Beyond equality and liberty: New Labour's liberal conservatism

Post-Thatcherism is Tony Blair's way of saying: No Turning Back. But where is New Labour heading? Party modernisers have committed Labour to a politics which combines the free market and the strong community. The search for a dynamic market economy has pushed old ideas of equality to one side. Fears about social fragmentation have given rise to new ideas of community. But these pose awkward questions for New Labour's commitment to individual liberty. In this paper we shall suggest that the free market and the strong community in New Labour politics amounts to a radical shift to liberal conservatism.