Lurch to the Right? Gosh, that's original!
HenryG Mon Jun 02, 2008 at 08:27:53 PM GMT 
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In the last few days Denis MacShane has called for a lurch to the right to meet the challenge of Cameron’s new Conservatives. Writing in the Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/27/do2701.xml
MacShane attacked the idea of raising taxes to fund our collective social obligations and instead argued 'the individual human being should be at the centre of our concerns'.
MacShane attacked the idea of raising taxes to fund our collective social obligations and instead argued 'the individual human being should be at the centre of our concerns'.
Well, two obvious questions first: hasn’t MacShane been a constant critic of democratic socialism under Blair? So there’s nothing new here; he would have said exactly the same thing three years ago in the wake of the third general election victory that Blair and New Labour delivered.
Second, is he saying that Brown is currently unpopular because he’s so different from Cameron and the Conservatives, or because he’s perceived as the same? Is Labour losing support to the Tories because we’re not right wing enough? (Okay, that’s three questions, I know.)
I don’t suggest that there shouldn’t be a debate within government and the party about how we reconnect with the electorate - the whole electorate and not just so-called “Middle England”. But when people are public services are showing to make a difference to the lives of the many, now is not the time to be quite so dismissive of public services, or as MacShane describes them, 'the insatiable greed of the state in all its manifestations'. The electorate - all parts of it - dislike cuts to services. If we’re to re-engage voters, we could get off to a worse start than by accepting that we share that partcular opinion.
Lurch to the Right? Gosh, that's original! | 3 comments (3 topical)
Lurch to the Right? Gosh, that's original! | 3 comments (3 topical)
