But if the centre has moved more right over the years then naturally what was once considered moderate left might now be considered far left. When Labour won in 1997 it was because they moved closer to what was considered the centre ground at that time.
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But if the centre has moved more right over the years then naturally what was once considered moderate left might now be considered far left. When Labour won in 1997 it was because they moved closer to what was considered the centre ground at that time.
To be fair I think you only mentioned the UK and US, I was merely saying it wasn't restricted to just those two countries.
Yes...and no.
Yes, because of the drift right, socialism is now portrayed as lunatic fringe politics, when it in itself hasn't become more extreme. Socialism has not become any more akin to communism than it used to be.
No, Labour under Blair didn't move closer to the centre as often claimed. They moved thorough the centre and became marginally a party of the neoliberal right.
Blair's as much to blame for the distortion of perception as the Tories, Murdoch and the media are.
I loathe and detest that bastard.
It isn't restricted to them, no. But I have no idea what sort of compromises might or might not be feasible in the other countries, so I didn't discuss it in the context of where I thought compromise both was getting overlooked and might be beneficial. I didn't mean to suggest it was only happening in the UK and US.
And yet he won three elections for the Labour party. The UK population is closer to right wing than left wing, its a culturally right wing nation with a few left wing overtones, for a nation that 50 years ago had an empire and lauds its imperial past I am not surprised.
Maybe so, but post WWII we made a hell of a lot of progress, and it was under Labour.
At that time we had a balance - a choice of two differing philosophies, not two variants of the same one. I think we've lost sight of that over the last few decades, and need a real choice again.
I assume you'd have a preferred a Major government in 97 then?
The left tried to persuade the British public in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992, and failed. It was only when Labour abandoned their socialist dogmas that the got in.
Tony Blair is the only Labour Leader to win an election since Howard Wilson in 1974, 42 years ago, and it will soon be 47 years.
Probably not, but with hindsight I'd have probably been as happy with a LibDem one.
Harold.
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Indeed, it was a long time ago. There are grandparents alive now who weren't born when he was PM.
Well, in fairness, Brown just about managed it while things were going well, but stupidly sold gold reserves.
Labour, of course, were responsible for the sub prime crash and financial meltdown (they just were, don't question it) and all of our financial woes since.
It's a sad comment on previous Labour administrations that they never even seemed to attempt to overturn that bullshit.
It's way too late now.
Well as you say selling the gold reserves was a mistake, and in hindsight could be considered a error of judgement.
Of course what didn't help the publics perception of how Labour nadled the depression was the rather crass note left saying "I'm afraid there is no money left".
Of course what didn't help the publics perception of how Labour nadled the depression was the rather crass note left saying "I'm afraid there is no money left".
Selling the umbrella when it's sunny is never a good idea.
The problem wasn't as much with the recession, it was the effect, which was worse due to several labour policies
1) Higher spending than income for the previous decade - our debt had increased from 30% to 38% of GDP since 2000, rather than continuing the initial trend of reducing
2) The massive increase in house prices over the previous decade, which labour failed to deal with. This meant young people were unhappy (they couldn't afford a house), and older people were unhappy (they 'lost money'). A few people were stuck in negative equity for nearly a decade after the crash.
The problem wasn't as much with the recession, it was the effect, which was worse due to several labour policies
1) Higher spending than income for the previous decade - our debt had increased from 30% to 38% of GDP since 2000, rather than continuing the initial trend of reducing
2) The massive increase in house prices over the previous decade, which labour failed to deal with. This meant young people were unhappy (they couldn't afford a house), and older people were unhappy (they 'lost money'). A few people were stuck in negative equity for nearly a decade after the crash.
Having a real choice does not always mean having the best choices. A choice between extreme A and extreme B, might lead to tyranny or a buffoon in charge re Mr Trump. Sadly this seems to be the way politics is going in the West, consider France. These are the political freedoms our great grand parents fought for? LOL
They must be very young grandparents since he resigned in 1976
oops just remembered one of my cousins is a grandparent and she was born 1976!
We recall the Winter of discontent, and British Rail was not that great a service, the Post Office was in charge of the telephone exchange, public services were not efficient with the state running things. The state does not know how to operate a business efficiently in the UK. Competition raised the standards for the former public monopolies, they needed an economic kick up the backside.
It was a global crisis linked to the US subprime housing market, all politicians left the financial industry to be unchecked, it happened on Labour's watch, would still have happened if the Tories were in charge in 2008, since they really believe in 'The Market'.
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Sure it would still have happened no matter which party was in government at the time, but would the Tories have spend the same as Labour did in the decade or so leading upto it?
Probably not, the Tories believe in minimum public spending. If they could privatise the nation, and put it up for sale, they would. The right wing is just wet dreaming themselves for the day the NHS is up for sale.
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