Rebuild the ‘progressive centre’

The following is an excerpt from an article in the New York Times by former British prime minister Tony Blair:

Politics in most European countries, and certainly in the United States, is still dominated by the traditional parties of right and left. Under pressure from radical populism, though, it’s shifting more to the extremes, as we’re seeing with the British Labour Party and the French Socialists.

So this leaves a big space in the centre. For the progressive wing of politics, the correct strategy is to make the case for building a new coalition out from the centre. To do so, progressives need to acknowledge the genuine cultural anxieties of those voters who have deserted the cause of social progress: on immigration, the threat of radical Islamism and the difference between being progressive and appearing obsessive on issues like gender identity.

The centre needs to develop a new policy agenda that shows people they will get support to help them through the change that’s happening around them. At the heart of this has to be an alliance between those driving the technological revolution, in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, and those responsible for public policy in government.

At present, there is a chasm of understanding between the two. There will continue to be a negative impact on jobs from artificial intelligence and big data, but the opportunities to change lives for the better through technology are enormous.

Any new agenda has to focus on these opportunities for radical change in the way that government and services like health care serve people. This must include how we educate, skill and equip our workforces; how we reform tax and welfare systems to encourage fair distribution of wealth; and how we replenish our nations’ infrastructures and invest in the communities most harmed by trade and technology.

The politics of the progressive centre has not died, but it needs reinventing and reenergizing. For liberal democracy to survive and thrive, we must build a new coalition that is popular, not populist.