Labour's Future

Eric Heffer has emerged in recent years as one of the most outspoken and influential politicians on Labour's left. In this highly topical book he examines the recent history of the Party to argue that its socialist heritage is under threat from those who would turn it into a pale pink version of the SDP.

Heffer looks in detail at the practices of the Labour governments under Harold Wilson in which he served, for a period, as a Minister of State. He provides fascinating inside information on the struggle for the leadership after the disastrous General Election in 1983. He records never before published material on NEC and Shadow Cabinet discussions on matters as diverse as the Falklands War, the 1984 manifesto, democratic organization in the Party, and the recent purge of Militant. In an extensive chapter he chronicles the developing crisis in Liverpool, concluding with a stalwart defence of the beleaguered councillors.

Written by one of its most prominent combatants, Labour's Future is a pugnacious yet fair-minded summary of the continuing struggle for the soul of the Labour Party as it prepares, once more, to tackle Margaret Thatcher at the Polls.