the labour party
ideology of labour:
4 main themes which underpin Labour’s socialist ideology:
equality
class
common ownership
change via Parliamentary Democracy
key word break:
social justice: a morally justifiable distribution of wealth, usually implying a desire to reduce material inequalities (rather than absolute equality)
collectivism: a belief in people working together and supporting one another, often (but not necessarily) linked to state intervention
nationalisation: the extension of state control over the economy through the transfer of industries from private ownership to public ownership
third way: the idea of an alternative to both ‘top-down’ Keynesian social democracy and the free-market policies of Thatcherism
‘Old’ Labour:
Labour came to power in 1945 and enacted reforms based around social democracy
sought to ‘humanise’ capitalism via principle of social justice
3 key policies:
mixed economy - made up of both publicly n privately owned industries
economic management
comprehensive social welfare - ensuring enactment of bevridge report
labour in the 1980s:
labour swung to left under michael foot post 1979 defeat
defeated in 1983 > neil kinnock appointed leader, withdrew key policies eg
unilateral nuclear disarmament
commitment to withdraw from the EC
labour thought they would win in 1992, did not, kinnock resigned
new labour:
under tony blair’s leadership
abandoned clause iv commitment
adapted policies to fit the third way > aspects of liberalism x social democracy x social justice x community
key themes of new labour:
market economics
social justice
social investment state
community, not class
labour policies on economy post 2015:
old labour influence | new labour influence |
|---|---|
commitment to increasing tax for top 5% of earners | tying climate justice with economic justice to pass a ‘clean air act’ if it were to gain power |
belief that key public services should be in public hands
| continued recognition of the market - the proposed top rate of tax is well below the 86% rate they charged un 1976 |
also wish to return corp tax back to levels seen under new labour (now already done by the tories) |
labour policies on welfare, post-2015:
old labour influence | new labour influence |
|---|---|
wants to abolish universal credit, replace with an alternative, ending poverty n delivering minimum standard of living | wants to give a minimum standard of living rather than redistributing wealth |
supports the abolition of tuition fees |
labour policies on law & order, post-2015:
old labour influence | new labour influence |
|---|---|
social justice: tackling poverty, inequality n rebuilding public services | wants to place 2000 more police officers on the streets than promised by the tories |
labour policies on foreign policy, post-2015:
old labour influence | new labour influence |
|---|---|
no more illegal wars, seeking to introduce prevention of military intervention act > would would only be possible when legal steps were achieved + Parliament had approved action | starmer argued that the uk should continue to accept the principle of freedom of movement of people with the eu, post-brexit |
historically, old labour was anti-eu due to perceived lack of democracy n accountability in eu institution. corbyn was a reluctant remainer | party now has a more open commitment at home to a sense of patriotism inc investment in defence, the nuclear deterrent n nato |
well