‘Hope starts young: Why Labour must tell the story of a better tomorrow’ – LabourList

Why Labour Must Tell the Story of a Better Tomorrow
by Paul Lindley

In politics, as in business, ideas only stick when they tell a story. A government can have the right policies, but without a unifying narrative, those actions risk landing as fragments—not a future.

Labour has already taken bold steps: a New Deal for Working People, GB Energy, rail renationalisation, planning reform. But it hasn’t yet clearly answered the bigger question: why is it doing all this? Indeed, some suggest it doesn’t really know why.

I believe the answer is simple and powerful: Labour should be the party that helps young people and young families believe—deep down—that tomorrow can be better than yesterday.  We don’t just need a programme or a series of policies. We need a purpose. Hope Starts Young.

Hope Starts Young isn’t just a slogan. It’s a belief that we build tomorrow by what we do for children today. Ending child poverty. Housing young families. Teaching life skills. These are acts of national renewal. Nor is Hope Starts Young just a narrative for supercharging good policy. It’s good politics. It draws a clear contrast with a Conservative legacy that favoured older voters, and with Reform, which offers nostalgia but no future.

Generational renewal

The story Labour must tell is one of generational renewal—a vision that speaks to young people, not just about them.  And the ingredients for the story it can tell are already there.

The Government is rightly reviewing the impact of policies like the two-child benefit cap through its Child Poverty Task Force. That shows a government willing to listen, learn, and lead. It’s expanding after-school provision. Votes at 16 is a manifesto promise. These are hopeful signals.

It has established Skills England, tasked with identifying the skills we need for the future and how we build them—vital for those young people who don’t go to university. It’s expanding apprenticeships and exploring short-term youth mobility visas to and from Europe. These could broaden horizons and rebuild trust—at home and abroad.

It has made major moves in early years education. Later this year, parents will be entitlement to more hours of funded childcare each week and 300 new school-based nurseries will begin to open. It’s raising standards through new qualifications and aiming for 75% of children to be school-ready by age five. This is economic and social policy rolled into one: supporting families, enabling work, and unlocking children’s potential.

It also has clear focus and ambition on affordable housing for young families: including building new homes, exploring options for shared ownership and first-home incentives.

At the heart of this vision are three commitments that speak to security, opportunity and belief for the next generation: to eradicate child poverty, to equip young people with the skills and confidence to thrive in tomorrow’s economy, and to guarantee access to a secure, affordable home. These are the foundations of a country that helps young families feel safe, young people feel valued, and society feel optimistic about what lies ahead. These are the building blocks of belief.

READ MORE: ‘One year on, Labour still hasn’t reckoned with collapsing trust in politics’

Yet none of this has been woven into a story. These are not isolated acts. Together, they can form a compelling narrative: that we are rebuilding Britain around young people’s incredible potential. We will then feel a youthful country, that redefines youth as a state of mind as well as a stage of age.  That in turn will bring its own energy and optimism: new ideas, entrepreneurship, innovation and outlook and will be seen as such by other nations.

And we should go further. A report published this month from the Raising the Nation Play Commission, which I chair—Everything to Play For—calls for a National Play Strategy to boost children’s wellbeing, learning, and community life. Other ideas gaining support include a housing guarantee for young families, Family and Futures Hubs to provide early help and youth support, and a national curriculum on parenting and life skills. Each is a step towards a country that believes in its children—and in their future.

Because investing in young people is not a niche agenda. It’s a national one. Healthier children become more productive adults. Confident young people build stronger communities. Parents and grandparents become more optimistic. When young people win, we all win.

We need a purpose

We don’t just need a programme. We need a purpose. Hope Starts Young.

As someone who built a brand rooted in children and families, I understand how belief is built. It’s not just through facts—but through shared hope. People need to feel a government is on their side, not just managing decline.

The Government’s five missions all gain power through this generational lens:
• Growth everywhere: by nurturing the skills, creativity and entrepreneurship of the next generation.
• NHS fit for the future: by prioritising early years, nutrition, and mental health.
• Opportunity for all: by levelling up from childhood and guaranteeing fair starts.
• Safer streets: by investing in youth trust, belonging and inclusion.
• Clean energy superpower: by engaging the generation who’ll lead the transition.

Because the future doesn’t begin in Whitehall. It begins in childhood. The future is brighter for everyone when it’s brighter for young people.

Recent weeks have seen a flurry of important, positive steps: free school meals extended to half a million more children, billions pledged to transform social care and expand youth opportunities, and historic investment in affordable housing. These aren’t disconnected announcements—they are building blocks of a coherent strategy. The challenge now is to connect them with a story that inspires belief and shows this government is not just managing the present but shaping a better future.

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This is Labour’s moment. To show belief isn’t naïve. That hope isn’t lost. That tomorrow really can be better than yesterday—and that the journey starts now.

That’s the story Labour needs to tell. We have everything to gain from helping a generation rise. But we’ll only do it if we start now. Hope doesn’t trickle down.  Hope Starts Young.

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