It was right for Chris Stephen to question the vagueness of what US presidential hopeful Barack Obama means by "change", but wrong for him to draw a parallel with what Tony Blair meant by the "Third Way" (Debate & Opinion,17 July).
The former prime minister's ideas on this were borrowed directly from Bill Clinton's New Democrat philosophy, formulated in a speech in 1986; the emphasis was on coping with change as the main constant in the modern world, the importance of developin
g human capital, real partnership between business and government, the vital need for co-operation in international affairs, an attack on waste in both the public and private sectors, and a resurgence of a sense of community with duties highlighted as much as rights.
For good or ill, these principles were enshrined in Labour's revised constitution, on which Mr Blair staked his reputation in the mid 1990s. Public/private partnerships became a central theme of new Labour's policy making. Gordon Brown introduced tight fiscal rules to try and ensure the effective control of public spending; training and development of all staff is now seen as central to the growth of most organisations; there was a recognition that climate change, for example, could only be tackled on a global scale and sometimes working with regimes whose human rights record were abhorrent. At conference after conference the then Labour leader tried to convince the faithful that you could no more hold back the tide of change than you could the conversion of night into day. It remains the case that all modern, democratic governments are judged on how well they can tackle it.
BOB TAYLOR
Shiel Court
Glenrothes, FifeThe full article contains 283 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
