Labour and the Patriot Game

Abstract

AbstractThe Labour Party has recently been advised to showcase its patriotism and let the electorate know it is proud to be British. This is never bad advice for a mainstream political party with designs on power and certainly Labour in the past has enjoyed electoral success when its redistributionist policies have sprung, at least in part, from an obvious love of country. There's a certain urgency, too, in the suggestion, since the Corbyn leadership convinced many former Labour voters that the party was careless about a British identity and perhaps even hostile to British interests. Nevertheless, it would be foolish for Keir Starmer's Labour Party to enter into a destructive competition with the Tories to see who looks better with the national flag. For reasons which the article explores, there are strict limits beyond which a social democratic party would not care to go in such a contest. But this ought not matter. Voters do not want to see Labour leaders telling them how patriotic they are. They are content to be shown. This article surveys the history and looks at some possibilities inherent in Labour and the patriot game.