Staying away from the furore surrounding Ken Clarke today (a more eloquent defence than I can deliver is available here), let us return to Labour's new intellectual direction, Blue Labour.
It seems we must have an enemy...
All politics is, to an extent, confrontational. It is an exercise in choosing one thing over another, one interest over another. Almost always it requires not only one thing to be good, but another thing to be bad. Here at Liberal Tory, we have endeavoured to avoid defining who we are against, a product mostly of the fact that we disagreed with many on some issues: the Tories on immigration, Labour on the economy, the Lib Dems on constitutional reform.
Now, however, the Labour party have dredged up a train of thought that Liberal Tory cannot help but denounce as insane. Blue Labour stands opposed not only to every liberal value held by Liberal Tory, but also stands in denial of every economic fact mankind has so far discovered.
Swinging left by swinging right
The great brains of the party have come together and concluded that for Labour, "the future is conservative". Blue Labour encourages the party to retreat from its position as a leader of progressive liberalism and instead embrace a narrative of Englishness designed to appeal to working class voters on the right. This narrative tells the poor and the vulnerable that their lives have been broken by others in the outside world. It tells them to cling to their 'culture' and to resist change. It tells them that if only they hold fast to their "imagined" communal identity and rail against the evil world outside that their lives and communities will be made new again.
Frankly, this reeks of dog-whistle politics. Labour is embracing the BNP's narrative and abandoning the scores of voters who do not completely relate to "the popular symbols and iconography of Englishness" of which Blue Labour appears so fond. If, for example, you're not particularly up for singing in celebration of the Crusades and building Jerusalem in this green and pleasant land, Labour ain't for you.
Furthermore, it is a lie. These beliefs are a recipe that will leave communities stagnating in their own misfortune, refusing to accept that as the world changes, everyone must change with it. the Labour party has convinced communities of this before, only to watch them decay and disappear.
Politics for the sake of power
Blue Labour is not only wrong, it exists for a hideous reason. Its proponents do not believe they are right. They have decided it is the only way for them to win power. They have decided not to lead, not to make the case for a free and open England, but to sacrifice their convictions on the altar of high office. This is not behaviour that should be rewarded by the British public.
When parties disappear up their own arses
A quick glance through the articles and papers from Glasman et al tell me one thing. This is not a movement with which I am supposed to engage. It is not for the likes of me. These ideas are meant to be understood fully only by those who have read their Marx. Often, Glasman criticises Blairite reforms as 'managerial'. I am sure this stirs the souls of his academic brotherhood but for the rest of us, it is meaningless. As soon as a party starts to engage in this sort of theorising, it has spent too long in the ivory tower and should, quite frankly, go home.
It seems we must have an enemy...
All politics is, to an extent, confrontational. It is an exercise in choosing one thing over another, one interest over another. Almost always it requires not only one thing to be good, but another thing to be bad. Here at Liberal Tory, we have endeavoured to avoid defining who we are against, a product mostly of the fact that we disagreed with many on some issues: the Tories on immigration, Labour on the economy, the Lib Dems on constitutional reform.
Now, however, the Labour party have dredged up a train of thought that Liberal Tory cannot help but denounce as insane. Blue Labour stands opposed not only to every liberal value held by Liberal Tory, but also stands in denial of every economic fact mankind has so far discovered.
Swinging left by swinging right
The great brains of the party have come together and concluded that for Labour, "the future is conservative". Blue Labour encourages the party to retreat from its position as a leader of progressive liberalism and instead embrace a narrative of Englishness designed to appeal to working class voters on the right. This narrative tells the poor and the vulnerable that their lives have been broken by others in the outside world. It tells them to cling to their 'culture' and to resist change. It tells them that if only they hold fast to their "imagined" communal identity and rail against the evil world outside that their lives and communities will be made new again.
Frankly, this reeks of dog-whistle politics. Labour is embracing the BNP's narrative and abandoning the scores of voters who do not completely relate to "the popular symbols and iconography of Englishness" of which Blue Labour appears so fond. If, for example, you're not particularly up for singing in celebration of the Crusades and building Jerusalem in this green and pleasant land, Labour ain't for you.
Furthermore, it is a lie. These beliefs are a recipe that will leave communities stagnating in their own misfortune, refusing to accept that as the world changes, everyone must change with it. the Labour party has convinced communities of this before, only to watch them decay and disappear.
Politics for the sake of power
Blue Labour is not only wrong, it exists for a hideous reason. Its proponents do not believe they are right. They have decided it is the only way for them to win power. They have decided not to lead, not to make the case for a free and open England, but to sacrifice their convictions on the altar of high office. This is not behaviour that should be rewarded by the British public.
When parties disappear up their own arses
A quick glance through the articles and papers from Glasman et al tell me one thing. This is not a movement with which I am supposed to engage. It is not for the likes of me. These ideas are meant to be understood fully only by those who have read their Marx. Often, Glasman criticises Blairite reforms as 'managerial'. I am sure this stirs the souls of his academic brotherhood but for the rest of us, it is meaningless. As soon as a party starts to engage in this sort of theorising, it has spent too long in the ivory tower and should, quite frankly, go home.
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