To What Extent Is New Labour Really Old Conservative?
To What Extent Is New Labour Really Old Conservative?
There is ongoing debate over whether New Labour is really a Labour party with a new direction, or simply an old style Conservative Government. The fundamentals of this argument are whether or not New Labour has evolved into a free market left wing party, or whether it is still a democratic socialist party from the Right Wing. The difficulty in this debate is that there is much evidence for both sides of the coin. For instance, we have seen the increase in Government spending on the Welfare State under Tony Blair, which has provided more benefits to more people, something which goes against the beliefs of an Old Tory who would look to slim down the Welfare state due to their beliefs in freedom for the individual, and loosening of state intervention upon the public. However, Labour's positive attitude towards Public Private Partnerships to build new hospitals and schools, appears to be a direct descendant of the Conservative policy of Private Finance Initiative, and although they have different names, they represent the same idea of working with private companies/money to build services for the public, that private companies will then lease back to the Government for their use as schools and hospitals. Those are two clear examples of why this debate is very hard to call.
It would be very hard to say that New Labour was in fact fundamentally a 'Conservative Party in socialist clothing' because no party could transform themselves so far from one side of the political spectrum. However. It is the case that there has been a move to middle ground, particularly under Tony Blair's leadership which has seen some left wing policies implemented or considered, that under many previous Labour governments 'would not touch with a bargepole'. However, it is important to stress that the gulf between New Labour and Conservative is shrinking and shrinking quickly.
The reason for this gulf closing comes down to the choice of policy and action that New Labour has been taking in recent times. At one time Labour was fully dedicated upon having a large welfare state which could look after more people in many more different situation than what the Tories would be comfortable with. When previous Labour governments came to power welfare spending increased with it. However, under Blair there have been cuts to some of the benefits, and in some cases strict conditions have been added to streamline the amount of people eligible to uptake ...
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The reason for this gulf closing comes down to the choice of policy and action that New Labour has been taking in recent times. At one time Labour was fully dedicated upon having a large welfare state which could look after more people in many more different situation than what the Tories would be comfortable with. When previous Labour governments came to power welfare spending increased with it. However, under Blair there have been cuts to some of the benefits, and in some cases strict conditions have been added to streamline the amount of people eligible to uptake these benefits. There have been cuts, or there are plans in place to cut, the value of single parents' benefit, disability benefit, widow's benefit and housing benefit. Although the majority of these cuts are small percentages currently, the fact that a Labour government is cutting welfare spending is anew concept, which is far from the stereotypical Labour position. Also, the other big change is that of unemployment benefit. Traditionally, Labour had strong Union links, so unemployment benefit, and relating issues were high on the political agenda of traditional Labour governments. Yet now there is a new approach. Unemployment benefit comes with conditions like after 6 months the claimant must accept any apprenticeship, training scheme placement, or work placement offered to them, whatever it is, other wise they will lose their benefit all together. The aim of this approach is to off benefit and into work - to end what Tony Blair calls the 'dependency culture' (a Conservative criticism of large welfare states). The 'New Deal' was introduced in order to balance providing for the individual and encouraging the unemployed back into work. After people had been receiving unempoloyement benefit for a length of time, the government paid for that individual to receive training to do a particular job. However, these jobs tend to be low paid; yet if the positions weren't accepted, the individual lost their claim for benefit. These 'welfare to work' schemes are negatively looked upon by traditional Labour members and voters. This is because it adds limits on to what the government will support the individual, something that wouldn't have happened in an old Labour government. These schemes have more in common with left wing voters, who believe that there should be less dependency on the state.
When the Conservative governments in the 70'sand 80's used PFI (Private Finance Initiatives) it was highly controversial and it was the Labour party themselves who came out and openly criticised the government for using private money to build schools and hospitals, that should be built using government money, and that health and education should not be in the hands of private organisations, the should be under the rule of the government. Labour promised to scrap the use of these initiatives 'if and when they came to power'. Yet, now we have seen the resurgence PFI with a new name: PPP (Public Private Partnerships). These operate in exactly the same way as PFI's to the same result, yet the New Labour government claims that they are not the same. This shows that New Labour have gone back to use some policies used by previous Conservative governments, even in cases where they had come out themselves to criticise the methods or policies in question.
University Top Up Fees are now the new controversial issue in politics. The proposals made by New Labour include that universities should be able to charge up to £3,000 a year from 2006. The government says that students who earn the most because they have done the "best" courses should pay back more. This means that people from private school background can expect to pay higher rates of fees. This is a very typical Labour war of thinking. Yet there is a conservative influence in these proposals. Although, Labour want wealthier students to pay more to go to University and for those that come from less wealthier backgrounds can be eased of the burden of paying until graduation, the left-wing influence is that they are raising tuition fees altogether to the new heights of £3000 a year.
Europe is another interesting area when it comes to New Labour thinking. Tony Blair has made New Labour stand on a very pro-European stance, yes there may be divisions within the party over this, but under his leadership the message is very positive towards working with the EU and the Euro. It has always been the position of a Labour Party to be more pro-European than a Conservative Party and that continues to this day. Now the only outgoing eursosceptic party is the Conservative Party itself. All the way through the years, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, all had strong beliefs in the state, and the union, and its independence of decision and rule from the EU, regardless of what the EU said otherwise.
The current Labour Government defends its position by claiming that it in fact they act upon 'the third way' and not a definite Socialist or Conservative way forward by New Labour. The Third Way is where middle ground is sought on matters. The definition of Third way politics is that it 'has a core concern for social justice, and promotes social inclusion and the fostering of an active civil society where community and state act in partnership' (Courtesy of LSE). However, critics of Third Way politics, simply say that the Third Way is only what the current government thinks a good thing. Believing in Crime reduction, justice and social inclusion, are all good things, things that most parties would agree on. Some would argue that the Third Way was conservative policy, simply dressed up with the PR - friendly image of New Labour. Yet, it seems increasingly like the New Labour Party has found ground that takes a left and right wing policies.
In conclusion I would say that the lines between New Labour and Conservative thinking is rather blurred. The gap between the two has grown smaller every year. The New Labour party has quite obviously come to the middle ground, and in doing so has taken a conservative point of view in many policy decisions, however, this party is increasingly coming across like a left wing party than right, because they are alienating more and more members from the traditional Labour ranks. However, there is no danger of this party turning Conservative.
Paul Whalley
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