5 The old Clause IV versus the new Clause IV

Despite the controversy aroused by the revision of Clause IV some might now wonder how less ‘socialist’ was the new version compared to the old, raising questions that the process was more symbolic than substantive, that it was about demonstrating Labour had changed to a hitherto skeptical public.

“To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.”

“The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect”.