Is Britian a Socialist Nation, and if yes when did it become so?

fpgjc

The Answer is NO. At the last general election in 2001 of the 44 million electorate only 26 million actually voted ( 59%), The Socialists (Labour Party) achieved the most success in number of MPs for two reasons, 1. Our British system of first past the post wins . 2. Apathy of voters who did not vote for the conservatives because of the national feeling that Tory poiticians were sleezy ,dishonest and not worth voting for. The same feelings are now apparent for the Labour party who seem only able to lie !! Socialism will never work as there will always be those that have and those of us that do not have, and i've never seen a 'have' willing to share their ill gotten gains !! http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/e01/results.htm Jul 05 02, 7:06 PM

Bob	Then why do you have socialized medicine? Jul 05 02, 8:44 PM

Siskin

If you mean the National Health Service - it's the only part of socialism that is acceptable to most people - its open to everyone,regardless of income - which is another hot potato!! Jul 05 02, 9:10 PM

riotgrrl

The Labour party who form the government in the UK contains few socialists. Most people in the UK who call themselves socialists support other (much smaller) parties such as the Socialist Workers' Party. The NHS was founded in 1948 by a previous Labour government who also introduced most of the British welfare state. Under Clement Attlee, the Labour organisation (which includes most UK trade unions) was more left wing at the time, and contained more socialists. Despite numerous problems, the NHS has remained extremely popular and so even Thatcher was unable to destroy it. So I would say that Britain is not a socialist nation, but came closest to becoming one in the late 1940s, and in some ways in the late 1970s. Jul 06 02, 12:09 AM

Barrow boy

Bob, I think the that Britain was at its most socialist in the five years following the Second World War. Apart from setting up the National Health Service, the following industries were nationalised: Airline, airports, road haulage, railways, petroleum, steel, coal, electricity, gas, telecommunications, water. All these industries have since been released back into the public sector, but they remain a useful yardstick in judging whether a country is 'socialist'. In this respect, top of the class as a socialist country in Western Europe is (I believe) France. Jul 06 02, 3:15 PM