Quote:
Originally Posted by rupertramjet
I actually met Neil (and Glynis) Kinnock on several occasions, he was a genuinely nice guy, with a great sense of humour, a sharp wit and a man you enjoyed having around. I genuinely believe in his early days he believed strongly in his socialist values. I think the cynicism of other politicians bought him down. I was absolutely astonished that he, and Glynis entered the House of Lords, especially as he had been such a spolesman for its removal.
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Admittedly, the 80s were not good for Labour. The 1970s IMF crisis and Winter of Discontent were a humiliation for James Callaghan and disillusioned many Labour voters (I recall listening to a podcast with people who worked on The Sun during the 70s and 80s. They denied being a Tory paper but a paper for working class disillusioned Labour voters). Europe was always a divisive issue for Labour. Left wingers instinctively resisted the idea of a "Common Market", with Tony Benn and Michael Foot springing to mind. There was however a "Europhilic tendency" which pointed to the strong socialist traditions in European politics. Roy Jenkins was a notable advocate of this. With the formation of the SDP many Labour politicians previously hostile to Europe finally turned towards it, seeing European socialism as a electable alternative to Thatcherism. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union made socialism seem like a spent force. Come the late 90s, Blair set about turning "Labour" into "New Labour".