What are Labour governments for? Why aid budget cuts are an existential matter

By Martin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History, Newcastle University

What is the point of a Labour government? This is a question traditionally asked after Labour governments lose office. But it’s also a question asked while Labour governments are in office. And, sometimes, even when they still only recently arrived in office.

For a Labour prime minister to announce cuts in aid and development spending to increase spending on the military is one of those “Nixon in China” moments. Only a Labour prime minister could get away with so illiberal a move.

Yet for some it questions the very purpose of the Labour party, which, Harold Wilson told…

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