Beyond Left and Right

From The Times: 

The message of this surprising general election will surely be that a more plural and open politics is desirable. The latest in our series on former MPs whom we would like to win, regardless of party, embodies that pluralism: Jon Cruddas, who was Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham.

Mr Cruddas faces a fight for his seat, for one bad reason and one good. The bad reason is that the Eastern perimeter of London has a noxious presence: the British National Party. It is very much to be hoped that this election is not scarred by the victory of the BNP leader Nick Griffin over the Labour incumbent Margaret Hodge in the neighbouring seat of Barking. The good reason that Mr Cruddas is threatened is that he faces a serious challenge from a Conservative Party that may be helped by a surge for the Liberal Democrats. It would be a shame if all this added up to removing Mr Cruddas, because he is exactly the sort of independently minded MP needed in Parliament.

Mr Cruddas was one of the first Labour people to take David Cameron seriously and to mount an intelligent critique. He has revived an unfashionable issue - social housing - and prompted the Brown Government to act. His style is generous to opponents and he is not frightened to take positions - such as supporting the war in Iraq - that cost him political capital on the Left.

In fact, the most interesting thing about Mr Cruddas is precisely that he finds the labels of Left and Right depressingly tired. Mr Cruddas thinks of himself as an ethical socialist who trusts the people and contrasts himself with the state centralisers in his party. If the Labour Party enters a discussion about its future, Mr Cruddas's voice will be needed in that throng.