On the one hand, Diarmid Weir, Derek Bradbury and David Thorp seem to
be arguing that it is a "compromise" between the values of the old
Left and the new Right; on the other hand, Anthony Painter and I have
both suggested that it is (or needs to be) something new. Diarmid
quotes Jack Straw's speech to the Nexus conference as evidence that
it is simply "the acceptable compromise" and even a "rehash of what
the Conservatives tried to do". My reading of this speech is rather
different: true, Straw refers (15) to a "route between the Right and
the old, neo-Marxist Left" (had I been his spin doctor I might have
suggested "beyond" rather than "between") but he also states (49)
that a Third Way must "turn its back on both the first and second
ways" and, more significantly (15) that "the new Clause 4
IS the Third Way".
Fundamental to the whole clause 4 debate was a separation of ends and
means. "Wealth, power and opportunity in the hands of the many,
rather than the few" reflects the traditional values of the Left, as
relevant now as they ever were, whereas "by means of the common
ownership of production, distribution and supply" was simply one
means of achieving this end (far less relevant now than it was when
these words were written). For the old Left, common ownership was a
matter of ideological dogma, just as private ownership was for the
Right. The Third Way provides us with an opportunity to move beyond
such dogmatic approaches and to adopt pragmatic means in relation to
specific ends. It is, however, these ends that define the nature of
our project, and it is for this reason that I can't agree with David
Thorp's assertion that "ideals are irrelevant" to the definition of a
Third Way (this would be the basis of a managerial, rather than a
political project). To my mind the Third Way is a project of the Left and
Centre-Left, its ends rooted in the ideals of Left-of-Centre politics as they
have developed in the UK over many decades. What is new
is the recognition that the means of achieving the ends
are neither "Right wing" nor "Left wing" -"what counts is what
works". At this level one can adopt an "evidence-based" approach
(hence the unprecedented level of experimentation that is going on,
ranging from "Education Action Zones" to "Sure Start" and various
pilot studies of new approaches to crime) but only once we are clear
about our aims.
Mark Patton.
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