BILL CLINTON became Labour's latest factional surrogate last weekend as arguments erupted over what conclusions to draw from his triumph in the US presidential election.
un one nano, newspapers reported a orowino damour fo Clintonisabion from the Labour right wing. On the other, Centre. Left politicians attacked the Cantonisers" for wanting to tum Labour into a party ike the american Democrats The source of the row is an article by Philip Gould, the former Shadow Communications Agency co-ordinator, and Hewet, the deputy director of the institute for Public Policy Research and a former senior aide to Neil Kinnock, in the launch issue of Renewa, the Labour Co-ordinating Committee's new quarterly journal.
The articie, titled Lessons from America", arques that Labour must emulate Mr Canton's success in discarding the Democrats' image as the party of the poor and of the past and forging a populism of the Centre rather than the Left which can appeal to the majority. Labour should shy away from confrontabion and project 'non-political politics' While not advocating wholesale coversion to Democrat policies, it notes that the Democrats' present fusion of economic January 16, 1993 No. 35 appropriate for Britain. aganst the the moment Such enthusiasm for Clinton is a cover for an attempt by party 'modernisers", led by Tony Blair, the Shadow Home Secretary, to distance Labour from the trade unions. objective has now been echoed by John Smith and top union bureaucrat John Edmonds (GMB), who have declared the aim of scrapping the block vote this your.
Biair appears to see openings for himself in the repeated references by Clinton campaign chiefs to their success depend. ing upon a strong, young, attractive candidate. Certainly none of these could be said to apply to John Smith In rejocting this approach John Prescott claimed that it is a matter of the heart and soul of the Labour Party", while even traditionalist rightwingers like national executive member John cans Tave can 03500 0l50Ul8L In the end, though, defence of the status que is no defence Clintonisers. the poltes of Jom useless continuation of Kinnockism, which in 1997 and again in 1992 was shown to be incapable of producing victory.
The Cintonisers wil make gains because they are seen at as the only people with something radical, if extremely right wing, to say. This Face of future social democracy? Tony Blair
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