From New to Newer Labour: the Political Slogans of 2023
Rupert Murdoch is not impressed with the performance of some members of the Shadow Cabinet (Times Editorial 2nd January) and so has ordered a reshuffle. The date for this is not known but the paper has published an article based on the ‘thoughts’ of ‘Senior Labour Source’ on who must be purged.
Who ‘Senior Labour Source’ is we don’t of course know although Lord Mandelson had an article in the Sunday Times (1st January) where he outlined the tasks for a Labour Government. Essentially this involved making things a little bit better by ‘modernising’ and relying on the same or similar privateering chancers that have done so well out of the present Government. Many might say that a little bit better is an improvement on a Government that is absolutely dedicated to making everything a whole lot worse.
The Times also noted the slogans for Labour in 2023:
From a party of protest to a party of public service
From nostalgists to reformers
From ideological puritans to centre-left patriots
While Mandelson may not be responsible for this they are similar to the dichotomies that he wrote for Blair during the first period of the 1997 Labour Government.
Mandelson did not distinguish himself in that Government and one problem is that slogans and reality don’t always match.
Being for public service at the moment involves protest in support of the NHS. The reference to nostalgists simply reminds us that as with New Labour Newer Labour wants to remain ignorant of history. Finally the centre left patriotism of unwavering support for NATO is of course someone else’s ideological puritanism.
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