From Scandinavia to Greece, great social democratic parties are being reduced to bit players. It’s a nightmare vision that should bring Labour to its sensesLabour has had its fair share of crises over the years. However, apart from a few fleeting years in the interwar period and in the early-to-mid 1980s, it’s never faced much serious competition on the left side of the political spectrum. But what if the summer fling that some of its members seem to be having with Jeremy Corbyn isn’t all over by October? What if, instead, it represents the beginning of a big split (or splits) on the British left?Labour’s almost sole occupancy of the left makes it an outlier. Other social democratic parties, particularly (but not exclusively) those operating under proportional representation, have long had to cope with at least one alternative on their radical flank. And even the horrific crimes of “actually existing socialism” weren’t enough to kill off the Communist party in those countries where it was funded by Moscow or supported by a sympathetic subculture. Continue reading...
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