As the New Labour government finally enters its death throes, I have been wondering what we will look back at and regard as its achievements. Even when the government collapses spectacularly as Thatcher’s and Major’s did, there is usually something left behind that the nation can rally behind and be proud of. Thatcher really restored democratic accountability to government after it looked perilously likely that democracy in Britain had failed and she restored the economy to rude health (albeit at huge cost to many). Major introduced competition into industries where the state had previously held a monopoly. He showed that Big Tent Conservatism could still work, even if he was brought down by that very fact.
So I have been thinking about what Blair and Brown have achieved in the long term. What is their “legacy” in other words? If you suppose that part of the role of government is “stewardship” – i.e. that the country should be in better shape when you hand over the keys than when you took it over – then what can the nation be proud of after New Labour’s reign?
Of the things which needed looking at in 1997 I think the most important were: welfare reform, education reform and our transport infrastructure.
I remember in the late 90s people talked about the “poverty trap” – the welfare system was so badly constructed that it actually hindered people who wanted to get on from doing so. Blair promised to “think the unthinkable” to get Britain back to work. And then he quickly gave up. Brown introduced tax credits which looked good on paper but in practice were so badly constructed that they actually hinder people who want to get on from doing so. Labour introduced the minimum wage to “put a floor under the welfare system”. And in doing so prevented lots of unskilled people from profiting from their labour. The government has put up the minimum wage so quickly that to get a job at all requires quite a profitable level of marketable skill. No wonder there were millions languishing on benefit even at the height of the “boom”.
On education, Labour has made the mistake of continuing Major’s centralisation of the education system. Labour abolished the one good aspect of the state system – grant maintained schools – then re-introduced them as Academies when it realised its mistake. Successive education ministers have supposed that they know best what should be taught and how in every classroom up and down the country. Socialists talk of the cost of economic failure and of lost generations, but how many Britons now have been failed by our shoddy education system?
On transport we have lurched from crisis to crisis. We had road projects cancelled and a promise to get Britain on to rail. We went on to rail in a big way but never turned away from our cars. Now both systems are jammed. The Eurostar upgrade has been good – and an excellent example of where the private sector can build good infrastructure. The West Coast Mainline upgrade has been disastrously slow and expensive. It shows the flaws of Labour’s rail industry model.
Elsewhere we have seen our pension system going from the best in the world to near collapse, we have seen huge tax rises and a massive increase in the national debt and yet we have had little in return in the way of public service improvement. We have seen respect for law and order collapse, respect for the police collapse, respect for one another collapse. We have seen Blair’s promise to “restore faith in politics and politicians” turned on its head by his own supporters. We were pretty angry about “Tory Sleaze” in the 90s, Labour has gone ten times further. We have had dubious and expensive wars. We have had our favourite institutions destroyed in favour of rewarding bad behaviour. We were promised an end to boom and bust but instead had the largest financial bubble and crash for seventy years.
I am really trying to think of something that Labour have done that we can be proud of, but I simply cannot think of anything. Yesterday, when I saw Labour campaigners proudly wearing their yellow and red stickers I really wanted to go and ask them what they were so proud of. Blair promised us a New Britain. He and Brown have definitely given us one, it’s just a lot worse than the Old Britain we had before 1st May 1997.
G`day Blue. Nice post. It got me a thinkin` over my Tesco Special Flakes, something that takes some doing before 9am, so well done! I was well and truly puzzled, but then the irony of it struck me, they gave us The Freedom of Information Act, 2000.
That is a very good point. Most unlike New Labour, really! Although I would argue that it does not go nearly far enough. It has been fun watching MPs try to row back from their commitments though, hasn’t it.
Beautifully said. The power supply and infrastructure didn’t do well either.
What do mean the dying throes of New Labour? New Labour died in 1997 when Blair walked out of Downing Street. It’s been nothing but unrepentent socialism since then.
To be fair to Labour, a lot of the things you cite were happening under Conservative governments too – particularly the issues over respect for the police (and other once respected professions such as doctors, nurses and teachers). Some of them, such as the collapse of law and order, can even be traced back to Maggie’s time with the introduction of PACE.
It’s true that Labour’s tenure over the last decade has failed to improve things, but then why would it? They subscribe to the same doctrine of social liberalism (progressivism) which is shared by the Tories. I doubt that 12 years of a Tory government will make much difference either.
One thing that Labour can point to – although it is contentious – is Northern Ireland which has seen relative peace and prosperity in recent times. To some, inculding me, that was a surrender to terrorism, but others see it as a major achievement by Labour. Same with devolution – which has undeniably weakened Britain – but to the Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh it is a considerable legacy.
I’m not trying to make excuses for Labour – as a governing party they have been awful – but I don’t believe it is fair to deny what others see as significant improvements for them. As a Briton I’m pleased that people in other parts of the Kingdom have something tangible where they can say “this is better”, but as a proud Englishman I can not deny either that this has been at our expense.
