There have been moments during the past three weeks when I have almost felt responsible for Labour’s four consecutive election defeats. My criticisms of Tony Blair’s expressed preference for meritocracy over equality provoked more than 400 letters from self-confessed social democrats. Each of the 37 who wrote to say I was wrong – including those who, unlike me but like the Prime Minister, explicitly endorsed the 1983 suicide note – justified that view with the identical argument. Tony Blair won. I (with the help of one or two others) lost.
Assume for a moment that I was the sole architect of Margaret Thatcher’s triple triumph and that I compounded that offence by arranging for John Major’s victory in 1992. Then add the sin of self-importance identified by Charles Clarke, chair of the Labour Party, in the way that Adrian VII was Pope. The indictment still suffers from one crucial weakness. It has nothing to do with the argument about equality versus meritocracy.
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