All Labour politicians want the benediction of Keir Hardie
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Version 0 of 1. David Edgar may be right (Corbyn’s opponents could be correct. But I’m still inspired, Opinion, 31 August), and he does more than raise our spirits. To win in 2020, Labour now needs to appeal to a much more fragmented electorate. To do so successfully, I believe we need to develop further the initiatives that David suggests. The voters’ highest instincts, to which David appeals, are too frail a base on which to build sustained success across these sectional divides. Policy must be based on a sense of self-interest as well as fairness. Rebuilding welfare on a national insurance base and extending this base to funding the NHS begins to fulfil what all too often is casually dismissed as conflicting objectives. As David reminds us, unless we set off in the right direction, we are most unlikely to reach our objectives with enough of the electorate on board. Reforming welfare and NHS finances is not a complete programme, but it is a vital part of sustaining activist spirits, as well as having a similar impact on much of the electorate.Frank Field MPLabour, Birkenhead • All policy recommendations framed in terms of what X would have thought or done (X being Jesus, the Founding Fathers, or Keir Hardie) are historically naive; at best, they consist of casuistical advocacy, which is why Keir Hardie can be variously invoked by Peter Mandelson, Alan Johnson and now Melissa Benn (Labour should ask itself: what would Keir Hardie do?, 1 September). Every historical conjuncture is different and analogies are usually superficial and misleading (Eden thought 1956 was 1936 and that Nasser was Hitler: look where that got him). And, people being products of their time, if Keir Hardie had lived 100 years later, he would not have been Keir Hardie. Instead of playing parlour games, advocates should discuss policies in terms of their contemporary – and future – merits.Alan KnightProfessor emeritus of history, St Antony’s College, Oxford • When Keir Hardie first stood for the Commons in 1888 his manifesto called for the abolition of the House of Lords. His opposition continued all his life. He argued that all lords undermined democracy and were the enemies of the working class. Labour today should do the same.Bob HolmanGlasgow |