Early Blair letter reveals Marxist roots
A 24-year-old letter written by the young Tony Blair today reveals his views of society were “irreversibly altered” by the writings of Karl Marx.
The 22-page handwritten missive to then Labour party leader Michael Foot reveals some confusion in the future prime minister’s mind, however, suggesting he was more concerned with winning approval than upholding a strong ideological position.
The letter, uncovered by historian Robert Taylor and published in the New Statesman, was written in 1982, when Margaret Thatcher was basking in popularity after the Falklands war and Labour was split between factions on the left and right.
“I actually did trouble to read Marx first hand. I found it illuminating in so many ways; in particular, my perception of the relationship between people and the society in which they live was irreversibly altered,” the 29-year-old Mr Blair writes.
“But ultimately it was stifling because it sought to embrace in its philosophy every facet of existence. That, of course, is its attraction to many. It gives them a total perspective on life. But that can simply become an excuse to stop searching for the truth.”
The young barrister, who had just endured the humiliation of coming third in the Beaconsfield parliamentary by-election and losing Labour’s deposit, goes on to attack both the left and right wings of the party.
He praises Tony Benn, a leader of the party’s left-wing and a source of strife for Mr Foot, for saying the right of the party, after a “pragmatic period in power” in the 1970s, was “politically bankrupt”
“The phrases that rouse us, or should rouse us, are bound to seem stale in the mouth of anyone who has been too closely intertwined with the establishment. It may not be fair but it is true,” he writes.
But he warns that the left wing is “in danger of falling prey to its perennial fault – introspection”, adding: “There is an arrogance and self-righteousness about many of the groups on the far left which is deeply unattractive to the ordinary would-be member.”
He calls on Mr Foot to drive out the radical left-wing group Militant Tendency from the Labour party, saying: “There should not be a party within a party.” This was finally carried out under Mr Foot’s successor, Neil Kinnock.
Mr Blair backs the Labour leader to take the party into the general election the next year, but although this may seem an error of judgment given the catastrophic result, it is more a sign of the young barrister’s desire to please than genuine conviction.
And this morning, this was the verdict of Mr Benn, who told Today the letter was a “muddle”, written “because he wanted to please the leader of the party”.
He expressed no surprise at Mr Blair’s call for Mr Foot to espouse “radical socialist policies” in the next election, noting that it was on a similar call that he was elected leader in 1994.
