Tuesday 9 June 2009

What happened to the left's moment?

Asks The Times in a leading article.


... The recent financial crisis has thus reproduced many of the conditions that brought social democracy into being. And it made the case for liberal economic purity harder to make.

In such circumstances, there are four possible explanations for the electoral failure of the Centre Left. The first is that European electorates chose to send a resounding message to people at the Fabian Society not to muck about with their beloved neoliberal capitalism. This seems unlikely. The second, more credible, explanation is that in difficult economic times parties promoting prudent spending and lower taxes tend to do better. A third explanation is that the Left in general has not offered a coherent alternative to the market economics that it says has failed. There is certainly truth in this. Yet in the United States, conservatives are retreating as a self-confident Centre Left captures the public mood.

This leaves as the most powerful and convincing a fourth explanation. The leadership of European social democratic parties in one country after another has been poor. They could win, but they do not. ...


Its an important challenge, which needs more debate here too, though I suspect the issue goes deeper than that.

Though at least, in the view of The Times, it probably wasn't entirely the Fabians wot lost it.

2 comments:

Robert said...

Or people think Labour are the next best thing to say the BNP, after all who brought out the welfare reforms put mothers back to work when a kid hits one. Maybe people getting £65 a week or £48 a week on JSA feel pissed off at New labour or just labour, I know I do.

FloTom said...

Why should I as a lifelong Labour voter vote for this Government?

It has a leader elected in Scotland with do democratic legitimacy in England enacting laws in England that do not apply to his constituents in Scotland.

It has a leader who is frightened of democracy.

1)he bulllied his way into the leadership avoiding his party electing him,
2)he was terrified of asking the public for a democratic mandate
3)he reneges on a promise to give us a referendum on the Lisbon Constitution
4)he appoints unelected ministers to his cabinet in order to drive through Parliament the very legislation he denied us a vote on

Tell me why should I vote for a party with a leader who is terrified of democracy? Where are his democratic socialist principles. Thats right he hasnt got any and never had any and neither do you if you support him.