Socialists in Harringay

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on October 2, 2009 at 19:39

Socialism and New Labour. Some time ago, Peter Mandelson (now Labour business Secretary) said to some Silicon Valley computer salesmen when he visited California:

We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich.

One imagines Labour said things like that to appear electable to middle England. It is probably the apogee of New Labour's flirtation with money and looks pretty silly today. Even Conservatives would have shied away from such bombast. The same criticism that has sometimes been levelled at Conservatives – that they are too close to the City to be able to regulate it effectively – now applies equally to New Labour. I do not look forward to the coming Conservative government with relish, but in truth, Labour, the folk who claimed to have abolished boom and bust, are little different.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on October 2, 2009 at 20:10

Maybe true Clive, but as this is a discussion in the History of Harringay thread I was taking the long view rather than considering today's political situation.

My thoughts were rather that even 80 years ago the Labour party were not considered left wing enough and a belief in a more golden age of political certainty is probably looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles.

In a similar vein, this article takes the long view of politicians and corruption and suggests they probably behave better now than at any time in the past.

Snippets from archives suggest quite a lot of political activity in Harringay in the past, but they are just snippets like this one, nothing substantial (anyone out there know more?)