18 February 2005
Prescott pleads for unity in election run-up
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott urged Labour councillors to unite behind the party and 'stop talking and scribbling' in the run-up to the general and county council elections.
In a speech designed to rouse local activists, Prescott warned the Labour Spring Conference that 'careless talk costs lives'. He said too many activists were voicing their concerns through Conservative-supporting newspapers.
If they 'found it [party policy] difficult and needed to get it out', they should at least donate their fees to party funds. 'It would be nice for the Tories to be paying for us,' he joked.
Despite his humour, Prescott's comments reveal internal fears that some policies, including changes to public sector pensions and council housing, have alienated the party faithful.
He made a conciliatory reference to the row over local authority housing and the government's use of private sector investment. A supposed breakthrough at last year's autumn conference on a fourth option for housing has since come to nothing and prompted anger among some councillors.
'We have been able to bring public and private sectors together in a £16bn investment programme for housing,' he said. 'We couldn't get all the money – because of health and education – but by using that formula we could get more homes into a decent condition quicker and millions can thank us for that.'
He added that his Homes for All plan was a fairer system and called on councils to start using their land to intervene in the market and provide more homes.
Party chair Ian McCartney joined in the call to 'get out and campaign' and conceded, as Prescott did, that they needed to recognise the successes of Labour councils. 'We can't be complacent. This is an election as much about turnout as everything else,' the deputy prime minister added.
Prescott also acknowledged that 'we all need to do our bit' for Labour councillors in the county council elections on May 5, the expected date for a general election.
All 34 counties are up for election, with the 2,203 seats representing nearly 50% of the English population.
Labour needs to reverse its gradual decline in control over the counties, traditional Conservative strongholds. Currently Labour has total control in just seven authorities, including Durham and Derbyshire, and joint control in three.
Ministers to use persuasion over directly elected mayors
Ministers are to engage England's largest cities 'in discussion' in an effort to persuade them to opt for directly elected mayors.
Local government minister Nick Raynsford told delegates at the conference that he would not impose the concept but added: 'It is right that cities that said no should now take another look at this.
'This is a voluntary policy, we do think it has advantages and does help to give greater focus and visibility,' he said.
The revival of directly elected mayors was mooted as part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's five-year plan, People, places and prosperity.
As part of these discussions, the ODPM is apparently willing to make some concessions to entice cities to opt for mayors in the form of extra powers, although these will not be equivalent to the type of powers afforded to the London mayor.
The department is understood to have drawn up a hit list of eight or nine of England's largest cities, including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds.
But it may have an uphill struggle. The concept has never taken off in big cities and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has said publicly that he is 'unconvinced of their value'.
The rules under the Local Government Act 2000 also remain, requiring 5% of the population to be signed up to trigger a referendum on the issue.
There have been around 30 referendums so far, but only 11 mayors have actually been elected. Eight of those, including Doncaster, Hartlepool and Stoke, are up for re-election this year, with ministers and other potential mayoral cities keeping a close watch on turnouts to assess their impact.
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