Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously said that the British Labour Party owed more to Methodism than to Marx. I was unable to get up to last week's conference in Liverpool so can't give a first hand report. In fact when I used to attend I often made a passing impression of being the life and soul of the party.
However the right wing Daily Telegraph has carried a "colour piece" in which it accuses Labour of not being able to enjoy itself because "a Labour shindig is a contradiction in terms. Not for nothing is a clumsy dancer accused of having two Left feet. This is the party of Marx and Methodism not Margot Fonteyn (or even Madonna.)"
Well I was inclined to dismiss this as right wing sour grapes. But then I caught that final act of sanctification for all Labour Party conferences - the singing of "The Red Flag" at the end of proceedings on the last day.
Here we have proof that the Labour Party has finally freed itself from our Methodist roots. We often beat ourselves up about our shrinking and elderly congregations but even the smallest chapel in our circuit could have made a better job of singing "The Red Flag" than this lot!
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However the right wing Daily Telegraph has carried a "colour piece" in which it accuses Labour of not being able to enjoy itself because "a Labour shindig is a contradiction in terms. Not for nothing is a clumsy dancer accused of having two Left feet. This is the party of Marx and Methodism not Margot Fonteyn (or even Madonna.)"
Well I was inclined to dismiss this as right wing sour grapes. But then I caught that final act of sanctification for all Labour Party conferences - the singing of "The Red Flag" at the end of proceedings on the last day.
Here we have proof that the Labour Party has finally freed itself from our Methodist roots. We often beat ourselves up about our shrinking and elderly congregations but even the smallest chapel in our circuit could have made a better job of singing "The Red Flag" than this lot!
