Tagged with Liberalism

How ‘liberal’ should Labour be?

yellowing Labour logo

“It is simply no longer possible to be disabled and a Tory, says angry activist,” was the Guardian’s headline about Graeme Ellis, who ran the Conservative Disability Group website until March’s budget, when he closed it down and denounced Osborne’s cuts to disability benefits. He has now applied to join the Labour Party.

Over the next months, it should be increasingly easy to demonstrate that there are a lot more predicaments and situations in society that are incompatible with being or voting Conservative. If the new Labour leadership is to win over the social majority necessary to take real power and drive forwards its programme of transforming society, it will need to win over many layers of society that have not always looked to Labour for support. In this article I want to focus on one particular section of the electorate. Continue reading →

A Lab-Lib Dem merger? A very, very bad idea

Lib-Dem-logoOne question that comes up time and again from punters on the doorstep to far left activists is “why can’t you all just unite?” (although, ironically, Left Unity has ruled out unity with the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition for next year’s London Assembly elections). Of course, there are Very Important Reasons why myriad groups in the revolutionary socialist tradition can’t unite. But one question I’ve not heard from the mouth of any voter ever is “why can’t Labour and the Liberal Democrats merge?” Yet it is being asked now, and the man putting his head above the parapet is Jamie Reed.

Writing for The New Statesman, Jamie argues it’s time we rethink progressive politics in this country, and suggests that the “next leaders” of Labour and the LibDems seriously mull over a merger, seeing as “business as usual will likely result in permanent irrelevance.” Besides, citing some work done comparing the two sets of party policy, there’s apparently very little between them.  Continue reading →

Dear Liz Kendall, about the differences between socialism and liberalism…

Liz KendallDear Liz,

Re: Leadership of the Labour Party

I noted the other day that leadership contests are that rare occasion when MPs and ordinary members are frank about the personalities and policies at the top of the party. Some also over egg the pudding and go for outright abuse. I’m thinking mainly, this time around, about the people who are mostly Andy Burnham identifiers and think attacking you as the Conservative Party candidate for Labour leadership is a smart way for their man to win. It isn’t, it’s unfair, and it’s clear from an brief with your material that a Tory you’re most definitely not.

That doesn’t mean I think you’re well suited to lead the Labour Party. Continue reading →

Was there anything Liberal about the Tory-LibDem Coalition?

Cameron CleggAs the most wretched government in living memory shuffles off into the history books, let’s take some time to reflect. For all intents and purposes, at least where this blog is concerned, it was a Conservative government. It was hard to remember that this was actually a coalition between two parties that came together, they claimed, because the national interest demanded it. For their part, the line the Liberal Democrats are peddling is their contribution knocked the sharp corners off the Tories. Were the Conservatives governing alone, their policies would have been extreme and punitive. Instead, what the LibDems did was rein in their excesses, dull their vicious instincts, and corall them to the centre ground of British politics. And that’s the offer they’re standing on now. If Labour form the bulk of the next government, the LibDems will stop them from raising the Hammer and Sickle atop the Tower of London, and resist the collectivisation of Britain’s window cleaners. Or something. Continue reading →

Islam and the New Atheists

I do like James Bloodworth and I think he’s done a great job building up the profile of Left Foot Forward since taking up the reins. But his recent piece for The Speccie, It’s fine to be a ‘new’ atheist, so long as you don’t object to Islam reads like it was written in haste. As such it is unsophisticated and limited, the article fails to think through the object of his polemic. And it lacks the unpardonable N-word: nuance.

The point he makes is a well-worn one. James argues that the so-called New Atheists of the Dawkins/Hitchens type are getting it in the neck for criticising Islam from some parts of the left. The exhibits wheeled out are Glenn Greenwald and Owen Jones, but you could take your pick from many, many more. Comrades like Glenn and Owen contend that against the background of a generalised antipathy toward Islam which, in turn, is stoked up by powerful vested interests on either side of the Atlantic; the reactionary and the bigoted can use the critiques of Islam by the trendy atheists for their own ends. Hence the latter have culpability for their arguments. After all, the right to free speech comes with the responsibility for it. Continue reading →