It is convictions that make politics worthwhile

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Having just published about conviction politics (in a piece actually written on Friday) I then discovered Ropy Hattersley has been doing the same thing in the Guardian this morning.

I strongly recommend his article, and like his conclusion, which is:

It is convictions that make politics worthwhile — an exciting and interesting as well as an honourable profession. 

Unreconstructed Blairites will claim that I am doing no more than asking Labour to choose between power and purity. Quite the opposite is true. There has never been a time when social democracy was more relevant to the nation's needs or when its unflinching advocacy was more likely to command support. The danger for Labour is that we will once again be seen as a party without a clear purpose. Margaret Thatcher proved that the people admire and support politicians with strong convictions — even when they do not share them. Labour needs to listen — but to its own conscience and judgment, not "the people" as heard through the Ukip megaphone.

I agree.


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