The collapse of the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe and the dire condition of the Soviet Union have left Socialism almost irredeemably discredited. Understandably, the recent Labour policy document tactfully avoided the subject. Such reticence is of course nothing new. Unlike Continental parties, even the old ILP kept 'Socialist' out of its title to avoid offending the workers; and the Labour election programme of 1929, largely drafted by Tawney, did not mention the word 'socialism'. Labour's recent socialist flirtation was an atypical, though not unprecedented folly - the Party indulged in similar sectarian extremism in the Thirties - which is unlikely to be repeated. Certainly if Labour is to face the future with any hope of electoral prosperity, it will have to be resolutely social-democratic both in rhetoric and in action. Outside the Third World, socialism is dead and will not be resurrected for some time to come.

LRB 12 July 1990 | PDF Download