The Purple Book

The Labour Party is at a crossroads. Following its ejection from government, the reasons behind Labour's defeat have been hotly debated - but where to go from here? On the benches of opposition, with ample opportunity to consider how best to travel the path back to power, leading Labour figures are delving into the party's revisionist tradition to find an answer. The challenge now is how to return to the party's core principles, and it is to this challenge that The Purple Book offers a first contribution. With a foreword by Ed Miliband and contributors including both shadow and former ministers, new MPs and senior councillors, the book presents fresh policies for Labour's revival. Calling for a progressive agenda with, at its heart, a redistribution of power to individuals and local communities, The Purple Book draws on lessons from Labour's past and looks firmly to the future. Exploring the issues that the party must tackle in order to reshape the political debate, it seeks to reframe New Labour for the twenty-first century.

Robert Philpot is director of Progress and editor of its monthly magazine.