Mandelson & The Perverted Fantasies of New Labour Liberalism | Ash Sarkar Meets Maurice Glasman

Quick Overview

Maurice Glasman argues that the Labour Party has been taken over by the graduate middle class, leading to an ideological void where working-class interests are ignored, a situation he critiques as a 'new labor reverse takeover' that is an 'extremely confused' and outdated modernist agenda failing to address the current era's realities concerning sovereignty and working-class disaffection.

Key Points: Glasman asserts the Labour Party is 'taken over by the middle class' and 'particularly taken over by the graduate class,' making working-class members feel unwelcome. He views the current Labour leadership's embrace of New Labour as an 'extremely confused' and 'outdated new labor agenda' that is no longer speaking to the 'zeitgeist of the time.' The biggest determinant for voting Labour is now whether one went to public school, indicating a massive class shift away from its traditional base. Glasman identifies the Brexit vote as the 'decisive moment' signaling a new era focused on the nation-state and sovereignty, which New Labour utterly rejected. He criticizes potential Labour leaders like Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner for lacking a coherent ideological bearing, stating Streeting is 'up to his neck in new labor,' while reserving specific interest for the patriotic and diligent Shabbana Mammud. Glasman links the moral degradation of New Labour—its 'worship of money' and 'relaxed attitude' toward corruption—to 'perversion and pedophilia,' citing Peter Mandelson's association with Epstein as an example of broken morality. He advocates for a return to strong community ties, morals, and a socialist political economy based on the labor value of production, contrasting it with the isolation and commodification driven by globalization and administration.

Context: This interview features Ash Sarkar meeting with Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman, an academic and proponent of 'Blue Labour,' to discuss the ideological state of the Labour Party following recent political turmoil, including the resignation of Morgan McWeeny and ongoing scrutiny of Keir Starmer's team regarding figures like Peter Mandelson. Glasman presents himself as a materialist who believes in the sacred and seeks to supply the Labour Party with an ideology rooted in strong community, morals, and working-class interests, contrasting sharply with what he sees as the liberal, globalist agenda of New Labour.