Clause Four

'The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.'

In 1995 this was the defining moment for New Labour, this was the change worked on the party. No longer would we confuse the values and aspirations we share with the means to achieve them that can and do vary and change. Never again would we be committed to a limited analysis of the root cause of the ills of our society as if there were simple abiding answers to every challenge in our complex and changing world. No more were we to be a party representing only a part of our society.

The 'New' in New Labour was not a one time change but an ongoing process of change an 'Ever-New' Labour, adapting and changing as the world and the challenges it faces changes. The 'New' in New Labour was about finding new ways to bring our values to bear in a world very different from the one in which the Labour movement first emerged. The 'New' in New Labour was about no longer forcing the nation to accept the rights of a few but in making the argument for the good of the many.

I speak here in the past tense but of course Labour retains the 'New' summed up in Clause Four, it remains the 'Ever-New' Labour which is the heart and soul of the New Labour movement. New Labour isn't going anywhere anytime soon as it is not just the past of the party but also its present and its future. The Labour party understands itself in Clause Four and Clause Four is New Labour.