tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post8530239773276134275..comments2024-03-27T09:14:27.496+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Is Labour Doomed?Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-9286870658324047192015-03-17T16:49:46.209+00:002015-03-17T16:49:46.209+00:00I think it simplistic to say that New Labour have ...I think it simplistic to say that New Labour have collapsed in Scotland due to the better together campaign.<br /><br />I actually think the reasons are beyond New labour's grasp. At heart they relate to a system that will inevitable deliver Tory governments periodically.<br /><br />This was an accident waiting to happen.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-41911993269616633612015-03-17T14:15:45.712+00:002015-03-17T14:15:45.712+00:00You make two interesting statements:
1. “A pro-bu...You make two interesting statements:<br /><br />1. “A pro-business, pro-capital case against austerity can be made”.<br />Indeed it can. Cutting state expenditure isn’t going to revive the economy. However, there are strong reasons for thinking that <i>increasing</i> state, expenditure Keynesian-style won’t do the trick either (it didn’t work in Japan). Businesses are not going to invest while the prospects of turning a decent profit are so poor. The key to a genuine recovery is to increase profitability.<br /><br />2. “for as long as there are workers there will be the battle for workers rights, of the struggle for security, wages, and against encroachments on time outside of work.”<br /><br />True enough. But the Labour Party has never been very good at that. Furthermore, it would be difficult to combine defending workers rights, let alone their extension, with a pro-capital programme of increasing profitability.<br /><br />It seems as though you have deceived yourself in thinking that the Labour Party can run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.George Hallamnoreply@blogger.com