The Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, joined Ken Livingstone on the campaign trail in London today in support of his bid to be re-elected Mayor of London on 1 May.
Mayor Delanoe was re-elected Mayor of in Paris last month, and his decision to join Ken Livingstone on the stump shows the high regard in which London’s Mayor is held by leaders of other key cities throughout the world - and underlines the importance of the Mayoral election for London’s standing internationally.
Ken Livingstone’s campaign said:
“London’s international status is key to its economic success, and it can only be maintained by taking the right decisions in the interests of London.”
The Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, joined Ken Livingstone and the Labour Movement for Europe (London & South East) campaigning in Islington today and then held a joint press conference, where Mayor Delanoë said that close cooperation between big European cities was strengthening all of them - and that Ken Livingstone should stay in that team to ensure this continues. He said: ‘London would be weaker if it were to be isolated’. He also said it would be dangerous for Europe if London had mayor supported by the far right:
Mayor Delanoë said today:
‘It is important for Europe that London should maintain its position as a leader working with European cities. London is a city that has made a great deal of progress since Ken Livingstone was elected.
‘Elections are about real issues around values and convictions
‘In terms of economy London has a spirit of healthy economic attractiveness that it is helping us all move forward.
‘I have seen that with Ken as Mayor London has made great strides forward. We have got together as Mayors of world cities to ensure we tackle climate change. Ken has made a great commitment to this. I have learned from London about the impact of solidarity when dealing with the homeless.
‘With our friends we have formed a strong team of Mayors - we need Ken to stay in that team to ensure this progress continues.
‘The cities of the 21st century are cities of great diversity in their population. As with myself, Ken believes it is necessary to bring all people together and ensure we benefit from the richness of all their contributions.
‘It would be dangerous for Europe if London had a Mayor who had been supported by the far right.
‘London would also be weaker if it were to be isolated. I think London needs a serious Mayor - because it is a very serious job.’
In the last week the London election, Mayor Delanoe’s backing for the re-election of Ken Livingstone was echoed by other Mayors from around the world.
In the last week the London election, Mayor Delanoe’s backing for the re-election of Ken Livingstone was echoed by other Mayors from around the world.
Mayor Klaus Wowereit, City of Berlin, said:
“It has been a great pleasure to work with you to build ties of friendship between Berlin and London and this has been of great value for the citizens of both of our cities.
“Your leadership, both, in breaking new ground with radical policies to improve public transport and protect the environment in London and your openness to ideas from cities, like my own, facing similar issues has marked you out as a great ambassador for London internationally. I am glad that we have been able to count one another as true friends. I look forward working with you for many years to come.”
Mayor Gavin Newson, City of San Francisco said:
“London has a great leader in Ken Livingstone. His willingness to take brave, forward looking decisions – such as to tackle congestion – have provided hope and inspiration to city leaders around the world. It was Ken’s drive and leadership that made it possible for 40 of the world’s largest cities to come together in the C40 to tackle climate change, something that would have been unthinkable otherwise. It has also been a pleasure to work with a fellow Mayor who puts into practice in his city the values of tolerance and celebrating diversity that I am so proud to represent in San Francisco.”
Mayor David Miller, City of Toronto said:
“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Mayor Ken Livingstone, the inspiring founder and leader of the C40 Climate Group of major international cities. His vision and commitment have established London as a global leader in the fight against climate change and demonstrate how cities like ours can drive progress to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Europe is unique in the way it tries to combine a free market economy with social justice. But things are changing with globalization and our ageing society. Conservatives say we can no longer afford high standards of social and environmental protection. We say our welfare states are our strength, that a society in which everyone can participate, contribute and benefit will be a strong and prosperous society. We say our welfare states must be renewed - not dismantled: reformed to meet new challenges, not taken apart. The PES agreed 10 Principles for a New Social Europe at our Congress at the end of 2006. But what should be our priorities for 2009-14? What should be done at the European level in the years ahead?
He then put to the floor what we mean when we talk about social Europe. There are different applications of the social model, but there seems to be a consensus on some key elements:
a responsive political economy
free and compulsory education
active protection of environment
robust welfare state
limitation of inequality
However, the economic layers of governance have been eroded by globalisation. There is an increased pressure on costs. If we debate the reform of the European social model, we need to debate the reform of globalisation. Economic globalisation increases within and between countries.
How can we develop a politics of international redistribution?
Henning proposed that we needed a politics of national and international redistribution - we need to explore a global social politics. This includes:
reforming how we measure the gross domestic product. We need to define indicators which better take into account well being rather than just consumption.
harmonising corporate taxation at a European level. If we don’t, countries ironically lose sovereignty, as when one country reduces corporate taxation, other countries have to follow.
See more of his proposals and his debate here:
Check out the different debates of the “Globalisation of the community, how can we build a more social Europe” here
Ben Richards, UNITE International Officer, set the scene at the New Social Europe debate of the PES Manifesto Consultation on how Social Europe had benefited people so far. We wouldn’t have had parental leave or working time limits without the European social model. He advised that all the two million members of Unite are international in their outlook and pro-European. It is the benefits of the social model that galvanise members to vote in the next European elections.
However, there is an increasing unhappiness towards the European Union, which has stagnated in its social policy in the last few years. We are concerned about the reform of the services directive and the panacea of flexisecurity. Many people forget that in Denmark this includes high trade union rights and unemployment benefits. We are also concerned about the Viking and Laval court cases which call into question the social model. He proposed that we need to
rebalance the great swing towards internal market reforms with better social policy reforms
stop the UK’s “opt outs” of social Europe
greater protection of temporary and agency workers
sign up to the Charter of Fundamental Rights
See more of his proposals and his debate here:
Check out the different debates of the “Globalisation of the community, how can we build a more social Europe” here
Work has been made insecure, the social wage has been reduced and there was been a steep decline in bargaining power from workers. Communities have been dismantled, workers distanced from their employers or contractors. There has been a very deliberate policy to push back the gains of the workers, often by stealth.
Expectations have been constantly lowered to the extent that our goal becomes not how we can make it better, but how can we prevent it being that bad.
How can you organise when you don’t know who you’re actually working for? The trade unions struggle with bargaining, sometimes too conservative in their approach. The game has changed – we need to deal issue by issue.
How can we fight for this manifesto? How can we make it exist in real life? How can we turn it into something powerful?
There is an issue of language – we have now replaced a collectively provided social wage with individualised budgets – losing the economies of scale and the social benefits of the former.
We need to frame the language on the notion of accountability. The corporate forces need to be accountable to the community, we need to reassert this notion that you are responsible for what you do to your workers. There is something more than money, giving back to your community.
Deborah explaining that with London Citizens, they focus on developing leadership skills and organising a “listening campaign”, bringing together 2500 people from over 90 organisations across London. They developed a range of proposals and voted on the top four to submit to the Mayor of London, asking him not only to take this forward but to work with us.
Deborah proposed that we need to:
build a strong coalition within and beyond the labour movement
build a “listening campaign” for the manifesto and the next elections
frame the language on the notion of accountability to the corporate forces
See more of her proposals and her debate here:
Check out the different debates of the “Globalisation of the community, how can we build a more social Europe” here
The Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, joined Ken Livingstone on the campaign trail in London today in support of his bid to be re-elected Mayor of London on 1 May.
