2001h issue anniversary meeting Julian Atkinson looks at Shirley Williams' new book Politics is for People THE hard-eyed realities Democratic Party (SDP) are obvious enough. There is total loyalty to NATO, the Common Market, the policy and market forces. These policies are advanced under the code names of peace, internationalism, pluralist democracy, fairness and decentralisation.
The well-worn contents are then packaged as and breaking the mould' The nearest that the Social Democrats have welve basks for Social Democrats'. - show how entirely wedded they are Denis Healey-style monetarism.
of the capitalist system, incomes are told that unemployment cannot defeated by spending. An incomes policy is required of unprecedented severity: it is suggested that an inflation rate of 8 per cent would only allow wage rises of 4 per cent.
In the autumn of 1978 when Jim Callaghan faced in 8 per cent inflation rat le offered a princely 5 pr cent norm before he was engulfed in the 'winter of dicontent'.
The radical edge of the SDP is briefly exposed ir the formula that the state should lean to equality' and then resolutels sheathed again moderate afterthought that this inclination must nol oc oppressive ana la in a period of recession there is little scope redistribution.
The authentically new strain in the SDP is found afterthoughts.
There has been a decisive break welfare reformism of Anthony Crosland. The SDP is erised in a zero-cost crusade reformism without reforms.
Since the Labour Par. ty, in opposition at least reforms in full-blown capitalist crisis risk raising working-class expectations to a dangerous level, the SDP has set itself the task of wrecking the The aims of these shop-soiled professional politicians, whose main background is that of apparatchiks in the party apparatus or state executive, have to be carefully packaged and marketed The first attempt give an intellectual gloss to the enterprise was made by Dr David Owen with his book 'Face the Future' was a faluce: a muddled and diffuse book which seemed to have as many authors as the Bible But it contained one so be in the enterarian libertarian socialist tradition of comrevolutionary William Morris it was the The Shirley Willams The Shirley book is more successfut and has a clearer aim. It is a raid into Slipman/Poly Toynbee country. There is a laver o radicalised in the vaguely radicalised in late 1960s and early 1970s while students.
They got good job and then Emma and young Mark came along. A grow. alue of Wholemeal bread dogmatism the was mirrored by an increasingly adult and mature agnosticism on politics. Politics is for Peo-
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Socialist Perspectives for Europe