Only radical social liberalism can save our democracy

Your criticism of the seven Labour MPs leaving the party (These resignations are a mistake. But they are also a warning, 19 February), fails to take into sufficient account the trauma of abandoning the political affiliation that has nurtured them and, in earlier times, given them a purpose. It is the fact that these seven MPs have felt the need to abandon over a century of that heritage between them that is the real warning. Corbyn, McDonnell, Lansman and the left ideologues that now dominate Labour were right in perceiving that the social democratic consensus has had its day. Indeed it is this analysis that provokes the regular statements that the current party structure is broken. But the problem for the seven Labour vanguard MPs is their self-confessed identification as social democrats and, whether they like it or not, they are the inheritors of the mantle of the SDP whom Ralf Dahrendorf famously commented, almost 40 years ago, were “promising us a better yesterday”.

At the heart of the current political dilemma is the almost universal acceptance of the terms left and right, which condemns parties to place themselves on this out-of-date, two-centuries-old spectrum. Having analysed the problem correctly, those now controlling Labour then made the fatal error of moving in the wrong direction. The real political gap today is for a firmly anti-Conservative party that is pragmatic on the economy, believing in “the market where possible and the state where necessary” and is internationalist, committed to worker co-operatives in industry, civil liberties, devolution, taxing land values, the promotion of local communities and electoral reform.

This describes uniquely a radical Liberal party and the most curious omission in the current debate is any mention of the Liberal Democrats. Their failure to grasp and promote this radical agenda suggests that they are not currently significant players.
Michael Meadowcroft
Liberal MP, 1983-87

• Like Polly Toynbee (A moment of national crisis is not the time to leave Labour, 19 February), I was around (though as a leading Liberal activist) at the creation of the SDP nearly 38 years ago. By the time of the launch they had a back-up organisation (the Council for Social Democracy) and a large database of supporters, a clear ideology expressed in the Limehouse declaration, well-known national leaders and a team of professional support.

The outcome by the end of the decade was a political tragedy which almost brought down the Liberals as well, with the new merged party only surviving in its early years on the back of the network of grassroots Liberal councillors and campaigners. Whatever may become of this new rather amateurish gang of seven, it looks for the moment like just another example of Marx’s famous historical meme: a tragedy repeated as farce.
Tony Greaves
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords

• In the coverage of the debate over the resignation of several Labour MPs, commentators seem to be ignoring the longstanding work in the field of political science on electoral systems. Since the publication in 1954 of Maurice Duverger’s book Political Parties, it is received wisdom that first past the post and simple majority systems make it extremely difficult if not impossible for third parties to compete with two main parties. (I read the book as an undergraduate and studied with Duverger in Paris in 1966.)

The simple key is the concept of “wasted votes”. Voters are far less likely to vote for a third party if they are unlikely to be either in the majority or the main opposition. Such systems are very rare, mainly in the UK and US, but history shows that two-party dominance almost always blocks significant challenges. That was the simple lesson of the Social Democrats in the 1980s and the many third-party presidential and other candidates in the US. They just don’t get elected in the first place.

I’m afraid that the Labour rebels are almost certainly about to disappear into historical obscurity, whatever the force of their policy arguments.
Philip G Cerny
Emeritus professor of politics, University of Manchester

• The Independent Group’s lack of a coherent policy programme demonstrates that social democracy, of whatever cast, does not have a viable future. Modern consumer society has disaggregated the cohesive societies of the industrial revolution, a process only accelerated by new technologies. Promoting a progressive agenda in the context of the new individualism is a substantial challenge.

Equally history suggests there is no prospect of an avowedly centrist party succeeding in this country. The postwar history of the Liberal party and Lib Dems demonstrates these realities. When the Liberal Democrat party is committed to progressive social liberalism, which most of its members support, it has achieved relative success. When it retreats to flabby centrism, it fails badly.

The country needs the Lib Dems at the heart of a changing political landscape. That requires both a clear commitment to social liberalism and a leader who entered parliament in 2015 or later.
Andrew Gore
Linton, Cambridgeshire

• Karen Barratt and others (Letters, 19 February) refer to the increase in membership of the Labour party due to Jeremy Corbyn’s charisma in the 2017 general election. I voted Labour then in the hope that there would be some positive reaction to, and engagement against, extremists in the Conservative party. But I have now observed what an enormous disappointment Corbyn has been. He is a very poor leader, and no way would I now want to see him as prime minister. I just hope that with some Conservative MPs also resigning, we might get a realignment of parties. Perhaps the creation of the SDP in the 1980s was a flop, but the two-party politics with their current leaders that we now have is a disaster.
Ian K Watson
Carlisle

• Today will be remembered in history as the day that Labour and the Tories experienced a rebellion of just, decent, and committed people who have fought fervently against the cynicism that has dogged British politics for the last two years. It is apparent that some very radical changes are now afoot as more moderate MPs feel their values have been abandoned by their respective parties. These brave individuals deserve our respect.
Shirley Williams
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords

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