Britain: Left abandoned? New labour in power

Does 'New Labour' stand in the tradition of the European left? Is its official creed, labelled 'the Third Way', in any meaningful sense of the term, social democratic? To what extent does it represent a modernisation or an abandonment of Labour's traditional values? The article addresses these questions by defining British social democracy in terms of five core values, largely derived from Anthony Crosland's The Future of Socialism: social justice, full employment, equality, labour protection and community/solidarity. It then assesses the extent to which, in terms of the policies it is now pursuing, the Blair government adheres to these values. Its conclusion is that the influence of the first three values-though reformulated and adapted to altered circumstances and purposes-can be discerned as forces shaping policy choice but the last two have been effectively abandoned.