Reclaim history and be proud

Gordon Brown MP

100 YEARS REMEMBERED

This is the story of over 100 years of the Labour Movement’s service to the people of Fife. It is a story of 100 years of endeavour, idealism and achievement. It is a story also of achievements on behalf of the people, modern schools, hospitals and services to the elderly, a monument to the egalitarian and caring impulses which brought Labour into being.

It should not be forgotten that Fife was one of the areas of Britain and Europe which pioneered socialist activity. In the 1880’s, as detailed in Susan Morton’s research records, a vigorous Socialist movement was built around the Independent Labour Party and the Fabian Society. The Fife mining unions were among the first unions to adopt Socialists as their political representatives. This was critical. Fife had, at one time, 66 pits, and at their peak Fife’s miners numbered 30,000 and even after 1945 the numbers remained as high as 20,000.

In 1910 Labour made history winning West Fife for the first time, one of the few seats that had gone Labour and for most of the twentieth century and now the twenty first century, the Labour Party has represented most of Fife. I am proud that Fife
Labour’s contribution to the United Kingdom has been immense. Take education, Fife led the way innovating in the education of young people. Miners recognised that the way for their children out of the hard manual labour, to which they were subjected, was an education and so Fife developed one of the best schooling systems of our time. Today Fife is home to one of the best pre school education systems and a college system which is supported by eight universities in its near vicinity.

Just as Fife Labour led the way in educating the young, Fife has led the way in caring for the elderly. Under a Labour administration, Fife was one of the first Local Authorities in Britain to develop a free bus travel system for pensioners, taking into account the distances that had to be travelled to meet friends in the strongly rural county of Fife so made bus travel free for pensioners and the disabled in the early 1970s. Throughout the 80s and 90s even under pressure from
Conservative Administrations, Fife stood firm and added to elderly services with free colour TV licences for disabled people and at a Scottish level free personal care for elderly. Everywhere I have gone throughout the UK, I have been proud of the contribution of Fife’s Labour Party to the development of a more caring, more compassionate, more civilised society.

But Fife Labour’s 100 years of service is just the beginning. The idealism, energy and courage of today’s Labour Movement make us well equipped to lead Fife throughout the twenty first century. Regenerated and renewed as a Party with local roots and local knowledge - a network connected to every town and every village, volunteering and campaigning
organisation, the future of Labour in Fife is inextricably linked to the aspirations of local people. For 125 years and now and into the future, it is the story of Labour at the service of the people.