Labour and the British State

This book takes a fresh look at the basic nature of the British government as seen through the eyes of the Labour Party. In recent years, four issues have emerged that underline Labour’s historically ambivalent attitude toward the State and raise the State as a major political question in its own right: Labour’s attitude toward the machinery of the State: Labour’s relationship to the machinery of the State; Labour’s relationship to the industrial State; Labour’s identification with the territorial integrity of the State in the face of rising Scottish and Welsh nationalism; and Labour’s response to the threats posed to the State’s sovereignty by the Northern Ireland conflict and Britain’s membership in the European Community. This study explores the implications of these four issues, and examines what influences Labour’s attitude toward the State and how the Labour Party has adapted to the State’s institutions.