‘Neoliberal’ is an unthinking leftist insult. All it does is stifle debateWill the liberal left gift the 2020s to the right in the same way? The first clue will be the Labour leadership contest. If the eventual leader wins as a sworn enemy of “neoliberalism”, be sure that all constructive thought will be expunged from Labour for another electoral cycle. It is possible to believe in the power of government, the reform of capitalism, the necessity of social justice and the imperative to confront the environmental challenge and still want a vibrant, purpose-driven private sector. Shared values mean those are common ends: if the policy mix to achieve them tries to mitigate high taxation, state ownership and a proliferation of government agencies, then that strategy should not be written off as “neoliberal”.
Nor can Brexit be buried. EU membership benefited Britain and Johnson’s impending hard Brexit will harm it. More than that, the EU is a noble cause and a force for good in the world. Leave voters who so desperately wanted better for themselves were sold a lie. To desert the pro-EU cause now is wrong both in principle and, as the lie becomes exposed, in practice. Johnson’s failure is not guaranteed. It remains true that addressing the challenges of our times falls more naturally to the liberal left than the right. But without the same ruthlessness about the pursuit of power, the opportunity may never arise.
So: no more sectarianism, no more hurling vacuous insults at those who don’t sign up to the faith. Exploit the left’s natural advantages and back political winners. Otherwise, the right will control another decade. It is not only social democracy at stake but, as Britain dissolves into an one-party state, liberal democracy itself.
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