Blue Labour told us many valuable things - but Maurice Glasman is now straying onto dangerous territory, writes Left Foot Forward's Daniel Elton.
Maurice Glasman has added much to the intellectual debate of the Left. The now Lord Glassman asserted that the Labour party’s mission is about people, not the gini coefficient or policy wonkery. First and foremost, he reminded Labour that it must always answer the question “which side are you on?”; to which the correct answer is “working people and their families”.
Unfortunately, his particular answer to that question is becoming sinister.
This morning’s Daily Telegraph reported that:
Lord Glasman, the leading policy adviser to the Labour leader, said the country should “draw the line” on immigration and even renegotiate EU rules that allow free movement for migrant workers…
He told The Daily Telegraph that Britain is “not an outpost of the UN” and the needs of the British people must be put first…
In an interview with this newspaper, he said: “We’ve got to reinterrogate our relationship with the EU on the movement of labour. The EU has gone from being a sort of pig farm subsidised bloc to the free movement of labour and capital.”
This is dog-whistle stuff, pure and simple, and is one step away from “Powell was right’.
It follows a recent Progress interview from Glasman where he said that Labour needs:
“To build a party that brokers a common good, that involves those people who support the EDL within our party.”
This seems to ignore the fact that the EDL, whatever worrying potential it has, still represents a small minority. Furthermore, the previous generations of Labour leaders that Glasman wants to emulate, always had to contend with an electorate where up to two-fifths of the working class voted for the Conservatives, often built on the back of right-wing populism that traces its lineage through Enoch Powell to Joe Chamberlain.
The Labour Party didn’t win the great national arguments by appeasing those elements but confronting them.
43 Responses to “It may soon be time ‘to draw the line’ on Glasman”
Leon Wolfson
That’s because Blue Labour is indistinguishable in most respects from the Tory party. If they’re allowed to continue, then Labour lose much of their voting core to “nobody represents us”, which in many cases tends to be permanent.
Of course you want them to continue, and lose Labour voters. No surprise there.
Ed's Talking Balls
That’s actually not the reason I’d like a debate to take place.
I’m not thinking tactically, I’m just fed up with people shutting down debate at the first mention of immigration. To the extent that discussion is permitted, it must only consist of the odd graph and remarks that immigration is ‘economically positive’.
At least Glasman has said something of interest to many voters. That’s more than can be said of the vast majority of politicians, particularly on this issue. But lo and behold, no sooner has he opened his mouth than people are calling for it to be stapled shut.
And lastly, the words “nobody represents us” can be attributed to a great many voters, not just those alienated by the Labour leadership, I can assure you.
Ed's Talking Balls
P.S. Surely Labour’s already lost much of its voting core, since Blair’s modernisation and Brown’s watered-down, less successful continuation of the project?
I have to laugh when I hear Labour criticisms of the “Cabinet of millionaires” when the Shadow Cabinet looks broadly similar to me; I can’t imagine that the wool is being pulled over traditional Labour voters’ eyes and they must realise that convergence has left us with parties which, in many respects, are indistinguishable.
Children of Abraham
RABBIS AND IMAMS OPEN LETTER TO ED MILIBAND
Dear Mr Miliband
We are writing as British Jews and Muslims, rabbis and imams and community leaders, in an open letter which we are forwarding to the media of both our communities.
We share a commitment to fighting racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia wherever they are found – including within our own communities. This position is informed by Jewish and Muslim ethical teaching on equality and human dignity.
We wish to express our concern at some of the statements on English national identity, immigration and the English Defence League, made by your close advisor, Lord Maurice Glasman, Labour peer and founder of “Blue Labour”.
He has spoken of his vision for Labour “to build a party that brokers a common good, that involves those people who support the EDL [English Defence League] within our party”. He has said that it is not the case that “everyone who comes is equal and has an equal status with people who are here”. And he has also called for a complete halt to immigration, and implied that he is against asylum (“Britain is not an outpost of the UN…”).
These comments have caused such offence and concern with the Muslim community that some mosques have announced a prohibition against Lord Glasman entering their premises.
We are extremely worried by Lord Glasman’s pronouncements and use of language. Whatever his intentions, these sentiments and soundbites on such an emotive topic as immigration just give fodder to extremism.
We feel that it is important for you to dissociate yourself from these comments, and we call on the Labour Party to reaffirm its best traditions of anti-racism, equality and compassion for all people in our country.
Yours sincerely
Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini, Lecturer in Abrahamic Religions at Al-Azhar College, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif
Sheikh Professor Mohamed Elsharkawy, Secretary of Scriptural Reasoning Imams Council
Dr Edie Friedman, Executive Director of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality
Imam Shahid Hussain, Head of the Interfaith Department, Regent’s Park Mosque London
Rabbi Reuben Livingstone, Chair of Children of Abraham, Jewish Chaplain to H M Armed Forces
Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, Chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony UK
Rabbi Jackie Tabick, Chair of the World Congress of Faiths
Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah, Rabbi of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue
ENQUIRIES TO: enquiries AT childrenofabraham DOT org DOT uk
(Children of Abraham is the national charity for rabbis and imams, the Jewish Council for Racial Equality is the national body in the Jewish community on asylum and immigrant rights, the World Congress of Faiths is an international interfaith organisation, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif founded in 960 is the oldest centre of Islamic learning in the world, Scriptural Reasoning is the practice of Jews, Christians and Muslims meeting to study their sacred texts in order to foster understanding and respect for religious differences. Maurice Glasman has been a leading exponent of Scriptural Reasoning, and used this as the “Faith” justification in Blue Labour’s “Faith, Family and Flag”)
More trouble for Miliband – Labour’s left and right are both gearing up for a fight | Catch21 Productions
[…] A few months ago, Blue Labour seemed to have been discredited by Glasman’s controversial remarks on immigration, and by his idiotic suggestion that Labour should open a dialogue with the far right English […]