| "the central issue for modern socialists : how can socialism combine efficient state economic involvment with it's commitment to economic justice?" "political parties willingly acknowledge problems and injustices, but are forever promising that at some unspecified date all will be well. The glitz of modern politics is designed to engender that false hope". "Market forces are the witchcraft of modern capitalism" "The Labour Party seems unwilling to share a socialist vision with people... It is true that on polling day the Labour Party remains the proper alternative to the Tory Party and I will continue to campaign for the Labour Party until I die. But it has lost it's interest in socialist change. The Labour Party is failing to challenge the central idealogy of our society, and thus to present a socialist alternative" "the ten prime ministers since 1945 have raised over 830 men & women to the peerage - whereas it takes 43 million electors to choose 650 mp's!" "those of us who express anxiety about the secret state are often accused of paranoia... the danger lies not in massive conspiracy but in the gradual erosion of democratic accountability" "democratic socialism must be built brick by brick, and as each brick is put in place, more may people may come to see the relevance of socialism" "Proportional representation... reduces democratic accountability , and it also reduces the opportunities for socialist measures to be introduced" |
| "we may win elections from time to time. But all that is worthless unless our thoughts and actions are firmly grounded on moral truth" "One of the arguments that will be put to us , of course, is that we are out of tune with public opinion. That is a criticism shared by all pioneers throughout British history. I doubt whether Karl Marx , when he was writing in the British Museum, could have got a single opinion poll to confirm the existence of class struggle because they had never heard of it. ï¿¿ I doubt actually, at the time whether the Tolpuddle Martyrs would have got a clear majority on the MORI poll on the desirability of a agricultural workers union" "Despite the immense pressures under which trade unions are working and the apparent setback to socialism we have experienced in recent years, I want to conclude by re-affirming my commitment to and faith in the future of both" "the Tory party is the enemy of democracy" "Experience has shown that substituting Labour ministers for Tory ministers cannt achieve our objectives if we limit ourselves to the more humane and efficient management of capitalism which depends on maintaining unacceptable inequality" "Socialists need to give as much attention to the institutions of the state as to the power structure of the economy, since both are riddled with privilege and they combine to deny the people of Britain their rightful inheritence" "The fact that a moral approached has been so neglected in electoral politics, particularly by the Labour movement, for so long, and that the choices offered between the parties has been so managerial in character, may, in part, explain why we are facing our present difficulties" "Democracy is always a struggle for justice against the powerful" "it is assumed by some on the left that all Labour governments have betrayed their comittment to socialism , as if every Labour MP begins life as a dedicated socialist and gives up idealogy once he or she gets to Parliament or becomes a minister. That is not my experience of my colleagues at all..." "Third way philosophers line up to support capitalism and free trade. Modernisers and focus groups yearn for more of it, and business friendly ministers think of nothing else" "...he benefits of capitalism and free trade are not really being seen in the world at all" "... I have always thought it positive to say that the important thing about democracy is that we can remove without bloodshed the people who govern us" "Riot has played a bigger part in British politics than we are ever allowed to know" "I do not share the general view that market forces are the basis for political liberty. Every time I see a homeless person living in a cardboard box in London, I see that person as a victim of market forces. Everytime I see a pensioner who cannot manage, I know that he is a victim of market forces" "Although socialism is widely held by the establishment to be outdated, the things that are most popular in British society today are little pockets of socialism, where areas of life have been excluded from the crude operation of market forces and are protected for the benefit of the community" "the substitution of Lord Robens for a bunch of private coalowners is not the same as Socialism... the central question that remains to be settled is therefore the democratisation of public enterprise from the bottom up" "Democracy is not just voting every 5 years and watching Big Brother in between and wondering why nothing happens. Democracy is what we do and say where we live and work" |
| SOCIALISM & DEMOCRACY QUOTES |
