Clause for Thought
Brian Brivati looks at the last time 'modernising' the Labour Party and its union links caused controversy.
The British Labour Party has a long memory and a conservative nature. There are two key elements in its conservatism which have been the subject of controversy over the last thirty years and which the current leadership would like, in an ideal world, to reform. The first is the link with the trade unions, particularly the block vote system. The second is Clause IV of the Party's constitution. Both are retained because of their historical importance rather than their contemporary relevance, and the modernisers in the Party feel they are an obstacle to winning power.
The contemporary generation of modernisers in the Labour Party, led by John Smith, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, are the heirs of an earlier generation led by Hugh Gaitskell, Tony Crosland and Roy Jenkins. For this earlier generation of modernisers the great battle took place in 1959.
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