We all know who left wing people hate: Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson. But what what do they believe in? Renationalisation? Following the privatisations under Thatcher and Major, successive Labour governments have shown little enthusiasm for renationalisation, the reasons being 1) state enterprises have little incentive to innovate or find efficiency savings 2) the costs of running nationalised industries fall on the taxpayer 3) it would be prohibitively expensive to compensate the shareholders of privatised industries, who include pension funds. The NHS? For many on the left the NHS has assumed the status of a holy relic. Any plan to alter the model of a service free at the point of delivery is regarded as blasphemous. Yet all sensible people know that the present system cannot be maintained. The NHS at a cost of £250 billion per year accounts for around 20% of government spending. As people live longer and medical treatments become ever more expensive this proportion is projected to rise over the next fifty years to 30%, which is simply unsustainable. It’s obvious that some element of private insurance will be required, but no party is willing to mention this for fear of handing electoral victory to its opponents. Immigration? Rising levels of immigration are not popular with working class voters who rightly fear that their living standards will be eroded by importing cheap labour from abroad and their chance of obtaining social housing further delayed. But the metropolitan elite in charge of Labour Party policy, who own their own homes in leafy suburbs  and have secure jobs, can afford to display their virtue by expounding on the benefits of immigration. It’s obvious that the present model of importing workers from abroad to do the jobs which British people don’t want to do cannot be sustained. Welfare? People on the left pride themselves on being more ‘caring’ about the poor and the infirm than supposedly selfish Tories. Everyone agrees that the state should provide a safety net for those who are unable to support themselves. But the present system where a dwindling number of taxpayers are supporting an ever increasing number of people on benefits will lead to national bankruptcy. The EU? Again, only part of the traditional left supports rejoining the EU. Working class voters on the whole don’t.  The middle class is decidedly pro-European for reasons which are more ideological than practical. For example, it is true that farm exports to the EU have fallen by £3  billion since Brexit, but when this sum is set against the total value of UK exports, almost £1 trillion, rejoining the single market is hardly going to revive the  British economy. Another issue on the table at the moment is rejoining the Erasmus scheme. But twice as many European students came to the UK to study compared to British students who went to study in the EU simply because British universities are rated more highly than their European counterparts. It seems to me that Andy Burnham’s move to reset relations with the EU is motivated by a desire to garner votes from disappointed Remainers. Given that he told the voters of Makerfield only six months ago that he wished to respect the Referendum and that he had no intention of reviving the Brexit debate, his behaviour is extraordinarily hypocritical.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
What does the left believe in?	08/11/26 11:00:00	Steven Rose
Re:What does the left believe in?	08/11/26 11:39:00	Sue Hammond
Re:What does the left believe in?	08/11/26 11:48:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:What does the left believe in?	08/11/26 12:44:00	Richard Carter

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