seven - Crosland and Labour party modernisation: from Kinnock to Blair

Summary

If ideas in politics more than elsewhere are the children of practical needs, nonetheless, it is true that the actual world is the result of men’s thoughts. The existing arrangement of political forces is dependent at least as much upon ideas, as it is upon men’s perception of their interests. (J.N. Figgis)

New Labour in government was defined by the two liberal revolutions of the period. In consequence, it is associated in the public mind with excess – excessive levels of private debt, too much micro-managing government, too much immigration, inflated house prices, too much welfare, and too much money spent for too little return. There is a popular loss of trust in the capacity of the political class to contain this excess and restore a virtuous order. The economic crisis reverberates with a sense of blame, dispossession, and social insecurity as people react to the erosion of the cultural meanings, fidelities, and solidarities that bind them together in society. (J. Rutherford)

Introduction

The intellectual vitality and richness of Crosland’s political thought, alongside his qualities as a politician, meant that his influence on the Labour party since the 1950s has been pervasive. Crosland’s generation drew on the inter-war revisionism of Tawney and Durbin (Warde, 1982), alongside the radical liberal tradition. They insisted that if the British Left emphasised individual rights and freedoms by curtailing its enthusiasm for dogmatic state socialism, radical social democracy had the potential to create a fairer, more equal society. As Tawney wrote in the 1920s: ‘A society is free in so far as, within the limits set by nature, knowledge and resources, its institutions and policies are such as to enable all members to grow to their full stature.’ By remaining true to its ethical ideals while shaping innovative solutions for new problems, the Labour party had the capacity to win the battle of ideas transforming itself into the natural governing party in British politics. This optimism was nonetheless qualified by the development of post-war Britain, culminating in the watershed event of Labour’s 1979 defeat. Since then, Crosland’s impact on the party has been contingent and uneven, declining sharply in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while returning to shape the politics of modernisation in the late 1980s and beyond.

This chapter examines the nature of Crosland’s legacy since his death.