Renewing the Left's ideology: what should be the principles and goals of the centre-Left today?

Speaker: James Purnell MP
Chair: Professor David Held
This event was recorded on 15 February 2010 in Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
The credit crunch was followed by a consensus on the centre-Left that the world was entering a "progressive moment", and that the financial crisis represented a failure of the ideas of the New Right. Yet, in Europe at least, social democracy has struggled to articulate what the progressive response to the crisis, and has struggled electorally as a consequence. To resolve this paradox, the Left needs to recognise that the financial crisis challenges its received ideology too, and that if it wants to survive electorally, it will need to renew itself intellectually. The lecture will argue that such a renewal can come from re-examining Labour's traditions, and from having the courage to be bolder about goals and methods.

• Category

  • Education

• License

  • Standard YouTube License