ABSTRACT
The major purpose of this book has been to question the established narrative of the postwar period that has so far pervaded the vast bulk of the literature. Here, it is perhaps fruitful briefly to remind ourselves of the content of this narrative. As we saw in the introductory chapter, the established narrative revolves around the issue of change versus continuity in British politics. Specifically, most authors assert that there have been two main periods of policy change. It is suggested that, in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the Attlee governments fundamentally altered the direction of British politics through a succession of decisive interventions which changed both the institutional structure and the ideological apparatus surrounding policy-making in favour of a Keynesian, social-democratic, state settlement. Similarly, it has most often been asserted that the Thatcher governments after 1979 set about fundamentally restructuring Britain's postwar settlement by reversing the direction of policy, and dismantling the main pillars of Keynesian social democracy in line with New Right ideology.
