ABSTRACT
As the 1997 Labour Government’s tenure matures, so common problems of governing post-war Britain show up – exigencies of holding power independent of election or ideology. For example, governing, let alone governing as Labour, entails living in a world largely made by US economic and security policies. Just as the world economy erupted into British domestic politics in the 1970s and coloured what it was possible for Wilson-Callaghan to do, so the fall-out from the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001 dominated Blair’s second term, inescapably. For Labour in 1974 there was no relief from oil shock just as Blair had to respond to whatever the US administration chose to do. So, from 1974 to 1976 and beyond, Labour had to adapt to international market forces, personified eventually by the arrival of the IMF at Heathrow. Social policies, especially across the dramatic landscapes of income and wealth inequalities, are usually made on Wall Street.
