Diane Abbott has been thinking long and hard of late about how Labour responds to the family. She offers the next instalment of her ideas in a speech to think tank Demos on Thursday, and will argue that rapid social and economic change has caused a ‘crisis of masculinity’ in Britain which manifests itself. Coffee House has been offered a preview of that speech, which marks a significant shift in the way Labour talks about the family.
Abbott believes the Conservatives have occupied this debate for too long, and wants her party to make families and fathers a priority. As a single mother and a left-wing feminist, her intervention is an attempt to reclaim this territory.
She will say:
‘Tomorrow, too many British men and boys will wake up isolated and misdirected by a boundless consumer outlook, economic instability and whirlwind social change.
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