Labour

• ILP: independent labour party (more socialist)
• Keir Hardie was the founder of the Labour party
• Working people weren’t in government at first because they didn’t get paid to be an MP so you had to be wealthy to stand
• Hardie turned to the workers unions for support, they then funded the MPs (not only working) in the 1800s
• In the 1800s there was also many strikes, in London in 1889, but they ran out of funds and returned to work
• The Liberal party has declined in popularity since the rise of the Labour party
• Before the 1960s Labour and unions had a strong relationship and were seen as indistinguishable as the party acted as a mouthpiece or political arm for the unions
• De-industrialisation made full employment much harder for politicians to achieve.
• Inflation, caused partly by increase in pay and British industry protections, made it difficult for Labour to support all union demands
• It was difficult for moderate/social democrat members in the Labour party to be elected leader because leaders of the largest trade unions dominated decisions on party policy (had a block vote - would cast the vote for all their members).
• Clause IV was the fourth rule within the Labour party’s constitution (commitment to common ownership).
• Tony Blair persuaded members of the Labour party to remove Clause IV, seeking new forms of funding from business and non-union source
• Since the 2010s unions remained closely associated with the Labour party but their strength and influence during the New Labour era was substantially reduced
• 1945 - achieved a full majority control of the commons for the first time.
• 1945 - Labour became the UK’s 2nd major party and regularly competed with the conservative party for power.
• 1980s - suffered two huge defeats at the hands of Margaret Thatcher’s conservative party. Resulted in a split in the party
• New Labour - lee by Neil Kinnock and John Smith saw the party’s future lying in more moderate policies towards the centre of politics. Policies were characterised as “Third Way”
• New Labour:

  • Rejected class conflict
  • accepted capitalism = best way of creating wealth
  • enabling state
  • total equality not feasible
  • equality of opportunity
  • communitarianism (weaker form of collectivisation)
  • Individualism
• Old Labour:

  • common ownership
  • class conflict view
  • trade unionism
  • “social justice”/equality
  • importance of welfarism
  • political and constitutional reform needed
  • statism - central state could play a key role in economic and social activity
• old labour = social democrats
• new labour = ”third way”
• Gordon Brown:

  • Treasury pumped money into the baking system to boost the economy
  • Brown broke an earlier promise not to raise income tax levels
• Gordon Brown:

  • Treasury pumped money into the baking system to boost the economy
  • Brown broke an earlier promise not to raise income tax levels
  • government nationalised or part-nationalised the most vulnerable banks in order to restore confidence
  • Brown proposed to maintain public spending
• Ed Miliband:

  • maintained some elements of New Labour policies while shifting slightly left
  • brought in most controversial aspects of the “austerity” programme such as the unpopular “bedroom tax”
  • calling for a crackdown on tax avoidance
  • more spending on NHS
  • pledged to reduce the deficit every year of the next parliament
  • dubbed as “red ed”
• The most socialist modern labour leader is Corbyn
• Corbyn‘s old labour policies:

  • large scale funding of industry and infrastructure
  • increased careers allowance (by £11)
  • opposed uni fees
  • nationalising key industries
• Starmer reflecting “socialist” policies:

  • commitment to NATO, health service
  • publicly owned energy company
• Keir Starmer became Labour leader 11 days after the UK went into its first national lockdown on the 23rd of march 2020
• Starmer pledged to unite and rebuild Labour, but without abandoning its socialist principles
• Starmer became a Labour MP in 2015, he was the first anti-Brexit campaigner and supporter of the failed second referendum campaign
• In 2022 Starmer’s promise of a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, demonstrated a left-wing faith in gov-led enterprise
• Starmer has said “Those with broader shoulders should pay their fair share”
• Sir Keir Starmer’s promise of a Great Renewal of the NHS represents a traditional left-wing commitment to the health service
• Labour is also committed to abolishing Universal Credit
• Starmer positioned the Labour party as being harder on criminals in 2021
• Labour has pledged to strengthen the law on crimes specifically directed against women and girls and increase the number of police on the street
• Labour has a commitment to NATO and an independent nuclear deterrent
• Old Labour 1945 - 1983
• Tony Blair 1997 - 2007
• Gordon Brown 2007 - 2010