6 TRAINING
Austerity post-Brexit Britain presents enormous challenges for the Labour Movement with its ultimate responsibility for representing the hopes and interests of some of the poorest and most disenfranchised in our society . The ranks of the membership have grown bringing a great potential resource , but one cannot assume that everyone has or will have the same privileged higher education as many of the Party ' s candidates and representatives of recent decades . As one activist said to me : " I left school young and didn ' t do PPE " ( i . e . at Oxford University ). Further , Conservative-run State education is hardly likely to equip people for lives of socialist activism , organisation and leadership . So this is a good moment to consider how best to fill the gap so that Labour Members are able to fulfil their best potential within the Party .
The Movement has a rich tradition of teaching and learning , more than a century long . Ruskin College was established in 1899 ( originally as Ruskin Hall ). Workers Education Associations were formed in 1903 and the National Council of Labour Colleges in 1921 . All had strong connections with the Trade Unions who themselves continue to provide a great deal of highly effective education and training designed to prepare members for representative and leadership roles .
The context for this history was always a somewhat deficient and elitist state education system and the need to give working-class students access to knowledge and culture as well as to train them for effective activism .
Post-1945 reforms led to enormous and positive change , not least in the democratisation of Higher Education by successive Labour Governments ( e . g . the establishment of the Open University in 1969 ). Arguably , post-war Trade Union education became more focused on training than on liberal education as a result . However there was a parallel rise in grassroots learning and self-help by way of the women ’ s movement , local history projects and the History Workshop movement ( once more with roots in , and connections with , Ruskin ).
As with all aspects of this Inquiry , I am grateful for the variety of the submissions received , in this case ranging from " pitches " to design values-lead training to critiques of the idea that anti-racism training can ever be effective and nervousness that one strand or another in the Party ' s thinking should be given a privileged position in relation to describing and disseminating the boundaries of acceptable attitudes and behaviour .
On reflection , and having gauged the range of feelings within the Party , it is not my view that narrow anti-racism training programmes are what is required . There is a grave danger that such an approach would seem patronising or otherwise insulting rather than truly empowering and enriching for those taking part . Instead , the Party ' s values , mission and history could be firmly embedded in more comprehensive activism and leadership education designed to equip members for the organisational , electoral and representative challenges ahead .
Now is a time to reassess broad-based education and training within the Labour Movement , and rather than attempting to " re-invent the wheel ", to work in partnership with the Trade Unions , Higher Education institutions , Festivals and others . The Internet also presents a considerable opportunity for the promotion of relevant skills and learning within the Party .
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