Latest post on Left Futures

You want to quote Gramsci, Lord Glasman?

There are no two ways to interpret the intentions behind Lord Glasman’s ‘no strategy, no narrative, little energy’ attack on Ed Miliband.

This soundbite was crafted, in both content and timing in a slack news period, to inflict the maximum damage possible on the leader of the opposition.

Instantly following up this overt display with of lese-majesty with a statement insisting that the words had been ‘taken out of context’ and that Lord G is ‘totally supportive of Ed’ only serves to ramp up the hypocrisy meter to overload levels.

This man knew damn well what he was doing. The technique of making strong comments to a small circulation publication, in the expectation that they will be lapped up by the nationals and the broadcasters, is long established. If this is Glasman’s idea of total support, I’d hate to see the bloke deliberately stick the boot in.

Frankly, to lambast Miliband for being ‘stuck in Keynesian orthodoxy’ is fatuous in the extreme. As Miliband’s keynote speech today makes plain, Labour is unfortunately committed to deficit reduction rather than the management of aggregate demand.

Granted, Glasman is correct in the contention that Miliband shows no relish for reconfiguring the relationship between the state, the market and society. But such errors are down to a mistaken determination to cling to a ‘strategy’ and a ‘narrative’ from the recent past that is not adequate to current circumstances.

Glasman even has the cheek to throw in a quote from Antonio Gramsci in what is a plea for Miliband to move sharply to the right. Well, the great Italian revolutionary said lots of things, of course. Here’s a quote from ‘Prison Notebooks’ that Glasman somehow missed:

Discipline and solidarity within the ranks of the Socialist Party … are inescapable obligations, the obligations of anyone who declares himself a supporter of social democracy.’

Quite.

Comments are closed.

© 2024 Left Futures | Powered by WordPress | theme originated from PrimePress by Ravi Varma