Red Toryism and Blue Labour are not progressive

by Ryan Shorthouse / July 28, 2011 / Leave a comment

Nostalgia for a "golden age" of British communities has no place in truly progressive politics

Philip Blond’s Red Toryism and Maurice Glasman’s Blue Labour contain essentially the same sentiments: nostalgic communitarianism. These new narratives are understandable attempts to show empathy with those who feel left behind and short-changed by the Thatcherite revolution, to reconnect with those who shunned politics and stopped voting some time ago. Hungry to hoover up potential electoral support, the ideas have gained currency among Westminster strategists.

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Comments

David Ward
July 28, 2011 at 16:00
Of course, it's naive to imagine we can recreate the 1950's in 2015. But what's unreasonable about the ordinary employee having more control over their company, including an ownership stake? About finding ways for the bottom 90% of income earners to redress the reductions in output they earn each year? Or taxing land and capital gains more than we do now. These things can be done, and won't be "dangerous".
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Robert Eve
July 28, 2011 at 16:07
We know that 'progressive' means left wing. Do you want to use a different word?
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Red Toryism and Blue Labour are not progressive

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