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The Verdict: Did Labour Change Britain?
Did Labour policies worsen the recession? Why did social mobility slow down on Labour's watch? Has SureStart improved the prospects of tomorrow's children? Does politics ever actually change anything? In their new book, Polly Toynbee and David Walker investigate these questions and more, providing a telling analysis of Labour's longest term in office, and a fascinating account of the role of politics in public life. They compare election promises with government policy, and use real-world stories and incisive commentary to illustrate the impact of Labour's government on the lives of British people. At the heart of the book is the question: Would the changes of the past 12 years have happened anyway? From the gleeful consumerism of the boom times to the misery of the economic bust, Toynbee & Walker assess the era of Blair and Brown and ask What Have Labour Done?
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
314 pages, Hardcover
First published October 7, 2010
6 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Polly Toynbee
29 books38 followersPolly Toynbee (born Mary Louisa Toynbee, 27 December 1946) is a British journalist and writer, and has been a columnist for The Guardian newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and broadly supports the Labour Party, while urging it in many areas to be more left-wing, though during the 2010 general election she urged a tactical vote in support of the Liberal Democrats in an attempt to bring about a Lab-Lib coalition in support of proportional representation. She was appointed President of the British Humanist Association in July 2007. In 2007 she was named 'Columnist of the Year' at the British Press Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 19, 2024
It was good to be reminded of the good things of the New Labour years - there were many - but Toynbee pulls no punches in reminding us that Blair and co should have been bolder. The gains they made in reducing child poverty were overturned, and things got much worse since 2010. Starmer won’t have as favourable economic backdrop but let’s hope he still manages to turn things round from our now threadbare public services.
November 1, 2012
An absolutely brilliant book, and one that completely skewers the Tory political line about Labour "overspending". It also asks us all to take responsibility for the juvenile state we've allowed our politics to regress to. I was particularly taken with this quote:
"But in appearing to blame Labour, do we slip into a category error, asking government to lead, think, inspire, as if the institutions of civil society, business and the people at large had no role or responsibility? Labour ministers beat their chests often enough over the paradox. How, in an age when parties, politics and government itself lacks prestige and participation, can so much more be expected of elected representatives? How can governments lead when so many are disaffected and apathetic, won’t engage or bother to figure out public services, foreign policy, how the system runs and how it is to be paid for? People persist in believing untruths, about the scale of crime, for example. The gap between perception and reality was one of Labour’s bigger headaches, which they struggled with, but could not solve. Treated like minors, offered few hard choices, the electorate responded to pollsters with infantile contrariness. We want… lower taxes and better services, safer roads but fewer speed cameras, cheap food but kindness to farm animals, less obesity but less nanny state. The public wish politicians would stop bickering, yet deplore parties being ‘all the same’.”
"But in appearing to blame Labour, do we slip into a category error, asking government to lead, think, inspire, as if the institutions of civil society, business and the people at large had no role or responsibility? Labour ministers beat their chests often enough over the paradox. How, in an age when parties, politics and government itself lacks prestige and participation, can so much more be expected of elected representatives? How can governments lead when so many are disaffected and apathetic, won’t engage or bother to figure out public services, foreign policy, how the system runs and how it is to be paid for? People persist in believing untruths, about the scale of crime, for example. The gap between perception and reality was one of Labour’s bigger headaches, which they struggled with, but could not solve. Treated like minors, offered few hard choices, the electorate responded to pollsters with infantile contrariness. We want… lower taxes and better services, safer roads but fewer speed cameras, cheap food but kindness to farm animals, less obesity but less nanny state. The public wish politicians would stop bickering, yet deplore parties being ‘all the same’.”
February 16, 2014
3/5
A solid piece attempting to answer an overly broad question: did the new labour government change Britain, and if so, how?
Pros: it covers everything, from social trends to education reform. If you want a broad brush review of 13 whole years this will meet the grade.
Cons: However, given how broad the proposing question is, nothing is covered in as much detail as I'd have prefered. For example, social attitudes toward the LGBT community isn't really explored except fleetingly in no more than a handful of pages. Yet this arguably is the single greatest new labour legacy! Taking a deeply homophobic country following 18 wasted Tory years of misrule and accelerating forward 13 years bequeathing a wholly pro-lgbt society is no little thing.
Still, an easy read which provides a solid introduction into the new labour record, free from the childish anti-war biases which taint some political satirists.
A solid piece attempting to answer an overly broad question: did the new labour government change Britain, and if so, how?
Pros: it covers everything, from social trends to education reform. If you want a broad brush review of 13 whole years this will meet the grade.
Cons: However, given how broad the proposing question is, nothing is covered in as much detail as I'd have prefered. For example, social attitudes toward the LGBT community isn't really explored except fleetingly in no more than a handful of pages. Yet this arguably is the single greatest new labour legacy! Taking a deeply homophobic country following 18 wasted Tory years of misrule and accelerating forward 13 years bequeathing a wholly pro-lgbt society is no little thing.
Still, an easy read which provides a solid introduction into the new labour record, free from the childish anti-war biases which taint some political satirists.
February 28, 2012
Toynbee and Walker followed the Labour government from 1997 to 2010 with a series of books, and this one tries to give a verdict on the government as a whole. Naturally it's contentious. Although writing from the left of politics, they are by no means uncritical. There are some interesting insights and some equally interesting blind spots in their analysis.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews