This was drawn to my attention today by commentator John Boxall. It was in The New Statesman in 2023:
In 1962 I was a Conservative. I believed privilege could only be justified by service, high taxes on very high incomes were necessary to prevent an entrepreneurial economy becoming a rentier economy, and Keynesian growth would finance public service improvements and a welfare state that steadily reduced inequality. I was suspicious of ideologically driven, large-scale change. These were the mainstream policies of the Macmillan government at the time. In 60 years I have moved from centre right to hard left without changing my opinions.
Dr Stephen Watkins, Oldham, Lancashire
That is so right.
I was once upon a time on the right of Labour. After all, I very firmly believed in a mixed economy as the bedrock for social justice.
Now I am way to the left of almost every elected Labour MP. I have not changed. Labour and politics in general has.
But does that make me far left? Of course not. I remain on the left of centre, undoubtedly, but a decided moderate, and happy to be so.
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Me too, in a way. I was active in the UK Labour Party in the 90s and very involved personally in the ‘New Labour’ project – actively opposing ‘Militant’ – and in many ways I haven’t changed – still believe in a mixed economy, etc…
But I too have found myself on the left – partly because the political centre has moved right, but also I have to admit that I have moved, principally because emerging awareness of climate-ecological breakdown has to my mind made it simply rational to advocate more fundamental. and faster change.
Political feelings in the 90s were dominated by the collapse of the planned economy models in Eastern Europe. For most of us, New Labour was not primarily about moving to the right – it was about moving away from Morrisonian nationalisation towards anti-capitalist but market-oriented solutions like social enterprise: if market economies really out-performed planned economies, then make the market work ‘for the many, not the few’ (as the New Labour Clause 4 revision actually said – a revision, I argued, and would still argue, that moved it not so much rightwards, but away from the old statism).
But the political context is now very different. Events like the 2008 crash have shown that capitalism doesn’t work any better than planned economies; the rise of China (by conventional economic standards) and analyses like those of Ha-Joon Chang have shown that radical government intervention actually works rather better than ‘free markets’, and moreover, our increasing understanding of impending climate-ecological breakdown makes controlling capitalism and rethinking economic growth essential.
Like Dr Watkins (and amusingly, brought up in Oldham) I was middle of the road Labour in 1970, opposed to Militants ‘democratic centralism’ and believing UK had a good mix of social democratic policies. Having not changed on iota of my views (except on Israel) since then, I find myself accused of being a Trot, a hard left entryist, hopelessly idealist etc. Mist of the other Labour members with similar views seem to have left the local party or stuck their fingers in their ears.
That is the effect of the so called “Overton window”. It has moved very much in the rightward direction
It has outlawed the discussion of Socialism, Communism and Marxism, all of which have important ideas relative to today. Incidentally, it also outlaws sensible discussion around Israel, China, Russia, USA and NATO.
I would also add, relating to your piece for TV yesterday, it affects who is going to be able to stand for Parliament, and be in a political party.
I have been liberal (with a small l) for as long as I can remember. In an European context that might be called social democratic. I incline towards people having the freedom to live their lives as they wish without undue interference from the state, but with a safety net for those who need it so everyone can live in dignity. Neither socialist (eg means of production held in common, which has theoretical attractions but is not so rosy in practice) or conservative (the rich man in his castle, and poor man at the gate) or libertarian (unleashing the power of the individual, to dominate or to be dominated).
That necessarily involves a degree of equality but not uniformity and also not extremes either way. With democratic limits on both the oppressive power of the state and on the exploitative power of rich individuals and corporations.
Somehow that simple (possibly simplistic) centrist position ends up being to the left of the Labour Party, along with people once on the right of Labour and One Nation Tories. Frankly I do not believe most of the British people share the right wing views of the main political parties.
Much to agree with, including your conclusion.
This is old-school Conservatism, typical of the post-WWII era. It started to change in the 1960s and ‘70s, and we’ve been drifting further and further right ever since.
If you compared Corbyn’s manifestos with those of Labour or the Tories from the 1960s, you wouldn’t find much difference.
Labels no longer have any meaning.
Strip out the 1st sentence and then finish with “large-scale change” and this should be the description of any gov’ worthy of the name & its position vis-a-vis the country. Since 1979, all govs have been either ideologically insane or looking to their (personal) pockets i.e. corrupt. The idea of public-service amongst politicos is almost wholly absent – although the likes of Streeting et al are keen on “self-service” (what’s good for me, is good for me & devil take the country).
Agreed
Apologies for adding – but – I came across this stat from Thames Water which highlights the ideological driven insanity in which the UK is emeshed.
Every minute of every day in 2024, Thames Water’s pipes leaked …………………..400 tonnes of water……..EVERY MINUTE.
You know who pays for that – readers of this blog, amongst others, who are Thames Water’s ATM (you don’t think you are a customer do you? you are a cash dispenser).
Reaction of LINO……..zero. Just imagine if every customer said: won’t pay. All of them. That’s when LINO imbeciles would pay attention.
I would like to point out that fixing water leaks costs money and will not make any money for the water company. All the money is used to buy shares to increase the share price and so increase the CEO’s bonas.
In my heart, I am for Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
In my head I am for Thomas Hobbes.
In my reality I am for Samuel Beckett.
It’s bloody difficult though I can tell you.
🙂
On a personal note, I believe psychologically I was changed in 2008. Though my ideology has remained the same as it was in the late 90s. A time when international cooperation was the norm and fictional US presidents were extremely worldly. Such fiction is important to create and establish social norms. This is what I grew up with and is part of me regardless of what the world looks like today.
What has changed is how I relate my inner ideology to the world around me. I feel my ideology is not of the present world but is only something within me because of a past era. That past era will not return.
Bill,
I love your last almost poetic paragraph. It certainly captures how many older people are feeling. We are wandering around waiting for some kernel of good sense to return to politics and economics. But, strangely, it seems to be drifting further away. It seems all we can do is hang on to our truth and shout it out or quietly explain it depending on the circumstances. We have good friends on this blog to console us.