Matthew Feeney on What American Lawmakers Can Learn From the UK's Ideological Politics
(EdMiliband/wikimedia)
Shortly before the partial U.S. government shutdown began, British politicians from the Conservative and Labour parties flocked to their party conferences. The Conservatives headed to the northern city of Manchester, and Labour, the largest opposition party, met at the seaside town of Brighton.
What was particularly striking about the speeches from this year's Labour and Conservative conferences was the distinctly ideological tone on display during the leaders' speeches. Both parties were happy to highlight the core principled differences between their two camps. Given the current fiscal stalemate and political opportunism on display in the U.S., perhaps both Republicans and Democrats can learn from British lawmakers' return to ideology.
