Great piece by blogger Clency Lebrasse ( @Clency Lebrasse) The trouble with the British political landscape is that it does not offer that choice. The origins of “consensus politics” can probably be traced back to the “Limehouse Declaration” of 1981 and the subsequent repositioning of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock in the mid-1980s. Tony Blair may have removed clause IV, but it was the tenure of Kinnock which laid the foundations for someone like Blair to lead the party a decade later. The result is a political debate which largely takes place on the right of the political spectrum. It’s why issues like immigration never stray far from the heart of the national debate. It explains how attacking the most vulnerable in society is widely perceived as acceptable, sometimes even popular with public opinion. It is also why issues like social justice and creating a fairer society has slipped so dangerously down the agenda. So when Labour’s shadow Chancellor Ed Balls announced there would be a freeze on child benefits under an incoming Labour Government, there was frustration from grassroots Labour activists, but no real surprise. As my boss at work described, the British electorate are not so much offered an alternative vision of how to run the country, but a question of how they wish to be harmed: death by firing squad or a thousand cuts. [AA] clebrasse.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/consensus-cartel.html?spref=tw
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:15:23 +0000
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