An Island of Neighbours: Rebuilding Labour from the Ground-Up 

When Labour returned to power last July it spoke of ‘national renewal’. But, almost a year on, that promise feels a bit thin.

There have been commendable moves – including the partial renationalisation of railways and the creation of the Government-owned renewable energy investment body GB Energy. But these sit alongside decisions that have arguably alienated people across the country: greenlighting a new runway at Heathrow, approving oil and gas drilling at Rosebank, and proposing deep cuts to social security. 

In both tone and policy, Labour has begun to treat fear, not hope, as the starting point for change. Many of its long-standing members feel estranged from a leadership increasingly seen as managerial, risk-averse, and devoid of vision.

That vision gap is part of a much deeper crisis, one that defines our political moment. At the heart of this is a profound sense of alienation – the product of an economic model designed to enrich the few while leaving the rest behind, and of a political system that disempowers people. 

This is the real crisis behind Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” speech. It struck a chord because we are increasingly a society unmoored from itself. 

From lower voter turnout at elections, to the rise of the populist-right, and plummeting trust in politicians – there is a crumbling of our democratic institutions and political culture.

Neighbours have become strangers. Citizens have become spectators. Hope has been displaced by quiet resignation. Many feel they have no say, no control, no future.

The question that Compass’ recent ‘Change: How?’ conference addressed was simple but urgent: how can the Labour Government deliver the decade of radical renewal the UK so desperately needs? 

Gathering more than 450 citizens, politicians, and experts, we explored the nuts and bolts of change that is practical, grounded, and genuinely transformative. 

Three core ideas came to the fore.

---

Community Power

Pam Warhurst, founder of the Incredible Edible project – which focuses on local food and community allotments – made the case for a ‘right to grow’ that would give communities a stake in food production, the cultivation of health and wellbeing, and the stewardship of nature. 

Dr Simon Opher, Labour MP for Stroud, championed common ownership as a means of responding to the climate crisis, drawing on work in his own constituency to prove that this is both feasible and desirable. 

Dan Firth, of the New Economics Foundation think tank, urged Labour to invest in the development of leaders from local communities.

Wandsworth Councillor Aydin Dikerdem spoke about the importance of housing and development being led by communities with skin in the game.

---

A Social Economy

Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, Louise Haigh, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, Labour MP for Peckham and Minister for Energy Consumers, respectively made the case for social spending and investment in co-operative principles.

Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, called on the Government to balance ‘Treasury brain’ with a ‘progressive heart’. 

Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, called for growth that is felt by ordinary people. 

Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, who stood against Nigel Farage as Labour’s candidate in Clacton last July, and who now works for Social Enterprise UK, advocated for an enormous expansion of social enterprise. 

From across the pond, Delilah Rothenberg, of the Predistribution Initiative, joined the conference to make the case for predistribution alongside redistribution – preventing inequalities from arising in the first place by making work pay and opening up the economy to everyone, rather than tackling inequalities in retrospect.

---

Democracy

In a workshop on devolution run by Compass associate Sue Goss, conference attendees designed forms of devolution that go beyond the further introduction of metro mayors. 

The conference explored the potential of ‘double devolution’ – devolution coupled with participatory politics which takes power as close to the grassroots as possible. 

Jana Mills, of progressive movements charity Small Axe, made the case for truly competitive elections, which the Labour For a New Democracy group tapped into during its workshop on proportional representation. 

Labour’s Former First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford proposed we strive to be a “solidarity Union”, where membership of the United Kingdom brings a range of rights and freedoms valued by ordinary people in each of its nations.

And Andy Burnham, Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, ended the conference calling for a ‘place-first politics’ that marries material opportunities with a serious rebalancing of how power works in Britain.

Alienation can be solved by offering people something real to believe in and to do – not with smart slogans, rebrands, and tweaks to a system that shuts most people out and leaves them cold. 

It can be addressed by rebuilding politics around agency, meaning, and shared purpose. And giving people the confidence to take matters into their own hands and create their own solutions. 

We need to combat disaffection and cynicism with practical hope and serious solutions. 

Labour must be more than a machine for winning elections – it needs to be a party that changes lives. If Keir Starmer really does want to stop this country from becoming an “island of strangers”, his party in power must root itself again in community, solidarity, and a bold, shared vision.