Exhilarating Times

Abstract

Soundings has been arguing for a long time that Labour should ‘take a leap’, that it should challenge the dominant terms of debate: that, rather than accepting the established political terrain, it should be marking out distinctive territory of its own. Just before the last election we bemoaned the party’s lack of inspiration, arguing that this was a ‘moment crying out for some political bravery’.1 The whole point of the Soundings Manifesto, likewise, has been to argue the political necessity of challenging the currently hegemonic common sense and to establish new ground