ABSTRACT
The arguments contained in the previous seven chapters suggest a set of connected but contrasting conclusions on New Labour in power. In particular there are differences of emphasis and argument in the various policy areas covered – the economy, welfare, education, foreign policy, European relations, constitutional reform and the management of the state – and some contrasts in perceptions of New Labour’s approach to the broad ideological context of the Government, particularly in respect of politics and morality, the shifting notion of the nation state and the role of the state in determining political outcomes. However, three overarching conclusions can be drawn about the ideological and political position of the current Government in terms of the historical evolution of British social democracy. The first two are concerned with traditionally understood, primarily ideological, characterisations of the Government in relation to broad objectives and underlying convictions. In contrast, the third suggests a merger of these traditional concerns with a new emphasis on the presentation of ideas and electoral strategy, something I generally characterise as ‘political competence’, and therefore the creation of a new political position: – The New Labour Government has substantially absorbed the lessons of the past
and the changes of context of the last twenty years and in so doing has embraced the neo-liberal ‘revolution’ of the Thatcher years. In this sense, this is very much a New Labour Government, perhaps the foundation of a new political party – connected to old Labour by history and sentiment but not by objectives or even convictions.
