doing lots – we weren’t just “attempting to tackle the problem”,
we substantially increased lone parent employment and had begun reforms to get
more sick and disabled people into work. We introduced a flexible new deal to give
people looking for work tailor-made support, we invested in a Future Jobs Fund
(which the government has axed) to guarantee all young people education or a job, we
brought in the employment and support allowance which is structured to get more
disabled people into work. The Tories’ plans do build on this to a degree, but they
haven’t said anything about what jobs people are to go to, they haven’t given any
commitments about funding to help disabled people in the workplace, and they aren’t
making any promises about ensuring people have adequate incomes while they’re
looking for work. They say they want to make work pay, and that’s right of course,
but if they try to do that by cutting benefits rather than improving pay and in-work
support, they’ll be plunging vulnerable people into terrible hardship, causing great
anxiety and fear – not the best state of mind to be in if you’re looking for work.
Stepping up the attacks on the coalition, creating proposals to improve social
mobility….. What do you want to achieve when you return to Parliament after
the summer recess?
We’ve got the Spending Review announcements in October, and I’ll be working to
ensure that the most vulnerable in our society don’t bear the brunt of the cuts. I’ll be
campaigning for disabled people, for families with children, and for jobs.
On your website, you say that “Labour can resist harmful cuts and support
public health through a positive campaign on fast foods.” Does this mean more
ridiculously expensive advertisements that do not improve the health of young
people?
Hang on – did you read the whole article? What I said was that there are a range of
measures we can take to support healthy lifestyles, including regulating fast food
outlets (for example forbidding them from opening near school gates), protecting
local sporting facilities (the government has axed free swimming for the under 16s –
how does that help young people stay healthy?), ensuring young pregnant women can
afford a healthy diet, and so on. Advertising and education have a place too, but we
need to do more.
Abolition of the 10p tax band, introducing tuition fees, the Iraq War…. What do
you think was the Labour Party’s biggest policy mistake?
I wish we’d been bolder. I’m really proud of the progress we made in reducing
poverty and halting the rise in inequality, and the public liked what we were doing.
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But we took our eye off the ball for a couple of years, and we could have got much
further by investing in tax credits, pensions, and introducing a living wage if we’d
kept up the pace we set in the first part of this decade.
Will you support a referendum on the Alternative Vote?
Yes, that was in our manifesto.
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