The left is in retreat all over the world ...

Last month Labour suffered a stunning defeat in the UK election. Last week the left lost power in Denmark. Centre-right politicians have majorities in both houses of the US Congress and hold power  in Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and much of the rest of the developed world. Where the left is still in power they are often in serious trouble

There is a great article by Tim Montgomerie at

http://www.capx.co/the-lefts-great-global-downturn/

which analyses three reasons for the left's current unpopularity in many reasons around the world.

He argues that

1) none of them have come up with a convincing answer to the question "what does it mean to be left-wing when the money runs out?"

2) all of them have trouble explaining where they stand in reference to patriotism, and

3) the left currently has worse problems than the right (not that we can afford to be complacent about this one either) with hard-line purists who would rather lose than compromise.

I strongly recommend a read to anyone who is interested in understanding the challenges facing left and right and has not yet read it.

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