Labour’s right – Post war changes
The change
in the policies supported by the Labour Right from Hugh Gaitskill and Anthony
Crossland in 1950s, 60s and 70s to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and their followers
in the 1990s onwards has been remarkable. Whilst the political differences
between Nye Bevan and Hugh Gaitskill, Anthony Crossland and Tony Benn were
large it can be forgotten how much united them and how different their views
were to the current right of the Labour party.
Also
remember that according to the biography of Nye Bevan written by the current
Labour MP for Torfaen, who when discussing the nationalisation of Coal, cable
and wireless, Electricity and civil aviation said they “caused little debate”,
no not in the Labour Party but in the House of Commons. He then describes the
gas act as “the last of the non-controversial nationalisation measures”
In the
1950s, 60s and 70s revisionism was a powerful tendency in the Labour party,
probably the major one on the Labour right, politically supported by Hugh
Gaitskill and intellectually supported by Anthony Crossland and outlined in his
extensive writings.
In the future
of Socialism, the Conservative enemy and Socialism now and other essays Anthony
Crossland called for a wealth tax; a tax on gifts and higher death duties
graded according to the size of the bequest; the public ownership of land and
the municipalisation of private rented housing; the integration of public
schools; a state holding company; a government unit trust and an active policy
of competitive public enterprise. This at a time when coal, steel,
telecommunications, ports, railways, British Airways and the utilities were all publicly owned and
there was a large public stake in BP.
In Socialism
now and other essays published in 1974 Anthony Crossland set 6 domestic
priorities
1) To reduce the amount of poverty.
2) To enable everyone to have a decent
home.
3) To take development land into public
ownership.
4) To redistribute capital wealth.
5) To eliminate selection and
segregation in school education
6) To extend Industrial democracy.
He goes on
to say an anti-poverty programme must be built on a combination of more jobs,
more services and more income.
He also said
regarding housing
1) Rents must be set at a level the
majority of tenants can pay without rebate.
2) A Labour housing policy should be to
equalise the status and financial advantages of different types of occupation
3) Called for the building of more
Council houses
I am sure
readers must find it difficult, in light of the current discussions regarding
the leadership of the Labour party and what will make us electable but Anthony Crossland was the leading thinker on
the RIGHT of the Labour party in the
1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.
Yes that is
not an error and it has been highlighted to make the point Anthony Crossland
was the leading thinker on the right of the Labour party. He was described as a
revisionist although I am sure anyone espousing similar policies today would be
described as a Marxist or Trotskyist. What he supported used to be the centre ground of British
politics!
Whose
policies in the leadership election do you consider to be nearest those of
Crossland?
