British political parties

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whats-Left-Liberals-Lost-Their/dp/0007229690

'The terms `Right' and `Left' appear to have only a residual traditional meaning, and in the current political climate, there is often little to distinguish between the two.'

I would agree with this reviewer, and go further. In a healthy, well-run modern state like Britain, the conflict between 'worker' and 'employer' is simply a matter of the continued application of established rules of equitability. It no longer constitutes any sort of fault-line in society worth organising political parties around. So what genuine constituencies are their who need political parties to advance their interests, and currently do not have one?

All three of the main parties in Britain are vying to represent that amorphous, ill-defined group called 'Middle-England'. Nobody seems sure exactly what 'Middle-England' will vote for, but if you triangulate the policies of the main parties, you get some idea. The main parties obviously believe that 'M-E' are entirely happy that healthcare, education, childcare, care of the elderly and a thousand other societal needs are provided by the government, even if that means taking perhaps 45% of medium- and low-income citizens income to pay for it. The public are deemed to be happy to see the public sector growing to become an ever-larger percentage of national economic activity. The main parties (excluding Tony Blair, the exception who proves the rule) also agree that America is the enemy of British national interests, indeed of everybodies interests all over the world. The big three are also happy to see Britain filling up with cheap labour from mainly Muslim countries, who keep wage inflation down and big companies happy. They are all happy to accept the loss of sovereignty to EU institutions, as long as the effects occur after this generation of politicians have retired. They are all also unfazed by the many losses of liberty and the intrusion into millions of peoples lives of Big Brother video surveillance, speed-cameras, government databases and many other shameful features of life in modern Britain.

The conclusion they seem to have come to is this: Britons don't want freedom, risk, an open society, charity, individual effort, traditions or a coherent culture. They have made a faustian pact with the government to provide them with a cocoon from cradle to grave that will obviate the need for any thought, effort, responsibility or risk. As long as the government provides this cocoon, its electoral success is guarunteed.

Nick Cohen's book is called "Whats Left? How liberals lost their way". I agree with his analysis, but would point to a larger problem. It is not just liberals who have lost their way. Most of the British governing class has lost its way. And the question Whats Left? could just as easily be applied to the Britain of old, much of which remained when I was born; but which has been destroyed piecemeal by us since the sixties. Britain feels poverty-stricken, even though it is rich. It feels dangerous, even though the statistics are not that damning really. It feels disoriented and aimless, unsure of its every move. Our politicians hardly ever speak their minds and when they do, it leaves us even more anxious than before because we discover our leaders are dazed and confused too.

Left-wing support for fascistic Islamism is to me a symptom of a nation without moral bearings; without a set of established moral principles to ground political debate. Say for instance, the moral principles to be found in Christianity. Unless a moral foundation can be found, and unless the real history of England can be retrieved from the marxist lies that make so many Englishmen hate their own country, I don't think we can expect our political parties to think any new thoughts. We will just tramp this dreary and chaotic road until somebody comes along with a fascism that appeals to the idiots enough to demolish the pitiful remnants of our once-great polity. The BNP haven't found it yet, but perhaps the Islamists have.