Suddenly Britain feels young. Young and hopeful. The sun shines brighter, the birds sing sweeter, and Tony Blair, apparently, walks on water. But, even as you get carried forward on this tide of hope and expectation, this un-British joyfulness, someone somewhere pops up to remind you that it could all go badly wrong. ``They will have to raise taxes'' and then, it is said, once that has been done they will have revealed themselves to be hollow, or worse still, ``old Labour'', and will rapidly spiral towards pre-destined decline.

The New Labour manifesto undertook not to raise taxes for the five years of its parliamentary term. The question that economists are asking is how will it fund its programmes and balance its books? The fact remains that New Labour cannot afford to raise taxes without being castigated for having reverted to the tax-and-spend culture of old Labour.

But, New Labour's massive election victory was not based on its tax policy. This was the victory of one value system over another, in many ways of hope over despair. Those whose cynicism will not permit them to see the movement for change that Britain's electorate has delivered, must be hopelessly devoid of the idealism that keeps the world moving. New Labour is the first coherent and electable alternative to Thatcherism.

Its critics come from all sides. There is the traditional left wing which says that New Labour has abandoned all its principles and beliefs. What are these ``principles and beliefs''? The goal of a more equal society was the basis of Labour Party politics. The left would do well to remember that this principle is not the sole preserve of doctrinaire Marxian socialists, and that the Labour party was in fact never a Marxian socialist party. Equity and community remain at the heart of New Labour's agenda.

That is what the Party now says it stands for: ``A fair deal for ordinary people, a strong sense of community, the belief that an enterprising economy can coexist with a decent society. A more equal society.. which means extending opportunity, tackling poverty and injustice.'' In this, old and new Labour share a value system. This sets them apart from Thatcherite Conservatism, which has over 18 years promoted the principle of greed.

On the right, the argument is that New Labour has simply adopted Conservative policies. The reality is rather different. The basis of Labour policy is a notion of fairness and equity. The Conservatives have always termed any demand for a more equitable society ``the politics of envy''. As for their policies, probity in public finances is not a preserve of the political right. As a matter of fact the Conservatives have traditionally been big borrowers.

Privatisation under Thatcher was, beyond a point, ideologically driven; it encompassed even those industries that were profitable in the public sector, and those public utilities, like water, that, in a normal society, are considered a public good. New Labour's forthcoming ``windfall tax'' on privatised utilities is an indication of how radically it differs from the Conservatives.

The new government's emphasis on public-private partnership is again, not a Conservative idea, but a part of any corporatist polity, and previous Labour governments under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan were corporatist in policy and practice. It is true that corporatist bargaining in the old days pitted a Labour government against the private sector, but with the breakdown of corporatist bargaining this will no longer happen.

Labour's political reform proposals do not cost money. Yet, they are the most radical part of its agenda. Tony Blair's Labour party has promised fundamental political reform in a system that has resisted change. Extending equality of access is also about making the political system more inclusive, representative and accountable.

Tony Blair says that his party represents all classes and all peoples. Whether this is credible or not, it is at least an attempt to throw out the very English, John Bull and Union jack view of the British nation, and to promote the idea of a pluralist ``one nation'' in which regional, racial and cultural identities are not suppressed.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.