a new vision for
The turmoil of the first months of the “new politics” that the coalition government represents gives an opportunity for the Labour Party to renew our sense of purpose Since the coalition was formed following the election, we have seen the resurgence of the extreme neo-liberal economic policies that underpinned Thatcherism in the 1980s. We have every reason to fear that the damage wrought to people and communities this time around will be as bad, if not worse, than anything we have seen before.
For two generations, the Liberal Democrats have attempted to portray themselves as a pious alternative to Labour and the Conservatives, attacking both of the leading parties for their failings and avoiding closer scrutiny by remaining out of power, free to be all things to all men. Now they have chosen to nail their colours to a neo-liberal mast and are partaking in a Government that is slashing public investment without regard to the human consequences.
The divide between social democrats and classical liberals has been clearly marked out and Labour needs to present a clear alternative to the current administration, one based on our founding principles.
The central argument for neo-liberalism is that government activity necessarily restricts freedom. Therefore less government = more freedom. This is recognised in economic policy by withdrawing the state from as much of economic life as possible (including regulation and investment) in order to “maximise freedom”. The left’s response is that maximising freedom involves more than a simplistic withdrawal of government from the economy, that if freedom is to have any practical meaning, for ordinary people, it must be founded on a base of equality. For all their rhetoric, the neo-liberal approach has been proven, time and again, to hand economic power and liberty over to already wealthy individuals and interests, not to the majority of ordinary people.
The Labour Party believes that for a truly fair, just and free society, wealth must be fairly distributed and poverty must be eradicated. However, the lie that the neo-liberals level at us is this: that we believe in the state as the only legitimate agency and that this fixation means that we trample on individual liberty.
The purpose of this site is to refute this lie and then discuss new visions for Britain under a Labour Government, visions not necessarily tied to the state and based on the wager that it is possible to maximise both freedom and equality. We will look at the past to examine successes and failures and propose new ways that the Labour Movement can act in order to bring about that “community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect”.
For two generations, the Liberal Democrats have attempted to portray themselves as a pious alternative to Labour and the Conservatives, attacking both of the leading parties for their failings and avoiding closer scrutiny by remaining out of power, free to be all things to all men. Now they have chosen to nail their colours to a neo-liberal mast and are partaking in a Government that is slashing public investment without regard to the human consequences.
The divide between social democrats and classical liberals has been clearly marked out and Labour needs to present a clear alternative to the current administration, one based on our founding principles.
The central argument for neo-liberalism is that government activity necessarily restricts freedom. Therefore less government = more freedom. This is recognised in economic policy by withdrawing the state from as much of economic life as possible (including regulation and investment) in order to “maximise freedom”. The left’s response is that maximising freedom involves more than a simplistic withdrawal of government from the economy, that if freedom is to have any practical meaning, for ordinary people, it must be founded on a base of equality. For all their rhetoric, the neo-liberal approach has been proven, time and again, to hand economic power and liberty over to already wealthy individuals and interests, not to the majority of ordinary people.
The Labour Party believes that for a truly fair, just and free society, wealth must be fairly distributed and poverty must be eradicated. However, the lie that the neo-liberals level at us is this: that we believe in the state as the only legitimate agency and that this fixation means that we trample on individual liberty.
The purpose of this site is to refute this lie and then discuss new visions for Britain under a Labour Government, visions not necessarily tied to the state and based on the wager that it is possible to maximise both freedom and equality. We will look at the past to examine successes and failures and propose new ways that the Labour Movement can act in order to bring about that “community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect”.
