Blue Labour isn’t far enough outside of our comfort zone

The Labour Movement column

By Anthony Painter

Quite some time ago I wrote that the Red Blond would be consumed by the blue blonde, Margaret Thatcher, over time. There was too much I agreed with in Red Toryism’s analysis of the market for it to sit easily with the likes of George Osborne. So it has proved. Red Toryism has been repackaged as the ‘big society’ and buried in boxes in the Cabinet Office with its critique of the state neatly co-opted.

At the same time, an academic called Maurice Glasman along with one or two others such as Jonathan Rutherford, was starting to talk about blue or conservative Labourism. It was a shockingly and radically different analysis of England, Labour, and their common history. Labour was a part of the English story not something apart from it. It shared much of its instincts with radical social historians such as E.P.Thompson and even G.D.H Cole. It seemed to have much more chance of being taken to Labour’s heart than its mirror image, Red Toryism, had on the other side of the aisle. That was a good thing – Labour had become ahistorical and almost anti-historical in the New Labour years. It had lost touch with an understanding of how human beings actually are in all their idiosyncrasy and became detached from them as a result.

Soundings magazine yesterday launched an e-book that reflects a series of seminars that took place in London and Oxford and an email discussion in between each. It was an honour to be invited and the discussion was incredibly rich and constructive. It also clarified for me why blue Labour – while a powerful critique and effervescent force – must sit alongside other ideas as Labour reaches for renewal.

Blue Labour is the idea of the moment. It is consuming the vast majority of the intellectual oxygen on the left – both for and against. It is Microsoft to IBM. It has been subject to frequent and sometimes deliberate misunderstanding. In a bold move, Progress and New Labour are attempting a takeover before blue Labour gets too big to absorb. It’s too late. Blue Labour has the theory, the authority, and the practice – through community organising initiatives. As a study of the rise to prominence of new ideas, blue Labour and Red Tory share more than an affection for Karl Polanyi (which, again, I also share.)

And yet, and yet, blue Labour could force Labour down a radically problematic path. My own contribution to the Soundings e-book describes the blue Labour ‘family’ of a hectoring, professional mother and a resentful, neutered father as a ‘Hackney’ family. Hackney is a London borough that has one of the very highest number of residents with degrees and also some of the poorest local authority wards in the country. What it doesn’t have is much of a middle class. They cashed in and moved out long ago to suburbs, estuary and commuter towns. They work in the private sector, many own their own small businesses, and they often feel put upon – they dutifully pay their taxes but they feel that society often takes the Michael and life is getting tougher.

They certainly have strong family commitments and they fly the flag when there’s a Royal Wedding or in the early rounds of the World Cup (no point after that – further evidence of decline). They are ambitious but also anxious. Their community is ill-defined: sometimes local but more often based around family, interest and work. Faith is more often irrelevant than a deep part of their lives. They live in towns more often than cities. They voted Blair – he was one of them or so they thought and got them. Some went Tory in 2010 but if they did it was with a sense of despair and resentment.

This is all caricature of course. But there is a thread of truth that runs through it. There is no clever targeting strategy that brings these people back to Labour in their droves; no magical policy mix or slogan that has them waving the red rose alongside the St George’s flag.

None of this is a criticism of blue Labour. It is an important historical, philosophical and ideological discussion. It just doesn’t in and of itself speak to this England; the England of towns, cars, and shopping malls (Dan Hodges has plead for a recognition of ‘Bluewater Labour’) They are more likely to spend a few hours with the Sky Box than in awe of a preacher in a pulpit (as am I).

What is more important to this England is trust and leadership. Do we get their lives? Do they believe what we say? Do we demonstrate the type of leadership that will take the tough decisions that will protect their lives? Can we provide their families with the opportunity to succeed? We will ensure they are cared for when they fall ill or become old? They don’t have to love us. In fact, they never will. But they have to get us and feel able to give Labour a chance to lead.

Blue Labour and every other brand of centre-left thinking has something to offer the movement. None have a monopoly on wisdom. It is not just about winning elections – though that helps. It is also about governing wisely. Perhaps a limitation of blue Labour ultimately is that it’s not far enough out of our comfort zone. Unless Labour reaches beyond to the England of Thurrock, Warwick, Warrington South, and Nuneaton then it is just conversation. Out of the comfort zone is not where it is – yet. A combination of fresh ideas such as blue Labour and strong leadership could take us there. If not, then we won’t even have access to the Cabinet Office to bury any indulgences of opposition.