The word "progressive" did indeed take centre stage in the recent election. They did however openly commit to and steal the Tory policies in order to win the middle ground. The Blairites used to love to use the term radical which had very much come to the fore in the Thatcher years even though there was absolutely nothing seriously radical about any of their policies. I think it is a demonstration of how pivotal the centre ground has come to mean in UK politics in the last 15 years. Maybe this new usage of 'progressive' has had our modern leaders studying the history books? Matt, Bristol, EnglandÄon't you just love the way politicians squabble over buzz words! The more so recently. Tellingly, these 'progressives' ended up scattered across the political spectrum - although some ended up in what became the Labour party, others ended up in what are now the Conseervative and Liberal Democrat party. They differed very mcuh among themselves in how much they respected the existing leaders of the nation, and how much they identified with the 'working classes' personally. Very few of them are describable as 'social democrats'. They could also favour measures that would actively involve the state in financially benefitting the underprivileged, but were not always uniform in this. They were often in favour of handed back governmental conntrol to the regions, away from London-centric vested interests. Those who claimed the name stood for ongoing reforms to the constitution and structure of British state and society, opening up access to education, the franchise and opportunities for employment and social betterment and for the 'lower classes' and other previously excluded groups. Before WW1 and back into the 1880s it tended to be used interchangeably with 'Radical' (which was usually, though not exclusively a factional term for a branch of the Liberal Party). Since WW2 (at least) it has been regarded as almost uniformly a synonym for 'socialism' or 'social democracy'. As the article briefly alludes to, Cameron and Clegg's coimbined use of the word 'progressive' is much more akin to late 19th and early 20th century British usage of the word than it is post-War usage.
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