The central problem of British politics in the eighties continues to be the inability of progressive and socialist forces to mount a challenge to Mrs. Thatcher's populism and her unleashing of market forces on the social fabric of a declining country. Michael Rustin argues persuasively, across a whole range of difficult issues, for a renaissance of the alliance between the progressive intelligentsia and the organized working class that has formed the basis of all serious reform in Britain since the Second World War.

The author addresses specific problems that a future left government might face, in order to develop workable and realistic policies for change. Throughout, Rustin identifies specific class interests that could form the basis of a new socialist alliance.