What a Difference Four Years Makes - Part 1

Articles in this Topic Discussions in this Topic

Jul 1, 2001

The UK election came and went and the Labour government secured its hold with a massive 247 seat majority over the Conservatives. The media story was that apathy won, but sixty per cent of the electorate still voted, and most seem to have decided to give Tony Blair and his colleagues a second chance. Now, what are they going to do with it?

The Prime Minister introduced his first term with a promise to the poor. There would be “No forgotten people and no no-hope areas.” His success would be measured by the creation of a fairer society. He has begun his second term with a pledge to create an enterprise society.

Does he believe that he has done enough towards a more equitable nation? Has he given up, having discovered that it’s all too complex to fit into acceptable sound bites? Or does he think that favouring business will somehow benefit the poor? Has no-one told him that this fabled trickle down effect doesn’t work?

As Naomi Klein noted in her article on ‘George Bush’s America’: “According to several new reports, it turns out that the reasons for deepening [US] poverty is rather simple: it’s all those rich people. Extreme wealth created in the top tier of the economy, rather than trickling down and making everyone better off, is having a direct negative impact on those living in extreme poverty at the bottom.” (The Guardian, May 24th 2001)

Chancellor Gordon Brown talks about making us more enterprising and productive. Is that as enterprising as the teenager who finds there’s money in handling stolen goods or drug dealing? And how do you measure the productivity of a single mum bringing up her two kids on her own or the unemployed man who regularly helps out an elderly neighbour?

Last time around Blair was more interventionist. In What a Difference Four Years Makes - Part 2 (next month) we’ll assess two of his major initiatives for greater social justice and suggest a first step for this time around.

Go To Page: 1

The copyright of the article What a Difference Four Years Makes - Part 1 in U.K. Social Policy is owned by Kate Evans. Permission to republish What a Difference Four Years Makes - Part 1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.