Arthuristan Labour Party
Arthuristan Labour Party | |
|---|---|
| File:Labour Party.png | |
| Leader | Leanne Whittaker MP |
| Headquarters | Loweport |
| Political position |
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| Religion | Secularism |
| International affiliation | Association of Liberal and Democratic Parties |
| Colors | Light Red |
| Slogan | Ut Prosint Omnibus Conjuncti (United for the Common Good) |
| Website | |
| www.labourparty.org.arth | |
The Arthuristan Labour Party is one of the oldest and largest political organisations in Arthurista. For the past century it has dominated parliament alongside its main rival, the Liberal Party, in a de facto 'two-party system'. As of 2014, it is the largest party in the Arthuristan parliament, allowing its members, led by Dame Leanne Whittaker, to govern with a clear majority.
Positions
Economics
A century ago, the founders of the Labour Party wrote in its charter that it was to be the "party of democratic socialism, committed to advancing the interests of the working classes.” The modern Labour Party, having gone through the Neoliberal Revolution of the 1980s and the experience of governing in coalition with the Liberals, interprets the clause very loosely as a call for a society characterised by equality of opportunity, in which people of all backgrounds, even those from deprived social-economic strata, are given the best possible chance to attain a good quality of life.
Instead of the crude interventionism of the 60s-era Labour Party, or the equally unsophisticated total deregulation the Freedom Party calls for, the economic policies of modern Labour is guided by what they call "Radical centrism". It posits that economics are inherently about practical matters of distributing resources and talent to create the optimal wealth-generating state. As such, they regard its treatment as a matter of abstract ideology rather than concrete problem-solving is inherently silly, if not downright dangerous. Operating under the model of "as much intervention as necessary, as little intervention as possible", it seeks to balance the interests of all stakeholder groups in the economy - workers, entrepreneurs, tribal landholders and so forth, acting as a mediator to achieve the best compromise that would benefit the broadest sections of the populace.
In terms of actual policies, the current Labour government largely inherits the foundation set by the Liberals in the 1990s, aimed at creating 'stable export-led growth'. Industries which create 'real products', such as rare earth minerals, as well as high value-added manufacturing such as the production of automobiles, armaments and electronics are encouraged, while the financial sector is geared towards supporting these enterprises with affordable capital, rather than engage in risky speculative activities. Government debts are kept to a minimum, mostly through the heavy taxation of luxury products and a very large and well-managed sovereign wealth fund.
The welfare policies of the current Labour government is also significantly different from its 60s-era predecessor. The focus is on providing 'targeted' welfare, aimed at producing the 'best return' in terms of increasing the productivity of the economy in the long run. Arthurista is known for its National Health Service and a socialised education system. The latter is seen as particularly vital in the long run and thus receives particular attention. Gifted students receive free education in state-run grammar schools, while the less academically-able are given vocational education. Undergraduate places in state-subsidised universities are intentionally limited (typically requiring at least an AAB in A-Level examination) and have very arduous entry requirements, although once admitted Arthuristan students who study 'hard subjects' do not pay tuition fee.
Social policies
Both the Arthuristan Labour Party and its rival, the Liberals, are products of the enlightenment and heavily influenced by its rationalistic and empirical philosophies. Their consensus holds that the only rational basis for the prohibition of certain behaviours on pain of penal consequences is that it must lead to 'material harm' being inflicted individual fellow citizens. 'Culture wars' which colour the political landscape in other countries, in their view, are fought over matters which properly belong in the private sphere and, as such, irrational for the government to be involved in.
This is where the Liberal Party stops, maintaining the argument that anything more interventionistic is inherently needless and irrational interference. The Labour Party, however, posits that negative liberties are a necessary, but not sufficient, basis for a society to operate on. In order for a nation to exist as such, there must be common aspirations among its citizens. Here, Labour ideologues reach beyond the enlightenment philosophies of the 18th century to rediscover the 'virtue ethics' of the classical era. They aim to instill, from a young age, the qualities of civic virtue and the value of citizenship among the Arthuristans through the education system, a spirit of 'togetherness' which encourages citizens to actively engage and participate in political discourse in the civic space and work to benefit the polis as a whole. This is contrasted with 'command ethics', which is derided by the same ideologues as 'crude', 'irrational' and 'holdovers from primitive tribal taboos'.
Due to this conception of ethics as purely governing how individual citizens interact with the wider polis, social controversies which are acrimoniously divisive in other nations are simply regarded as irrelevant. Issues such as homosexuality or drug laws are regarded as purely matters of the private sphere, where the aforementioned 'materiel harm' rule applies rather than the more nuanced debates of ethical principles.
Defence
Unlike many left-wing parties worldwide, Labour is more committed to maintaining the Commonwealth Defence Forces than their Liberal rival, which opposes a large military on anti-spending grounds. Universal National Service is not popular per se, but regarded as a civic duty and necessary evil in a Region of potential aggressors. Besides its populist electoral benefits, Labour also regards military spending as a vehicle for job creation and demand-side stimulation of the economy.
See also: Arthuristan Political Parties