Blair offers advice to Miliband

We could be back to the situation when Labour brought in Tony Blair and proceeded to reinvent itself as New Labour. Blair is now warning Miliband “not to turn back the clock”. That’s precisely what has happened with the death of Margaret Thatcher bringing old divisions sharply into focus.
The Tories have tried to stage manage a huge spectacle invoking great heroic deeds, patriotism which began with “tributes” when the Parliament was recalled early at great expense and will continue when London is halted to watch the spectacle of the mortal remains being towed round the streets on a gun carriage. Again at huge expense with tax payers expected to foot at least a chunk of the bill when the government are yelling “Austerity” at us. Did it work?
If the discomfort was evident in parliament it was muted when many MPs, particularly those representing devastated mining, steel, ship building and similar industrial communities, all this to defeat who she was pleased to call “the enemy within”. Today this can be translated to the 1% controlling huge powerful and private corporate institutions dominating the rest. As far as most of us are concerned the “enemy within” are those who took our jobs abroad and took their wealth into tax havens avoiding payment of tax. David Cameron claimed in his eulogy “she made Britain great again”. Did she? Are these indications that she and they are “true blue”. But to dissent you are “unpatriotic” as the Murdoch controlled media will proclaim. “An inspiration” says Rupert. Did she inspire phone hacking? Not a convincing recommendation. Certainly she inspired deregulation in many spheres like the media and finance which directly leads to the present financial crisis.
The problem we have now is that the issues of division apparent in 80s was not confronted. New Labour adopted Thatcherite policies like privatisation taking them to new levels. There were values not then acceptable then which have now become matters regarded as “common sense”. When Norman Tebbitt called for a “cricket test” for migrant communities whose patriotism he called ingo doubt there was outrage. Now such a view is enshrined in a mandatory test for citizenship.
Politicians of all parties appear to react more to the pressures from powerful, wealthy, lobby groups, from whom the system allows them to benefit from their largesse. The voters consequently take a back seat. Blair and the Blairite faction still apparent in Labour should fight for power by adopting the self-same policies that have so clearly failed repeatedly for the majority.

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