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Two Something old and blue, or red, bold and new? Welfare reform and the Coalition government

  • Jay Wiggan
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Social Policy Review 23
This chapter is in the book Social Policy Review 23

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the dividing lines between, on the one hand, the civic conservative ideas articulated by Conservative politicians such as David Willets and Oliver Letwin, and on the other hand, what it sees as one of the most striking ideas within contemporary Conservative thinking, Phillip Blond’s ‘Red Tory’ critique of neoliberalism. It argues that the distinctiveness of Red Toryism lies in its attempt to break conservatism from neoliberalism by establishing that the latter is not the champion of free markets, but of monopolistic big business. It notes that the Conservative Party leadership may on occasion have flirted with the Red Tory critique of monopoly capitalism, this remains at a rhetorical level, for as it demonstrates through an analysis of the Coalition government’s welfare to work reforms, current policies will both extend the reach of private monopolistic practice and strengthen the power of capital.

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the dividing lines between, on the one hand, the civic conservative ideas articulated by Conservative politicians such as David Willets and Oliver Letwin, and on the other hand, what it sees as one of the most striking ideas within contemporary Conservative thinking, Phillip Blond’s ‘Red Tory’ critique of neoliberalism. It argues that the distinctiveness of Red Toryism lies in its attempt to break conservatism from neoliberalism by establishing that the latter is not the champion of free markets, but of monopolistic big business. It notes that the Conservative Party leadership may on occasion have flirted with the Red Tory critique of monopoly capitalism, this remains at a rhetorical level, for as it demonstrates through an analysis of the Coalition government’s welfare to work reforms, current policies will both extend the reach of private monopolistic practice and strengthen the power of capital.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. Notes on contributors v
  4. Symposium on the Coalition government
  5. Conservative social policy: from conviction to coalition 7
  6. Something old and blue, or red, bold and new? Welfare reform and the Coalition government 25
  7. The Conservative Party and the ‘Big Society’ 45
  8. The age of responsibility: social policy and citizenship in the early 21st century 63
  9. Debating the ‘death tax’: the politics of inheritance tax in the UK 85
  10. The debate about public service occupational pension reform 103
  11. Welfare to work after the recession: from the New Deals to the Work Programme 127
  12. Lone parents and the Conservatives: anything new? 147
  13. A treble blow? Child poverty in 2010 and beyond 165
  14. The English NHS as a market: challenges for the Coalition government 185
  15. Education in international context
  16. Citizenship education in international perspective: lessons from the UK and overseas 211
  17. “You’re only going to get it if you really shout for it”: education dispute resolution in the 21st century in England 233
  18. A sin of omission: New Zealand’s export education industry and foreign policy 257
  19. Student security in the global education market 281
  20. Exporting policy: the growth of multinational education policy businesses and new policy ‘assemblages’ 303
  21. Index 323
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781847429094-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. Notes on contributors v
  4. Symposium on the Coalition government
  5. Conservative social policy: from conviction to coalition 7
  6. Something old and blue, or red, bold and new? Welfare reform and the Coalition government 25
  7. The Conservative Party and the ‘Big Society’ 45
  8. The age of responsibility: social policy and citizenship in the early 21st century 63
  9. Debating the ‘death tax’: the politics of inheritance tax in the UK 85
  10. The debate about public service occupational pension reform 103
  11. Welfare to work after the recession: from the New Deals to the Work Programme 127
  12. Lone parents and the Conservatives: anything new? 147
  13. A treble blow? Child poverty in 2010 and beyond 165
  14. The English NHS as a market: challenges for the Coalition government 185
  15. Education in international context
  16. Citizenship education in international perspective: lessons from the UK and overseas 211
  17. “You’re only going to get it if you really shout for it”: education dispute resolution in the 21st century in England 233
  18. A sin of omission: New Zealand’s export education industry and foreign policy 257
  19. Student security in the global education market 281
  20. Exporting policy: the growth of multinational education policy businesses and new policy ‘assemblages’ 303
  21. Index 323
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