“Prominent figures across progressive politics, the trade unions and social movements” have united to call for an alternative to Labour Party austerity by signing a Dignity Declaration. Signatories include independent and Green Party MPs (and even one left-winger still in the Labour Party), along with progressive councillors and high-profile figures from around the country.
A key sponsor of the declaration appears to be the Peace & Justice Project, whose founder Jeremy Corbyn tweeted:
Cuts for the poor. Handouts for the rich.
That’s what this Labour government stands for.
We believe in something different.
The Canary spoke to two of the signatories to find out more.
Jamie Driscoll: ‘Starmer’s Labour shuns common sense’
Former North of Tyne metro mayor Jamie Driscoll told the Canary:
The Labour government has crossed a line. Some people still clung to the idea that they were trying to fix the Tories’ mess. It’s now clear they would rather make children of disabled parents poorer than implement a modest wealth tax. When Reeves and Starmer praised Thatcher, it wasn’t just positioning, they actually meant it.
Referring to a YouGov poll showing massive cross-party support across Britain for taxing the super-rich, he added:
This declaration shows that there is a huge force in British politics that demands humanity is at the heart of government. It’s common sense that looking after vulnerable people and tackling poverty is in everyone’s long-term economic interests. 78% of people support a wealth tax, and I’m working with people up and down the country to campaign for it.
Driscoll has been a prominent voice supporting efforts to build a new mass movement of the left in Britain. His local Majority party, for example, has united with other left-wing groups to offer people around Britain funding, training, and networking support in order to get active locally and nationally. It’s also seeking to run candidates to contest council seats in Newcastle.
Sean Halsall: ‘Labour duped voters in 2024’
Independent councillor Sean Halsall ran for parliament in 2024 with the backing of both Collective and Assemble. And Corbyn was among other high-profile figures to attend the recent launch of Southport Community Independents, where Halsall insisted on the need to be proactive in building “a mass party of the left”. Regarding the Dignity Declaration, he told us that:
Our country is more than capable of protecting the most vulnerable, instead we see a government hell bent on balancing the books on the broken backs of the most vulnerable.
People were duped at the last general election, they were promised change, they have been left short changed.
Halsall has previously warned that Starmer’s Labour is driving people into the arms of the far right. And he highlighted that danger again, stressing:
The people of this country are being pushed towards reactionary forces because the people who promised to fix the chaos caused by the Tories have been more interested in making sure weapons companies’ pockets are filled, more interested in fiscal rules that do nothing to redress the balance in wealth inequality, and more interested in freebies from lobbying firms to actually listen.
But he also knows the hunger people around the country have for meaningful change. As he insisted:
The blueprint for that actual change exists. In 2017, there was hope, for the many. Let’s take politics back to the people, let’s not open the door to reactionary forces. More than ever, we need hope.
The Dignity Declaration: ‘Ordinary people create the wealth, so let’s invest it in welfare, not warfare’
In 2024, the Peace & Justice Project set out five demands as an alternative to Tory and Labour austerity. It called for “a payrise for the many”, a “Green New Deal”, “housing for all”, taxing the rich to save essential public services like the NHS, and welcoming refugees while fighting for “a world free from war”. And the new Dignity Declaration echoes these key ideas, seeking to provide a rallying point for progressives across the country and urging people to take collective action.
The declaration insists that rising living costs and deepening poverty are urgent crises. And at the same time, “the richest are let off the hook”, with politicians shielding them from the supposedly “tough choices” of austerity. As it stresses:
The government claims there is no money to lift people out of poverty, yet it finds billions for war and weapons. This isn’t about scarcity—it’s about priorities. And their priorities are clear: no money for us all, endless money for war.
It’s message is clear common sense, saying:
Real security isn’t the ability to destroy whole regions of the world or line the pockets of arms dealers. Real security is having a roof over your head, food on your table, and a future for our children.
To “shape our world based on human need, not corporate greed”, it calls for:
properly taxing multinational corporations and those with assets over £10 million so we can rebuild our schools and hospitals… bringing in rent controls to tackle the housing emergency… ending the disaster of privatisation in energy, water, rail and healthcare… protecting our planet by standing up to fossil fuel giants and building a new green energy system… [and] investing in welfare, not warfare.
As it powerfully concludes:
We are the ones who create the wealth—let’s invest it in a future that respects our planet, nurtures hope in our children, and guarantees dignity for all.
Featured image supplied
