Letter: New Labour is small on policies

Sir: Tony Blair's decision to scrap Clause IV of the Labour Party's constitution ('Blair sweeps away the past', 5 October) is evidence that the tradition of Labourism is exhausted. The old dinosaurs crying 'betrayal', who accuse Mr Blair of being a Tory, are stuck in a discredited past.

But what is there to celebrate about the new Labour Party? Mr Blair's Christian socialist vision of a new Britain and all his talk of how important the 'community' is certainly don't inspire me. The new Labour Party is big on talk, small on policies.

I am a 20-year-old who has been working for just over a year, and I have no faith in Mr Blair's promise that he will bring full employment to capitalist Britain. And if he does scramble into office at the next general election, taking over from a crisis-stricken Tory party, what difference will it make to me?

Yours sincerely,

BRENDAN O'NEILL

Edgware, Middlesex

5 October