Fifty years ago, politics were simpler than today. The Tories represented business and Labour represented the workers - the Tories on the Right and Labour on the Left.

The Left looked to improve the lives of ordinary people and a more just society. The Right wanted to conserve rather than to change, defend existing distributions of power and wealth and uphold traditional institutions and customs.

How has today’s political confusion been created?

The economy changed. As a result, the structure of society changed. It became more fragmented with a rise in service and finance industries, small businesses and a decline in traditional industries. Social structures changed and traditional communities fragmented. Voting patterns changed. Trades Unions declined and so did support for Labour.

As a response to this Labour evolved its approach. It had traditionally focussed on economic issues because of the close relationship between power and wealth. It gradually moved from ‘class politics’ to embrace ‘identity politics’. The aim was to build an alliance of people with specific identities – gender, race, sexual orientation etc. US Democrats had pioneered this approach.

These constituencies are not unimportant BUT the problem is that in moving away from the economic class-based issues Labour had to find a way of uniting a range of interest groups. Instead of concentrating on those economic issues which affected all people it tried to create an alliance of disparate forces who were not necessarily natural allies. This made politics complicated.

In the past attitudes to sexuality and religion and so on were private beliefs not to be legislated for. The right characterised the moralising that came with this extended mandate as 'political correctness' - which in turn gave rise to the whole notion of 'woke' and ‘culture wars’ that dominate what passes as political discourse these days.

Blair did not aim to change the economy - just to manage it better. His government continued to privatise services just as the Thatcher Government did. It led Mrs Thatcher to declare her biggest achievement as ‘Tony Blair’. She made him a ‘red’ Tory.

Privatisation of services has been a disaster for Britain. The sell-off of these key industries has “led to a historic transfer of wealth” with at least £193billion having been paid out to shareholders, private equity funds and foreign holding companies since 1991 and with citizens paying a “privatisation premium” of £250 per household per year since 2010 alone.

The key to a successful economy is based on the backbone of transport infrastructure, energy, communications and so on. Labour should be about fundamental issues – state services, the environment, housing, health, education and not getting involved in stupid expensive wars. It needs to go back to national planning and the democratic control of Local Government and Public infrastructure.

The wheel has turned full circle. Labour needs to get back to fundamental class-based politics. The real conflict is the rich against the rest. Emotional tirades about gender or patriotic gestures with the flag of St George are a diversion.