To What Extend Did New Labour Abandon Traditional Labour Values

1021 Words5 Pages
To what extend did New Labour abandon traditional labour values Since Neil Kinnock’s reign in charge of the party, The Labour Party began to form a new look for itself. ‘New Labour’ is the name given to the period in which the Labour Party underwent a makeover, which has arguably changed the party. Unlike the traditionally left-wing Labour, the New Labour regime took a more central position; it is arguable that New Labour abandoned the old traditional values of the Labour Party, on the other hand it can be said that Labour was simply adapting to conform to the needs of modern society. The first outstanding change that the New Labour took away from its traditional values is there views on Law and Order. New Labours approach to Law and Order seemed to share similarities to the Conservative, authoritarian approach to Law and Order, and highly significant u-turn away from the traditional Labour approach, which was more considerate of an offenders position, I was perhaps seen to be quite lean with individuals who committed a crime. New Labour certainly toughened up on Crime, Tony Blair said that Labour were going to be ‘Tough on crime and the causes of crime’, which clearly reflects new Labours clamping down on the issue of Law and Order. New Labour introduced ABSO’s which restricted movement of individuals and set and individual under excessive monitoring, once again diverting from traditional Labour values. Furthermore the Government began handing out tougher prison sentences, furthermore enforcing a more authoritarian approach. Traditionally, Labour was a party with a key policy of common ownership; a policy in which the state owned key industries, after the Second World War, Labour nationalized major industries, giving the state control over such industries. This is another key, traditional policy which the New Labour appeared to abandon. New Labour began to
Open Document