Editor's Comment:
The intention of this site is to add to the left-wing voices challenging the remaining vestiges of New Labour ideology. Each contributor is a member of the Labour Party and they take individual responsibility for the views that they express. However, all share the common aim of wanting a contemporary LP which incorporates the values of socialism into policies for future government.
The 'Third Way' failed the LP membership and voters. As many commentators have argued it was a thinly veiled front for a continuation of much of the Thatcherite policies of Neoliberalism and Globalisation (1) .... a stealth programme of privatisation and dismantling of public services. This same programme has been hugely ratcheted up by the Coalition government and if their policies are unchanged, will result in spending on public services in the UK being less than that of the US by 2014/15 (2).
Gordon Brown deserves credit for having tried to ameliorate the detrimental impacts of the market on wages and living costs but this led to the contradictions inherent in PFI, complicated tax credits, housing benefits and so on. New Labour was unquestionably better than the present government which is overtly government by the super-rich, on behalf of the super-rich. However, the next Labour government must govern on behalf of the overwhelming majority, promoting equality, fairness and protection of the vulnerable ... and in particular protection of the disabled and long-term sick who are under horrifying attack by the coalition government.
The first article to be presented is a thorough analysis of Purple Labour aka New Labour. It is followed by personal accounts of how two long term Labour activists experienced the period following Tony Blair's election as leader of the LP. These are the voices that should have been heard but which were deliberately ignored.
The next set of articles will include a programme for re-vitalising LP branches and an analysis of the electoral prospects for the LP. In the future, we will be presenting articles about pre-school provision, green issues, transport and housing.
Dr. Sue Davies
