Crisis? What Crisis?

There is, it is alleged, a crisis on the modern left. We have, apparently, gone from being defenders of truth and justice to apologists for fascism, religious obscurantism and terrorism. No-one ever specifies in context at this point what the left exactly means. Something like sixteen million people voted for either the Labour Party or the Lib Dems at the last election. It is difficult to verify anecdotal experience, but based on the conversations I've had with various people in the last few years I am struggling to imagine that sixteen million people are fans of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Respect scored something like sixty nine thousand which may, perhaps be alarming but I imagine that most of those were in Bethnal Green where a predominantly Muslim electorate wanted to give a bloody nose to Oona King for her support for the Iraq war.

The two authors who have published books denouncing the left in these terms are Nick Cohen and Anthony Andrews. I confess to having read neither. I did have a go at Cohen's book but after the claims that a) priests hijacked the Iranian revolution and b) that conservatives have supported fascism because they mistakenly supposed it supported the democratic ideas they shared, then, like Paolo and Francesca I could read no more. Still, we all know the charge sheet which has been set forth repeatedly in the last few years. In the next few posts I will have a look at some of the issues that have been raised. Next up: Is the Left a supporter of fascism in its modern guise?