A very good point. It’s become yet another empty buzzword.

We should have a full and frank public debate on its meaning forthwith.

All politicians who resort to this appalling mumbo-jumbo catchphrase as a shorthand description of their principles should be forced to explain in depth exactly what they mean by it.

Don’t be harsh, Dave, that would mean the Tories admitting that their entire re-branding exersice is a synthetic farce and that they are still the heirs of Thatcher. That might cost them a fair few seats, even with Brown the Terrible dragging Labour down to the depths of failure.

Dave: I completely agree with you. I have myself used the term ‘progressive’ many, many times over the past decade or so – e.g., in a calling a book I edited in 1999, ‘New Labour: the progressive future?’ (Yes, go ahead, you can laugh…) I always thought it meant something like ‘Having socialist values but not necessarily supporting ‘old-fashioned’ socialist means to achieving those values’. But the values to which the word refers have now become so ambiguous (and perhaps they always were) that its clearly saying nothing any longer to say one is ‘progressive’.

#The public deserves better than evasion by buzzword.#

Good point…a little late, I remember seeing countless articles on how “progressive” had been drained of any objective meaning about a year back. Hope you’re as scathing when it gets liberally bandied about on here. Personally, I’m proud to say that I’ve been using it as a pejorative for ages or in a kinda sarcastic fashion along the lines of “latte-drinking, tofu-munching, progressive class warriors” which is a slang phrase for ATL writers on this site.

Just kidding…don’t worry Mr Sagar….you’re not remotely progressive in my eyes.

Anyhow…I’m just awaiting the glorious day that ‘progressive’ goes the way of ‘transistor radio’ and ‘floppy disc’ and is replaced by the new bright shiny update…’socialist’. Keep the faith Comrades

I always thought “progressive” referred to a form of taxation.

Nevermind – forward, not back I suppose.

well, progressive is still better than ‘conservative’, which the Republicans hang on to in the US.

In one sense it shows that the Tories here are pragmatic enough to accept the centre-ground has shifted. Now they have to pretend they’re ‘progressive’, rather than in America where the Republicans would rather slit their throats than call themselves progressive. They would only call themselves conservatives.

So to that extent, Conservatives are moving in to liberal-left territory, accepting that the centre-ground has shifted. Or at least, Cameron has. The rest are still keeping mum because they want to win the election.

In one sense it shows that the Tories here are pragmatic enough to accept the centre-ground has shifted. Now they have to pretend they’re ‘progressive’

Aw, Sunny. Define ‘progressive’, don’t tell us what it isn’t. Who’s enacting ‘progressive’ policies in mainstream British politics right now? The centre ground has shifted rightwards under New Labour and that suits the Tories just fine – they’re not fighting the incumbency but merely seeking it’s continuity under a different leadership.

@ 2 I thought it pretty well accepted, even on the left, that Tony Blair was the heir of Thatcher, and Cameron will no doubt be the heir of Blair.
LC regulars are quite inconsistent on this point, sometimes arguing till foaming at the mouth that Nu Lab is left wing – or more precisely that not adhering to nulabour is “right wing” – and sometimes arguing that nulabour is right wing – or at least that some members of nulabour are “right wing” but the party itself , isn’t.
Which is it, or does the debate just prove the redundancy of the left-right axis ?

My defintion of progressive for what its worth –

“Oyster-card owing media type who wears plaid shirts, gap chinos and spend his weekdays days hanging around franchised coffee houses with a laptop, and his weekends hanging around the Tate modern with an i-pod”.

Aw, Sunny. Define ‘progressive’, don’t tell us what it isn’t. Who’s enacting ‘progressive’ policies in mainstream British politics right now? The centre ground has shifted rightwards under New Labour and that suits the Tories just fine – they’re not fighting the incumbency but merely seeking it’s continuity under a different leadership.

Hmmm… yeah that’s a fair point. I’m comparing the Tories here to the Republicans, and merely saying that whereas in America they have ideologically stuck to rigid positions over the last 30 years, Tories here move a lot more.

I think the Tories have shifted left-wards on social issues. On the environment for example – while he’s surround by climate change deniers, Cameron is still sticking to the view that it’s an important issue to be thought about. So he’s paying lip service to some of the issues. That’s still better than junking them for a start, because at least people can point fingers if he suddenly starts echoing climate change denying rubbish, or starts praising Enoch Powell.

On economic issue, I don’t think they’re as hardline as Thatcher (or even Tim Montgomerie of CH)… you’re right in that Labour shifted right-wards on economic policy, but I think that’s also partly because the left has not developed a coherent and forceful economic alternative.

“progressive” is just a word, and rather like its paper money counterpart, if you print it endlessly it loses its value. The article is spot on.

Fear not all those ‘true’ progressives out there, there are plenty of us happy with the label conservative who having appropriated you current word for electoral advantage will want no part of whatever replacement word you come up with the represent left wing mainstream thought. yet.

After all fairs-fair. You stole words like Prudent, Free-Markets, Choice. Though I expect you are going to hand them back soon…

sometimes arguing till foaming at the mouth that Nu Lab is left wing

I don’t know anyone, other than the Daily Mail crowd, who argues Labour is too leftwing.

You added the word “too”

Good grief.

“Progressive” now means nothing other than “that of which I approve”.

Any party or set of policies can thus lay claim to it, while disproof is impossible.

Alarmed to say that I sound a bit like the bloke described @9!!
(Only a bit though.)

“The public deserves better than evasion by buzzword.”

Do they? After all they consistently vote for it.