New Labour example essay topic

new labour has been described by many, primarily those in the "left wing" as "Thatcherism mark 2". Accused of accommodating itself to Thatcherite policies and ditching all its traditional values. Socialist concerns have been replaced by neo-liberal economics and the promotion of individual opportunity and self-help. There are some interesting discontinuities as well as continuities with Conservative Neo-Liberalism, which, while insufficient to justify the label "The Third Way", do mean that New Labour is developing its own distinctive version of Neo-Liberalism, albeit with Thatcherite foundations. It has been described as "thatcherism with a smiley face" referring to the way it lost touch and popularity with the people in the sleaze of its later stages.

Perhaps the best description of New Labour politics is post-Thatcherite because New Labour has been defined by Thatcherism in both positive and negative ways. There are many similarities between the two such as: Prime Ministerial Leadership Commitment to free trade Flexible labour markets Sound money and orthodox economics The spirit of entrepreneurial capitalism More private initiative Private ownership encouraged Encouraging people to respond to opportunities and incentives - not to be dependant Public services reform / modernisation Further proof of the Continuity of the policies introduced by Thatcherism include: Various economic policies - One of the first policy initiatives that the Labour government announced was independence for the Bank of England; together with a commitment to a balanced budget, this represents a development from the economic policies of the Thatcher period. Thatchers populist style of appealing to ordinary people and almost by-passing traditional institutions of government have been repeated by Tony Blair. Both have elements of what is called 'spatial leadership'. The embrace of the Free Market and Privatisation. In a similar fashion to the way in which Thatcher weakened the powers of local governments and councils, Tony Blair has talked of the 'forces of conservatism' holding up progress, by which he means those in government not the Conservatives.

This is very Thatcherite. However there are some characteristics of Thatcherism which New Labour is trying to avoid such as: Thatcherism's overly-individualistic message its social divisiveness the way it lost touch with the people in the sleaze of its later stages. Evidence of the changes New Labour has put in place which distance its policies from those of the Thatcherism era, include: Constitutional change Warmer relations with trade unions and the EU Rights and responsibilities Statutory minimum wage Mild redistribution More emphasis on competition through skills and knowledge.