Labour governments: Old constraints and new parameters

New Left Review

Volumn , Issue 219, 1996, Pages 62-76

  Coates, David ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0030305105     PISSN: 00286060     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (31)

1. This is an amended version of a paper first presented to a seminar at the International Centre for Labour Studies in the University of Manchester. The author is grateful for the advice and comments given by members of the Centre who attended that seminar; and for subsequent guidance from Leo Panitch, Adam Tickell, Robin Blackburn and Edward Coates. Since the interpretation of New Labour presented here is not one widely held on the Left, it is even more essential than normal to emphasize that responsibility for the line of argument in this article is the author's alone.
2. The main channels of communication between the Party and its electorate have remained predominantly in anti-socialist hands; which is possibly why Labour leaders so regularly find it necessary to accommodate and explain their politics to the largest of newspaper proprietors. For relations between Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch, see H. Porter, 'Zealous Moderate', The Guardian, 18 July 1995, Second Front, pp. 2-3; and C. Leys, 'The British Labour Party's Transition from Socialism to Capitalism', in L. Panitch et al., eds, The Socialist Register 1996, London 1996, p. 16.
3. The main channels of communication between the Party and its electorate have remained predominantly in anti-socialist hands; which is possibly why Labour leaders so regularly find it necessary to accommodate and explain their politics to the largest of newspaper proprietors. For relations between Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch, see H. Porter, 'Zealous Moderate', The Guardian, 18 JuJy 1995, Second Front, pp. 2-3; and C. Leys, 'The British Labour Party's Transition from Socialism to Capitalism', in L. Panitch et al., eds, The Socialist Register 1996, London 1996, p. 16.
4. For a fuller development of this argument, see D. Coates, The Crisis of Labour, Oxford 1989, ch. 4.
5. P. Mandelson and R. Liddle, The Blair Revolution: Can New Labour Deliver?, London 1996, pp. vii-viii.
6. Ibid., pp. 21-30. Royden Harrison counted the word 'new' used 37 times in the hourlong speech by Tony Blair to the Labour Party conference in 1995, of which 13 were references to New Labour! R. Harrison, New Labour as Past History, Nottingham 1996, p. 2.
7. Ibid., pp. 21-30. Royden Harrison counted the word 'new' used 37 times in the hourlong speech by Tony Blair to the Labour Party conference in 1995, of which 13 were references to New Labour! R. Harrison, New Labour as Past History, Nottingham 1996, p. 2.
8. Mandelson and Liddle, The Blair Revolution, p. 21.
9. Ibid., pp. 21-2.
10. See in particular, The Labour Party and the Struggle for Socialism, Cambridge 1975, and Labour in Power? A Study of the Labour Government 1974-79, London 1980.
11. See in particular, The Labour Party and the Struggle for Socialism, Cambridge 1975, and Labour in Power? A Study of the Labour Government 1974-79, London 1980.
12. For the story of the Wilson governments as modernizers, see S. Lee, 'Manufacturing', in D. Coates, ed., Industrial Policy in Britain, London 1996; and D. Coates, The Question of UK Decline, London 1994, ch. 6.
13. For the story of the Wilson governments as modernizers, see S. Lee, 'Manufacturing', in D. Coates, ed., Industrial Policy in Britain, London 1996; and D. Coates, The Question of UK Decline, London 1994, ch. 6.
14. Tony Blair, 'My Vision for Britain', in G. Radice, ed., What Needs to Change: New Visions for Britain, London 1995, p. 10.
15. The Financial Times, 1 July 1996, p. 1.
16. On the critical silence of the Blairites on the question of power, see N. Thompson, 'Supply-side Socialism: The Political Economy of New Labour', NLR 216, pp. 48-50.
17. On the detail of this, see Will Hutton, The State We're In, London 1995, chs. 2-6; and H. Radice, 'Britain in the World Economy: National Decline, Capitalist Success?', in D. Coates and J. Hillard, eds., UK Economic Decline: Key Texts, London 1995, pp. 233-50.
18. On the detail of this, see Will Hutton, The State We're In, London 1995, chs. 2-6; and H. Radice, 'Britain in the World Economy: National Decline, Capitalist Success?', in D. Coates and J. Hillard, eds., UK Economic Decline: Key Texts, London 1995, pp. 233-50.
