A «terceira via» na encruzilhada

• «Almost all the main premises of Thatcherism were adopted as policy by New Labour without it ever being formally avowed, and without anyone worrying much about whether Thatcherism ‘worked’, because the political professionals told ministers that they had to accept the lessons of the 1980s – despite the fact that in the 1980s Blair and Brown had a very clear idea of what Thatcherism was up to. Evidence that suggested most people had no real sympathy for what Thatcherism had become was discounted in favour of focus-group truths: taxation (too high), crime (too much), choice (not enough), asylum seekers (too many), the public sphere (too big). The elimination of these blemishes became the desideratum of politics.» (London Review of Books)

Os trabalhistas nunca tinham ganho duas eleições seguidas. Com Blair ganharam três. Infelizmente, a «terceira via» resumiu-se a ser um thatcherismo de rosto humano. Sem terem introduzido uma cultura política distinta no governo britânico, os herdeiros de Blair perderam a hipótese que tiveram de renovar a esquerda. Desaparecerão sem deixar rasto.