opposition that the party had just suffered. It is instantly clear that this government was not committed to socialist principles, as they were the first Labour government to openly accept capitalism. However I felt the need to mention this period, as a blunt conclusion that there has never been a socialist government did not seem an acceptable one, and look briefly as to what we can expect in the near future. The abandonment of clause IV saw the end of the search for a socialist Britain from the Labour party; instead they had their hearts set on establishing a ‘new mixed economy’ (Giddens, 1998, p.99) with greater focus placed on greater social mobility and making the markets more accessible to the lower classes rather than completely reforming them, new buzzwords came into fashion such as the ‘redistribution of possibilities’ (Giddens, 1998,p.101). Was this the end of socialism in Britain then? I do not think so, although I cannot see a radical return to policies of public ownership and greater state planning in the immediate future. Although Blair and co. delivered the electoral success that Labour supporters had long craved, it would be wrong to say that the new brand was universally popular, many saw the ‘New Labour project as an empty one’(Giddens, 1998,p.`155). Thus there is still a place for socialist ideals in the current political spectrum, especially in this time of soul searching within the Labour party. It was possibly hoped that this change in policies would be brought about by ‘red Ed’, as he has become known in the press, and there is certainly a gap present for further policies along the lines of his promise to freeze energy prices. Since 1997 new social movements have taken the place of the old left of the party, but with the growth of opposition to coalition cuts their views have been brought to the forefront of British politics. Whilst it was not so long ago claimed that ‘the economic axis that used to separate voters into ‘socialist’ and ‘capitalist’ positions has much lower salience,’(Giddens,1998,p.23) this may no longer be true, with the success of less central parties such as UKIP increasing (whilst this does not directly correlate to socialism it does show a desire amongst the electorate for more unique thinking amongst politicians). Therefore I believe that at the time of writing this essay this should be exactly what major politicians within the Labour party should be doing, looking back at their socialist roots and examining whether they could transform their policies to create the first ever government in the UK to be committed to socialist ideals.
Bibliography
Bernstein, E. and Harvey, E.C. (1911) Evolutionary Socialism: a Criticism and Affirmation. New York: B.W.Huebsch. Crosland, A. (1956) The Future of Socialism. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd. Giddens, A. (1998) The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Marx, K. and Engels, F. (1848) The Communist Manifesto. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Thorpe, Andrew (2001) A History of the British Labour Party. London: Palgrave.
‘Those were the days’, Expressandstar.com, retrieved 27 December 2011. Wolff, J. (2002) Why Read Marx Today? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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