Development and policies of the Labour Party

Question 1

When can the Labour party trace its party origins to?

Answer 1

Farringdon street conference of 1900

Question 2

What was the party at the beginning?

Answer 2

An alliance between members of the trade union movement and various socialist groups, with its initial aim being the independent representation in parliament of the working man

Question 3

When did the party formally assume a socialist position?

Answer 3

1918, With the adoption of clause iv into its constitution

Question 4

What did Clause iv represent?

Answer 4

The party aspiration to abolish capitalism, alongside nationalisation and the inevitable redistribution of wealth

Question 5

Like the conservatives, the modern day Labour is made up of which labour principles?

Answer 5

• Economic socialism
• Trade Unionism
• Globalist internationalism
• New labour/ Third way socialism

Question 6

Economic socialism

What was the Post war Attlee government most famous for setting up?

Answer 6

• First majority labour government

- Welfare state, it also took into state ownership and many core industries including coal mining

Question 7

Economic socialism

Subsequent labour governments would nationalise several other industries including?

Answer 7

Major parts of the shipbuilding and aerospace industries in 1977

Question 8

Economic socialism

What did the advancement of the Thatcher years see?

Answer 8

The sale of all these industries, although the brown/blair governments chose not to renationalise them

Question 9

Economic socialism

What did the election of Jeremy Corbyn mark?

Answer 9

A clear shift towards the left, although with Sir Kier Starmer’s election in 2020 there has been a shift back into the centre

Question 10

Trade Unionism

What have many unions looked to Labour for?

Answer 10

Protect and advance the rights of workers

- for example, the right to strike and trade union recognition in the workspace

Question 11

Trade Unionism

What have trade unions traditionally supplied?

Answer 11

The bulk of Labour’s funding

Question 12

Trade Unionism

However, what happened to trade unions in the 80s and 90s?

Answer 12

The influence diminished, partly through deindustrialisation and a shift in the economy away from manufacturing

Question 13

Trade Unionism

How was their power also weakened by the conservatives reforms in 1980s?

Answer 13

Designed to make unions more democratic and for it to be harder to take industrial action

Question 14

Trade Unionism

How were the trade unions under the influence of Corbyn?

Answer 14

Enjoyed increased influence and access to leadership

Question 15

Globalist internationalism

What has been a strong strand of Labours polices?

Answer 15

A commitment to peace and disarmament, alongside fascism and racism worldwide
- e.g Labour’s first prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, remained a pacifist during ww1

Question 16

Globalist internationalism

What have many MP’s and activists fought against?

Answer 16

Right-wing dictatorships whether fighting alongside the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War

Question 17

Globalist internationalism

What would many in the modern day labour government revise this attitude into?W

Answer 17

Support for European integration, with a strong emphasis on protecting workers’ rights across the EU

Question 18

Globalist internationalism

How was this strand weakened during the Blair years?

Answer 18

Blair’s close relationship with conservative republican president George W. Bush and his support for war

Question 19

Globalist internationalism

What did the war in Iraq produce?

Answer 19

Deep divisions in the party and large scale back bench rebellions

Question 20

New labour/ Third way socialism

How was the disenchantment with Blair’s ‘Third way Socialism’ reflected?

Answer 20

The swing to the left with the election of Corbyn as leader in 2015, and the adoption of more left wing politics

Question 21

New labour/ Third way socialism

What was Blair’s intention for Labour?

Answer 21

To modernise and update Labour and move it to the centre ground of electability following its lurch to the left in the early 1980’s under Michael Foot

Question 22

New labour/ Third way socialism

What was there less concern about?

Answer 22

About who owned industry and far more emphasis on how profits could be put to good use and achieve the goal of social justice

Question 23

New labour/ Third way socialism

What was more money pumped into?

Answer 23

The NHS and education - ‘Education, education, education’

Question 24

New labour/ Third way socialism

What was New labour also focused on?

Answer 24

Eliminating Child poverty

Question 25

New labour/ Third way socialism

How many Elections did Blair win?

Answer 25

3 consecutive elections on the back of his new labour policies

Question 26

How did Labour’s 2019 election manifesto reflect the strands of Labour?

Answer 26

• Raise the minimum wage from £8.01 to £10 a hour = somewhat Blairit
• Increae the health budget by 4.3% and cut private provision in the NHS = Economic socialism
• Bring forward the net zero target on carbon emissions = Globalist internationalism