…A social democrat, that is. I always was and always will be. The key principles of social democracy are more vital today than they have ever been. The rapidly changing world has made them more palpable to people’s lives and more directly applicable to today’s ‘big’ debates. As political principles go, they are still the richest soil in which to grow prosperity and social justice in equal measure.

With the passing of historical eras, social democratic principles have evolved and allowed certain positions, even important ones, to be lost in the mists of time. 

Today we proudly declare that we are pro-business – without negating our pro-worker pedigree. Unshackled by the outdated idea of pitting capital against labour, we social democrats are now at the cutting edge of policy-making in the market. 

We are pro-business because it is the best and quickest route to social justice. 

Having recognised that private initiative is the key to a growth-geared economy, we are no longer ashamed to acknowledge that the creation of wealth is the starting point for more redistribution. Without wealth there is nothing to redistribute.

Yet, for us, social democrats, and unlike our right-wing colleagues, wealth creation is not an end in itself. It is a means to foster more social justice, to give new opportunities to those who don’t have them, to give assistance to those stuck in disadvantaged social circumstances. 

We are not in the business (excuse the pun) of making just a few people rich but of making everyone as rich as they can be. We give entrepreneurs the incentives and space they need to create wealth so that we can legislate and administer for everyone and in everyone’s interest. Social democrats create an economy for the many, not for the few.

Having made the crucial step of embracing the market in a social democratic way, this puts us in pole position to take another key step. We need to be the blue skies thinkers and politicians at the forefront of technological change and innovation. We should be the ones coming up with cutting-edge policy-making to match the uptake of state-of-the-art technologies, particularly blockchain and artificial intelligence. 

If we as social democrats are first at the mouth from where the river of technology flows, we are best positioned to ensure that it benefits the people first and foremost.

Coupled with globalisation, technological change has brought about another era-defining reality which should be close to the heart of every social democrat. The very nature of work is being radically and irreversibly transformed. What, how and who produces is no longer comparable to what used to happen even a couple of decades ago. 

Poverty and deprivation have not only survived… but – in pockets of our society – they are actually thriving like weed

Flat management, remote working, instantaneous movement of capital, automated added value and many other features of today’s emerging economic scenario should not be viewed by social democrats with trepidation, distrust or fear. On the contrary, we should be the go-to politicians to come up with innovative policies which harness and embrace these changes, always with an eye on the common good and the good of the common people. 

The same acuity which sees new opportunities and applications for our social democratic principles in today’s and tomorrow’s world reminds us that some social problems do not change, although they might take different guises. Poverty and relative deprivation are two of the most crucial ones. Because of our political stripes and because historically we have been the party of the downtrodden, we should be the least blinkered to their persistence. 

Let me be blunt. Poverty and deprivation have not only survived in today’s orchard of affluence, adequate social services, more education, connectivity and job opportunities, but – in pockets of our society – they are actually thriving like weed. Indeed, all the positive turns mentioned above can create new and more pernicious forms of these social problems. 

So even here, we as social democrats should be leading the pack, not only to highlight and put them on the national and European agendas but also to come up with the best and most innovative policies to address them.

Finally, we are not just left of centre. Social is our first name. Democrats is our second. We as a party, therefore, need to continue to be the ultimate bulwark of democracy and all the institutions which protect it. And we need to ensure that we will be the ones who devise new ways of making our nation and our society even more democratic than they are today.

With pride, allow me to repeat: Yes, I am still a social democrat. 

Chris Fearne is Deputy Prime Minister