December 8, 2003
RACE TO THE RIGHT (via Mike Daley):
Britain's business is to rival America's entrepreneurial dash (Gordon Brown, 09/12/2003, Daily Telegraph)
In my Pre-Budget Report tomorrow, I will set out the next steps we will take to build a Britain of enterprise and flexibility. In six years, Britain has
moved from being one of the world's stop-go economies to one of the world's more stable ones.And we have established a consensus stretching across all parties and all social groups, which supports Bank of England independence and values our new and hard-won monetary and fiscal stability.
Now we must build an even stronger and deeper national consensus: a shared national economic purpose that the Britain of the Industrial Revolution should become the Britain of a 21st-century enterprise renaissance.
And, mirroring America, that new consensus for enterprise should embrace not only commerce, finance and science, but all schools, all social groups and all local authorities. There should be no no-go areas and it should include even the poorest inner-city areas, where enterprise is the best solution to deprivation.
So I want business to seize the opportunities of the upturn in the world economy. The Pre-Budget Report will lock in the stability that is the foundation for growth, sweep aside old rules and regulations, and set out a plan to lead Europe in fighting Brussels red tape.
Interesting that Mr. Brown, considered Tony Blair's main rival, is running to his Right, not his Left. The vow to make Britain more like America has to be particularly bitter to Labour. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 8, 2003 11:11 PM
Maybe I'm missing something, but why don't you reduce taxes along with regulation and let the cards fall where they may?Uhm...It might just work.
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at December 9, 2003 12:00 AMIs it possible that Labour is the second most conservative party in the West, second only to the GOP?
Posted by: at December 9, 2003 12:10 AMIt is true that the current New Labour government bears abolutely no resemblance to the old socialist Labour party of 10-15 years ago.
Hence the utter collapse of the Conservative Party: Labour has entirely usurped their political ground. On such things as law and order they certainly can't realistically go further right than the current Home Secretary, David Blunkett.
If there has ever been a more complete tranformation of a political party, both in terms of ideology and public perception, then I've never heard of it.
But despite that, I'm not sure about Labour being the 2nd most 'conservative government in the West'.
Some things are unique in Britain: we are the most pro-American, pro-business, anti-red tape country in Europe, but some right-wing policies which are ok in Germany etc would be political suicide here. eg. the National Health Service is a sacred cow and you (openly) threaten to dismantle it at your peril.
Posted by: Brit at December 9, 2003 8:46 AM