Government Papers 2023 & New Labour in Office before the 2001 General Election
At New Year the Public Record Office releases a range of Government papers. This used to be covered by a 30 year rule delay but more recently some papers are released after 20 years.
Hence this year’s release covers aspects of the first New Labour Government in the run up to 2001. 170 of the files have been digitised. Many of the files cover Government relations with specific countries, of interest to researchers working in those areas.
There are some more general files. I looked at those covering the House of Lords, fox hunting and Section 28.
Labour had pledged to reform the House of Lords and replace it with a new Chamber. This involved discussions particularly with the Church of England but also the Board of Deputies about how many seats there would be for religious interests. The file underlines that the Government were not too keen to be tied down on numbers.
Fox Hunting was eventually banned but at this point the proposal had provoked large protests by the Countryside Alliance. The Government knew a ban was popular but was concerned by opposition. The file focuses on an all party Middle Way Group which thought it would be sufficient to tell hunts to behave themselves. This seemed to have the backing of Jack Straw who apparently felt that a political argument would be distraction.
Section 28 was eventually abolished in England and Wales in 2003. The file released shows the Government placing a good deal of focus on its family policies (fair enough) but not mentioning much about LGBT rights. Religious opposition was noted.
None of the above is headline material but it does feed into a current discussion about whether Governments are more radical when elected. The three examples of New Labour in practice suggest not perhaps to an extent because of the complexities that arise when policies meet practical questions.
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