19. See in particular P. Hirst and G. Thompson, Globalization in Question, London 1996; and P. Dicken, J. Peck and A. Tickell, Repacking the Global, Manchester International Centre for Labour Studies, working paper 10, 1996.
20. See in particular P. Hirst and G. Thompson, Globalization in Question, London 1996; and P. Dicken, J. Peck and A. Tickell, Repacking the Global, Manchester International Centre for Labour Studies, working paper 10, 1996.
21. There is a definite streak of anti-trade unionism in the Mandelson and Liddle version of The Blair Revolution; and plenty of early signs of an unwillingness by the Blair leadership to undo the legal framework imposed on the trade unions by the Thatcher government. One example of the tone and content of that anti-unionism can be found on pages 12-13 of Mandelson and Liddle: 'British industrial relations has been changed for the better, and its basic legal framework which the Conservatives established will remain in place.' Mandelson and Liddle certainly tie Old Labour to the unions, and want no part of that connection for New Labour. As they put it, 'whereas the old Left saw its job as to represent trade unions, pressure groups and the working class, and the Right saw its role to protect the rich together with powerful corporate interests, New Labour stands for the ordinary families who work hard and play by the rules' (p. 18). Presumably, on this understanding of trade unions, they are full of people who do not work hard, play by the rules or come from ordinary families!
22. The Hattersley irritation with Mandelson and Liddle is well captured in his 'Bubble 'n' Squeak' article in The Guardian, 27 February 1996. His disquiet with Blairite educational policy has been widely reported and documented.
23. For Marquand's unease, see D. Marquand, 'Elusive visions', Guardian, 24 June 1996, p. 14.
24. N. Thompson, 'Supply-side Socialism', p. 39.
25. How else are we to understand the quite remarkable popularity of Will Hutton's The State We're In, except as a clear indication of a deep-seated and widespread hunger in many sections of UK society for a new and radical politics based on a clear critique of the evils of Thatcherism and the inadequacy of free-market capitalism.
26. 'A Mighty Whimper at his Enemies', The Independent on Sunday, 7 July 1996.
27. R.H. Tawney, 'The Choice Before the Labour Party', Political Quarterly 1932, reproduced in W. A. Robson, ed., The Political Quarterly in the 1930s, London 1971, pp. 96, 105. Others, too, have seen shades of Ramsay MacDonald in the rhetoric of Tony Blair. Colin Leys, for example, argued that what both have in common 'is the theme of class conciliation, wrapped in misty appeals to social bonds that transcend class divisions. When MacDonald spoke of "all practical men and women" Blair talks about "a strong and active civil society". Both constantly invoke "the nation". Both have their eyes fixed on the middle-class voter.' C. Leys, 'The British Labour Party's Transition', p. 20.
28. R.H. Tawney, 'The Choice Before the Labour Party', Political Quarterly 1932, reproduced in W. A. Robson, ed., The Political Quarterly in the 1930s, London 1971, pp. 96, 105. Others, too, have seen shades of Ramsay MacDonald in the rhetoric of Tony Blair. Colin Leys, for example, argued that what both have in common 'is the theme of class conciliation, wrapped in misty appeals to social bonds that transcend class divisions. When MacDonald spoke of "all practical men and women" Blair talks about "a strong and active civil society". Both constantly invoke "the nation". Both have their eyes fixed on the middle-class voter.' C. Leys, 'The British Labour Party's Transition', p. 20.
29. R.H. Tawney, 'The Choice Before the Labour Party', Political Quarterly 1932, reproduced in W. A. Robson, ed., The Political Quarterly in the 1930s, London 1971, pp. 96, 105. Others, too, have seen shades of Ramsay MacDonald in the rhetoric of Tony Blair. Colin Leys, for example, argued that what both have in common 'is the theme of class conciliation, wrapped in misty appeals to social bonds that transcend class divisions. When MacDonald spoke of "all practical men and women" Blair talks about "a strong and active civil society". Both constantly invoke "the nation". Both have their eyes fixed on the middle-class voter.' C. Leys, 'The British Labour Party's Transition', p. 20.
30. For detail of the Frost interview with Tony Blair on stakeholding, see N. Thompson, 'Supply-side Socialism', p. 38.
31. Cited in M. Foot, Aneurin Bevan, vol. 1, London 1962, pp. 130-1.