Blue Labour

Rinoa

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22625849

Welfare reform has become one of the most divisive issues in austerity Britain. Now, a rising force within the Labour Party wants to silence the party's critics and win the welfare debate - by abandoning some of its oldest principles.
Its adherents want to scale back the state's role in welfare, reward with extra support people who have "paid in" more than others, and even take away universal benefits.
They are not a right-wing think tank, they are Blue Labour. And they are closer than ever to the very heart of the Labour Party.
The Blue Labour movement says power and wealth should be handed to communities, with local organisations replacing the centralised welfare state.
The argument represents a dramatic rethink of what many consider the party's greatest achievement - the creation of the welfare state in 1945 - using ideas usually associated with its political adversaries.
And the movement, once downplayed as a right-leaning "family, faith and flag" outfit responding to concerns about immigration, is growing in influence.

Leading voices such as Marc Stears and Jon Cruddas are in charge of crafting Ed Miliband's speeches and writing policies for the next election manifesto.
The shift is nowhere more evident than in the deprived London borough of Newham, where long-standing Labour Mayor Sir Robin Wales has overseen moves to fast-track people in employment on to the housing waiting list.
"It's not acceptable that generations of people live on welfare - it is not good for them, it is not right and it is not fair, and we have allowed that to happen," he says.
The idea of rewarding those who "pay in" first is not new, even on the political left. It was included in the 1942 report by William Beveridge that became the blueprint for the welfare state.
But its rebirth as possible Labour policy blurs the boundaries of a stormy welfare debate increasingly oversimplified as "strivers and skivers ".
Labour's new blue clique believes the welfare state has contributed to the downfall of communities - blamed for so long on inequality and the collapse of industry - by allowing people to think it is acceptable to just take.

Wow. Just wow. Almost unimaginable that Labour could be contemplating this. DLW won't be pleased.

System

Rinoa wrote: »

DLW won't be pleased.

I'm pretty sure he will, because DLW is a buffoon who knows nothing about politics except that whatever Labour says is great.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Labour's new blue clique believes the welfare state has contributed to the downfall of communities - blamed for so long on inequality and the collapse of industry - by allowing people to think it is acceptable to just take.

Spot on in my opinion.

responding to concerns about immigration

The way to do that is through educating the public of the necessities of immigration, combined with eliminating the very small percentage of cases of immigrants abusing the system which give rise to genuine (although vastly overblown) concerns.

Educate, inform, and ultimately expose the anti-immigration case for the tissue of lies that it is.

Fella

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Educate, inform, and ultimately expose the anti-immigration case for the tissue of lies that it is.

Educate & Inform? That would be an interesting new tactic for the pro-immigration lobby. Up until now all they've ever done is accused anyone who didn't agree with them of being a racist.

System

Telling them they are racist is the 'inform' and showing them how to spell racist is the 'educate'

Moby

Rinoa wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22625849

Wow. Just wow. Almost unimaginable that Labour could be contemplating this. DLW won't be pleased.

Old news........ this review has been going on for months as part of the preparation for the 2015 election manifesto. Remember just because their political opponents label them as the party of welfare doesn't mean that Labour actually are. Beyond the political bun fight there is a need for radical thinking regarding such areas as welfare. The problem is and.... has always been how do you make radical changes without socially excluding swathes of the community. It has to be inclusive or it will be back to the 80's and I lived through that shameful period and never want to see it again!

nicko33

was going to say this was the subject of Analysis on Radio 4 last night, but see that it's linked to in the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r4vz

N1AK

Rinoa wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22625849

Wow. Just wow. Almost unimaginable that Labour could be contemplating this. DLW won't be pleased.

It's surprising to see it being credible enough for articles like this to exist however I'm not sure it is that shocking really. Just like everyone in the conservative party isn't anti-immigrant, anti-welfare, anti-gay marriage etc the entire Labour party isn't made up of people who want to see a gigantic unthinking welfare state.

I've always tended towards the conservatives because I agree with their economic policy even though I dislike a lot else about many of their candidates views. I'm probably one of the few people who actually like David Cameron and what he is trying to do

If Labour can remain the more progressive party while stealing the economic centre-ground from the conservatives (perhaps not arguing against every, single, spending cut) while the conservatives lurch right in response to UKIP it could work very well for them, and the country in general.

Thrugelmir

N1AK wrote: »

If Labour can remain the more progressive party while stealing the economic centre-ground from the conservatives

May well take a change of leadership for this to happen. The Brownites are too entrenched in their views of the economy and purpose of the state.

Masomnia

I thought that was a pretty poor and narrow minded piece, to be honest.

The Welfare State as it was founded bears no relation to what it has become. Beveridge, Bevan, Attlee et al would be turning in their graves if they could see the culture of dependency that has emerged.

As far as I can see Blue Labour is just going back to the founding principle of hand ups rather than hand outs; a safety net for those in need, without money for nothing. A welcome development for me.

Conrad

"It's not acceptable that generations of people live on welfare - it is not good for them, it is not right and it is not fair, and we have allowed that to happen"


Been arguing this for 2 decades, having witnessed the zombification process first hand.