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Thursday, September 28, 2006
# Posted 3:34 PM by Patrick Porter But take a step back and be proud: this is a changed countryBut the Tories weren't the only ones to change their policies as a result of failure and election defeats. Later in his speech, he observed: In the 1980s some things done were necessary for the country. That's the truth. Saying it doesn't make you a Tory.There's a slight double standard here: the Tories' policy shifts are to be mocked as insincere and ridiculous, while Labour's policy shifts are a solemn recognition of the national interest. If Blair gets to scorn his opponents for copying Labour policies, they might do the same. To stop losing elections, Britain's Labour Party dismantled significant parts of its platform, such as tnationalisation and high taxation, (and a recurrent commitment to unilateral nuclear disarmament, amongst other things). It accepted important parts of the Thatcherist legacy, such as privatisation, deregulation and an end to trade union militancy, not to mention a strong reaffirmation of the Atlantic alliance. So its easy to mock the Tories for awkwardly accepting Labour policies which they once opposed. But its a natural dynamic in electoral politics, and New Labour, New Britain and Blairism would have been impossible without it. In other ways, it was a visionary speech. But the urge to 'package' things in a facile way has never entirely abandoned Blair.
Comments:
You have it about right. It should be said, however, that the Thatcher departure from tradtional socialism was more drastic and more badly needed than anything Blair has done. The increase in prosperity in Britain since 1980 is utterly fantastic, and is mostly due to Margaret Thatcher.
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