Corbyn camp could learn how to be elected from Blair and Wilson governments

How similar is the rhetoric adopted by Labour leader Jeremy corby non technology, and the need for planned and managed change, to that of some of his predecessors( scots man ,27 September)?

Tony blair was a this most persuasive when he urged his followers to recognise that it could no more hold back the tide of change than the move from day into night.

It was the task of his govern- ment to try to harness it for the benefit of the majority through advances in education, public sector reform, boosting small and medium sized enterprises, rejecting reliance on either complete public ownership or unbridled market forces.

In a most eloquent speech in the 1960s Harold Wilson spoke about a scientific revolution and the need to break down class barriers and restrictive practices of both trade unions and employers to help foster growth and fairness. the role of government would be to inspire research and innovation as a means to growth.

Both leaders were to find out the hard way, however, that the business of managing change could be very difficult indeed.

They both accepted that makingpublic policy should inspire the confidence of both the public and private sectors and the need for fiscal prudence.

The mood at this year’s Labour conference has been one of optimism fuelled, it seems, by one spending commitment after another from Shadow ministers.

No doubt Mr Corbyn and his Shadow Chancellor John Mcdonnell would disagree, but the perception is there that Labour is not yet business friendly.

That is not to say that their policies on preventing tax avoidance should not be pursued with vigour, and attempts to identify waste in the way public sector contracts to private companiesare awarded and carried out should not continue.

They may have a different way of looking at the world from that of Blair and Wilson, but if they aspire to government they may yet want to borrow more of those former prime ministers’ outlook if they are to become credible as an electoral force.

BOB TAYLOR Shiel Court, Glenrothes I cannot remember how many years it is since David Steel, at the end of a Liberal Party conference, told the delegates to “Go home and prepare for government !”

Perhaps the fate of that prediction is relevant to current UK Labour Party hopes.

DAVID STEVENSON