To what extent has the Labour party completely abandoned its' traditional Principles?

The first 200 words of this essay...

To what extent has the Labour party completely abandoned its' traditional

Principles?

There can be little doubt that the labour party has gone through many changes to its beliefs and ideals over the last fifteen years, meaning that the Labour party (under the name of "New Labour") has altered, if not abandoned its principles to a large extent.

One traditional Labour party principle to have been completely abandoned is the policy of nationalisation. Under the old clause lV of the Labour party, which stated that "common ownership" of the "commanding heights" should be achieved, nationalisation was to be enforced and adopted by the Labour party, should they be voted into power by the British electorate. This socialistic policy (under the aim of 'Collectivisation') was also adopted by the Labour party under the general election manifesto of 1987, under which it stated that the party would, "Extend social ownership and set up British Enterprise". However, New Labour is shown to have completely abandoned this ideal by the general election of 1997, because the manifesto for this election states, "Government and industry must work together to achieve key objectives aimed at enhancing the dynamism of the