Labour has to win back this terrain with a language that can encompass both cosmopolitan modernity and English conservative culture, linking them together in a sense of national purpose. It would incorporate all the things Blair dismissed as anachronisms: tradition; a respect for settled ways of life; a sense of local place and belonging; a desire for home and rootedness; the continuity of relationships at work and in one's neighbourhood.
England once had this kind of conservative, common culture; it acted as a counter to the commodification of labour and to social isolation. Ruskin provided its rallying cry, "There is no wealth but life." At one time Labour gave expression to this kind of conservatism. It need not be reactionary, right-wing, or sentimental, although it has been all these things. Its political character will depend on Labour's capacity to articulate a progressive and ethical conservatism that embraces difference. It need not be parochial or conformist: England celebrates a rich tradition of volatile, creative cultures.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Quote of the day
Jon Cruddas:
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2 comments:
I can't think of a worse combination than economic redistrubution and social conservatism. It's Red Toryism in a different form.
Or True Blue Socialism!
But if you think about it, pre-Blair there was a strong strand of social conservatism running through elements of the Labour Party. It's only in comparatively recent times with the metropolitan Islingtonisation of the party that those from the trad w/c heartlands have been forced to obtain "progressive" outlooks.
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