England has borne the brunt of Labour’s constitutional vandalism which may have been good for some parts of the Kingdom but, in my view, have severely weakened the Union. I hope with all my heart that the Union can be maintained as I believe that is the best thing for the nations of the Union as a whole, but I really can not see a future for it at the moment.
Worse still, under a Tory or Labour leadership all I can see is the eventual break up not only of the Union but of England as well.
Stan – I agree with the NI situation, Blair’s government really did take the heat out of the situation and held it calm for long enough for people to stop hating each other. But he didn’t start the process, did he? Let’s give at least equal credit to John Major. Irish friends of mine do.
I disagree about PACE, I think it is very important to have strict and public limits on police power. The police aren’t shit, it’s the courts and the prison system which are shit.
Devolution would have been a great idea if it had been done properly. Cameron seems to have a good idea on this, which he share with me: a comprehensive de-centralisation.
Basic rules when taking to the lifeboat:
1. There is no point whatsoever in starting the engine or hoisting the sail and setting course for land if the lifeboat has a bloody great leak.
2. Fix leak
3. Bale out water
4. Then set course
5. Nothing to plug leak?
6. Kiss arses goodbye
PS: Agree re PaCE. I trained our Force when it first came in and I genuinely felt there was some good in there. But oh those codes, those constantly updated and amended and re-written codes and everything else bureaucratic and hamstringing that was flushed onto us in their wake.
Re: NI – no Blair didn’t start the process, but that is the point. A lot of the problesm we’re dealing with today are the result of processes that weren’t started by this government but by Conservative governments. The problems we face today are not entirely down to Labour, but are the culmination of decades of progressivism pursued by both parties.
Take the economy for example. I have no doubt that we’d be facing the same problems today if it had been a Tory government in charge. They have the same basic outlook on the economy as Labour and would have pursued, more or less, the same line. Nobody has policies in place to address the fundamental weakness of our economy – i.e. massive trade deficit, over-reliance on a service sector and the domination of that sector by a single industry (financial services) for export and the use of property based debt to maintain living standards.
Whatever measure of government you choose – crime, jobs, economy, health, education, whatever – there is nothing to suggest that any of them would have improved under a Tory regime. Nothing. On the contrary, seeing how each of those were clearly in decline (or, in the case of the economy and jobs) built on shifting sands under the previous Tory administration there is every reason to believe we’d be in exactly the same place today under the Tories.
Labour don’t have the answers to the problem, but neither do the Conservatives. You seem to place a lot of faith in Cameron’s assertion for “decentralisation”, but this is misplaced in my opinion because the way it will work will not make local government more accountable or democratic but will place power in the hands of more appointed regional authorities over whom we have no say or control. I know that is what will happen because that is how the EU works – and that is the only way we can work while we remain in the EU.
Perhaps this will be NuLabour’s cry; ‘None of it was our fault. The Tories started it!’
Maybe we should give them another 12 years to sort out their ‘inherited’ mess!
Perhaps this will be NuLabour’s cry; ‘None of it was our fault. The Tories started it!’
Will be? They have blaming it on the previous, previous Prime Minister since they started.
Stan is probably right that the Tories wouldn’t have done anything any different.
But whatever thery did would have worked a little better and cost a lot less.
The only things I can think of are:
*Homosexual marriages
Pretty much everything else I can think of is a restriction to our freedoms or loss of liberties. Then there’s the famous fantastic chancellor Broon. Fantastic is right – think of the pensions scandal, selling off our gold reserves, Foot and Mouth, etc. etc…
LoL @ Philipa’s
I think I could hear the cabinet office from here;
Gordo: “Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more….or close the wall up with our Labour dead…..”
Chorus: “After you, no no, after you…no hang on its not my turn…ouch stop pushing will you…”
Fade to credits….None visible.
I simply don’t understand Gordon Brown, I don’t really understand what is going on. I don’t understand why there isn’t some mechanism that can allow the monarch to call her PM for a quick chat along the lines of:
‘Gordon, mate, WTF are you doing. No one likes you, you’ve been voted out of local councils, the Europe vote is likely to be similar if not worse. Why do you think making Mandelson your deputy is going to help. He’s a slimy git! And as for Glenys Kinnock – how do you think the public are going to view that, her and Neil have made a fortune out of the European gravy train and now she too is going to the Lords…for what? Are you ill? Not taking the tablets? Take the enormous hint mate, salvage some honour and ask me to dissolve Parliament and we can get a general election going. The last thing this country needs is another unelected prime minister, it isn’t democratic. Now eff off and sort it you ghastly looking dead man walking’
One can dream. But I’m with Stan big time on Cameron and the Tories. Trouble is there really isn’t any political party that can represent me, that doesn’t genuinely want to return to SMALL government and will rescind the last 12 years of over zealous central control and take proper decisions for the well being, safety and prosperity of the UK.