It is now clear that, very soon, we shall have a change of government. Whether this will bring a deeper change of culture or merely a change of air, we are, however, unable to tell.
So far, New Labour has been more than a government party: it has been absolutist state, subversive society and religion and, as such, it has managed to annex almost everything in our public and private lives to its politics - 1997, the year when New Labour came to power, marking the ‘year zero’ in Britain’s calendar and the beginning of history.
So far, New Labour has been more than a government party: it has been absolutist state, subversive society and religion and, as such, it has managed to annex almost everything in our public and private lives to its politics - 1997, the year when New Labour came to power, marking the ‘year zero’ in Britain’s calendar and the beginning of history.
During the thirteen years of New Labour rule, the evils of authoritarianism and corruption were followed by the more insidious evil of normalising this state of affairs, which, more or less unaware, many of us have assimilated like a bad taste acquired through prolonged exposure to vulgarity.
It is for these reasons that genuine change will be difficult to make happen. The next government will not be able to improve very much or reverse all the ruinous changes performed by New Labour, without initially mirroring the outreaches of the previous regime and similarly expanding its remit to non-political areas, beyond those legitimately held by an elected political power. The risks contained in any such expansion of authority imply an increased demand for openness and good sense from our next government. In the present circumstances, in which we have to correct not as much the doctrines as the excesses of the New Labour regime, the ideology of the next governing party will matter a lot less than their ability to serve us well - imperative which, sadly, is not going to broaden, but to complicate our electoral choices on the polling day.
It is for these reasons that genuine change will be difficult to make happen. The next government will not be able to improve very much or reverse all the ruinous changes performed by New Labour, without initially mirroring the outreaches of the previous regime and similarly expanding its remit to non-political areas, beyond those legitimately held by an elected political power. The risks contained in any such expansion of authority imply an increased demand for openness and good sense from our next government. In the present circumstances, in which we have to correct not as much the doctrines as the excesses of the New Labour regime, the ideology of the next governing party will matter a lot less than their ability to serve us well - imperative which, sadly, is not going to broaden, but to complicate our electoral choices on the polling day.
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