News from the New Party

Monday, March 12, 2007

Labour goes back to the eighties

Two ministerial resignations in recent days over the government's desire to replace Trident, and a potential rebellion in the offing of up to 100 Labour MPs in favour of what amounts to unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom. It's just like the good old days. Iain Dale writes:

Always nice to see Labour MPs reverting to type and playing fast and loose with the defence of the nation, isn't it? Predictably they are likely to be joined in the No lobby by the LibDems who can't quite make up their minds as to whether Britain should even have its own nuclear deterrent.

They say that in this post cold war era it is not as relevant and therefore could be scrapped. The truth is that we don't know who our enemies are likely to be in ten, twenty or thirty years time. It may indeed be ragtag terror groups like Al Qaeda, but it may also be nation states with nuclear capabilities. The precautionary principle ought at least to come into play here.

Of course Iain is right. The government will doubtless win the day as the Conservatives will support the replacement of Trident, but nevertheless the message is clear. The government (in the person of the Prime Minister) has lost all authority, and in the absence of authority the gut instincts of Old Labour are reasserting themselves. Just as the death of President Tito led to the bubbling up of ancient tensions in Communist Yugoslavia which led in turn to the destruction of the country, the departure of President Tony looks like presaging the implosion of New Labour. It' s back to the future for Labour, which means increasing political instability and uncertainty for the rest of us.

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Labour goes back to the eighties