Parts of the Left are beginning to realise that they got the family wrong

One of the more interesting trends in British politics in the last few years has been sections of the left realising that the cultural changes of the 1960s and 70s too often chucked the baby out with the bathwater. Today, Diane Abbott has given an interview to Patrick Wintour in which she calls for more support for the family; arguing that stable families are the best way of preventing social breakdown. She also concedes that feminists were too ‘ambivalent’ about the family.

Interestingly, Abbott also comes out in favour of school uniforms. She points out that they are a check against materialism and the designer label arms race.

Now, I know that it is easy to mock Abbott — the left-wing fire brand who sent her son to a private school. But there’s something significant happening here which is that parts of the left beginning to grasp that social conservatives were right about some very important things.