In aiding and abetting the most economically right-wing government since the 80s, Milburn is crossing the line between pragmatism and complete ideological blindness.
His readiness to participate in a government which is so hostile to the idea of the state as an enabler for social mobility shows why the Blairites missed the point - and illustrates why they presided over a growth in inequality over 13 years.
When Peter Mandelson famously said "we are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich, as long as they pay their taxes", he proved that Labour were in denial about the relationship between mobility and equality. Less equal societies are less fluid. If you want to help people change their social circumstances, you need the courage to use progressive taxation to stop the emergence of a wealthy elite.
This conclusion is off-the-table when it comes to Milburn's forthcoming work for the coalition. As Labour renews itself in opposition, it must not make the same mistake. In government it had a mandate to reverse the galloping increase in social inequality and division, but it chose to retreat to the real Labour comfort zone: do what the Tories would do, but more slowly.
When people voted in the 1997 and 2010 general elections, they voted for change. It is a harsh irony of our political system that in both cases - just when a change was desperately required - they got more of the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment