Is There A Movement Abrest?

Chris Hitchens writes about some on the left taking a new stance, away from the loony base.

THE EUSTON MANIFESTO SPELLS OUT A CHANGE OF DIRECTION

WHAT IS IT?

In May last year about 20 disgruntled leftists met in a pub near Euston station in London. Journalists, academics, bloggers and students, they were united in feeling at odds with the anti-war movement and the blanket anti-American/anti-Blair sentiments it inspired. They felt that the left had lost touch with its core values, its muddled sympathies now falling in with terrorists in its rush to condemn its own government

WHAT IS THE POINT OF IT?

The manifesto appeared on the internet, arguing the time has come for “egalitarian liberals” to reassess their behaviour and allegiances. Members include Norman Geras, Nick Cohen and Brian Brivati

POINTS INCLUDED

# A rejection of the idea that the left should “indulgently ‘understand’ reactionary regimes and movements for which democracy is a hated enemy”

# That members will condemn any abuse of human rights, and not see Guantanamo or rendition as being somehow worse than equivalent actions by non-democracies

# That without incitement, people should be free to criticise others’ religious beliefs

# That the duty of the left is to concentrate on seeing democracy triumph in Iraq and not ceaselessly to harp on about the justice of the initial intervention

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Because, its authors believe, it will lead to a return to common sense and put an end to so-called liberals supporting gruesome regimes for political gain back home.

It has won support from John Lloyd, Paul Berman, Anthony Julius and Francis Wheen. There are now more than 200,000 mentions of it online

More at www.eustonmanifesto.org