Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Mandelson hits out at 'anti–immigrant, Europhobic' Blue Labour
Today's Guardian contains a fascinating story in which Lord Mandelson hits out at the Blue Labour movement for proposing a dialogue with the English Defence League (EDL) as a way of connecting with the concerns of young people in Britain:
Speaking to the Guardian, he said Labour needed a vision for the future but that it "is not going to come from the sort of populist, anti–immigrant, Europhobic, anti–globalisation language used by Blue Labour".
In an implicit criticism of Ed Miliband, he said: "The problem with killing off New Labour and putting nothing in its place is that it leads us to clutch at straws and grab at any passing sentiment. This is what has happened with Blue Labour which seeks to reconnect the party with its old, postwar, apparently white and male, industrial working-class base. These people have moved on, to other jobs, to other aspirations and, in the main, to an entirely different identity."
Mandelson appears to fear that Ed Miliband might be willing to make Blue Labour's thinking central to his own policies. Given the way that New Labour embraced some of this thinking it seems that his fears may well be justified.
Speaking to the Guardian, he said Labour needed a vision for the future but that it "is not going to come from the sort of populist, anti–immigrant, Europhobic, anti–globalisation language used by Blue Labour".
In an implicit criticism of Ed Miliband, he said: "The problem with killing off New Labour and putting nothing in its place is that it leads us to clutch at straws and grab at any passing sentiment. This is what has happened with Blue Labour which seeks to reconnect the party with its old, postwar, apparently white and male, industrial working-class base. These people have moved on, to other jobs, to other aspirations and, in the main, to an entirely different identity."
Mandelson appears to fear that Ed Miliband might be willing to make Blue Labour's thinking central to his own policies. Given the way that New Labour embraced some of this thinking it seems that his fears may well be justified.
