Crosland And New Labour

How much does Tony Blair owe to Anthony Crosland? The author of The Future of Socialism , who died suddenly as Foreign Secretary in 1977, remains the major philosophical inspiration and reference point for the left. To what extent is New Labour fashioned in Crosland's image? What can the Blair government learn from his writings and ministerial achievements? An all-star cast of sixteen authors examine Crosland's legacy in political theory and political practice and point to numerous ways in which his message remains relevant to policy-makers today. The contributors include Gordon Brown, Roy Hattersley, Michael Young, Raymond Plant, David Lipsey, Brian Brivati and Tony Wright. Susan Crosland contributes a moving postscript.

Anthony Crosland was one of the most fascinating and important figures in British politics since the war. As a young Labour MP in 1956 he wroteThe Future of Socialism,a book which established his reputation as the chief intellectual force behind "revisionism" on the left for a generation to come. He reached high office in 1976 when James Callaghan appointed him Foreign Secretary. It was widely assumed that Crosland would go on to become Chancellor and mount a serious bid for the party leadership. A career of great promise was cut short, however, when he died in 1977, aged only 58, prompting comparisons with other "lost leaders" such as Gaitskell and Iain Macleod. This new study, based upon private papers and interviews with friends and colleagues, provides an integrated account of Crosland's writing and political career. The book considers his significance as a proponent of social equality within an affluent society, and assesses his legacy in the aftermath of Labour's stunning electoral defeat at the hands of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.

In Crosland's Legacy, noted political writer Patrick Diamond explores the contemporary impact of Anthony Crosland's writings on the British Labour Party, in particular through his work The Future of Socialism, published nearly sixty years ago. Despite widespread questioning of many of Crosland's assumptions alongside obvious and important changes in British society and the economy since The Future of Socialism was published, Diamond argues that Crosland continues to serve as a key intellectual reference point for today's Labour Party. In making the claim that "socialism is about equality," Crosland set the context for debates that bridge Gaitskell's Labour Party in the 1950s and the development into New Labour headed by Blair, Brown, and Miliband. This book will examine Crosland's intellectual legacy as manifested in the debates of today's Labour Party.

The 50th anniversary edition of the book that changed English Politics. With an Introduction by Gordon Brown. It is impossible to think of the intellectual landscape of Britain today without recognising the power of Crosland's The Future of Socialism in all aspects of the political debate. Still relevant 50 years after it was first published, Crosland's masterwork was a radical reworking of the role of the post-war Labour Party. This book sets out the philosophy for the New Labour project and also contains the key for reviving the fortunes of the Party of the future. Also included is a piece by Dick Leonard, Crosland's Personal Private Secretary and who knew the radical philosopher well, and an afterword from Susan Crosland.

What's gone wrong with capitalism and how should governments respond? What does the future hold for the Left in the UK in the face of the austerity straitjacket around our politics and media? Anthony Crosland’s The Future of Socialism (1956) provided a creed for governments of the centre left until the global banking crisis. Now Peter Hain presents an evidence-based case for a radical alternative to the neo-liberal economic agenda. A substantial new Afterword outlines what the Labour Party needs to do following the 2015 UK General Election to win again by returning to its core values of decency, social justice, equality and prosperity for all. A rousing alternative to the neoliberal, right-wing orthodoxy of our era, Hain’s book is now even more essential reading for everyone interested in the future of the left.

Anthony Crosland, a member of Harold Wilson's cabinet and the author of The Future of Socialism, was immensely influential in seeking to modernise the ideology of the Labour Party, to put opportunity and empowerment, the fairness of life chances and the sharing of social experiences at its centre in place of nationalisation. The party's belated redefinition guarantees a prominent role in its intellectual history to the revisionists' champion. Though Crosland wrote when economic growth could be taken for granted as the basis for social reform, his emphasis on fairness and community, on education and opportunity, continues to illuminate political debate in harder times.

The Labour Party is at a crossroads. Following its ejection from government, the reasons behind Labour's defeat have been hotly debated - but where to go from here? On the benches of opposition, with ample opportunity to consider how best to travel the path back to power, leading Labour figures are delving into the party's revisionist tradition to find an answer. The challenge now is how to return to the party's core principles, and it is to this challenge that The Purple Book offers a first contribution. With a foreword by Ed Miliband and contributors including both shadow and former ministers, new MPs and senior councillors, the book presents fresh policies for Labour's revival. Calling for a progressive agenda with, at its heart, a redistribution of power to individuals and local communities, The Purple Book draws on lessons from Labour's past and looks firmly to the future. Exploring the issues that the party must tackle in order to reshape the political debate, it seeks to reframe New Labour for the twenty-first century.