Lord (Maurice) Glasman, architect of ‘blue Labour‘ and advisor to Ed Miliband, has attacked Margaret Thatcher in a video released by the Oxford Union. The video, from a debate last month, was uploaded this week and shows Glasman blaming Thatcher for “our present malaise” because she offered “incentives to vice”.
Glasman said: “What Margaret Thatcher did was not change the dynamic of decline she merely took sides. And she took sides with the rich against the poor, she took sides with those who had power against those who did not.
“The tragedy of Margaret Thatcher, is that we are still living with decline, we are still living in an economy that cannot generate value.
“Far from saving Britain she was, not the only, but one of the chief sources of our present malaise. Our inability to generate value and uphold civic virtue.”
He also claimed that the 1970’s were not as bad they are depicted. Despite the 3 day week, regular strikes and the winter of discontent, Glasman described the decade as a period of “enormous change, where there was an enormous promise of a different way.” He went on to claim the promise of a different way did not materialise and Thatcher was to blame.
Glasman is no stranger to controversy, last year he wrote a letter to Wood Green Crown Court in defense of extreme left-wing activist Bryn Phillips. Philips had been convicted of attacking a police officer, and trashing a small shop in Hackney during the notorious London riots.
Mr Phillips narrowly escaped prison because of three factors: the Glasman letter, his mental illness, and the fact he hadn’t taken his psychiatric drugs on the day of the attack. The shop in question was looted and a fire was started outside it, the owner had to beg locals to help him rebuild his business. The shop only re-opened fully 4 months after the attack.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.