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That Option No Longer Exists: Britain 1974-76
It is time to look afresh at the 1970s. It was not a grey decade of decline, defeat and power blackouts. Bursting with cultural experimentation, sexual liberation and industrial militancy, the 1970s saw the ruling elites of Britain challenged at every level, most especially by a Labour left led by Tony Benn which aimed to effect a "fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of wealth and power in favour of working people". That Option No Longer Exists reveals a hidden history - how Benn and the left tried to reform British industry, to introduce democracy in the workplace and overturn the power of Finance; and how Whitehall, the security services and the City fought back, paving the way for Thatcher to re-establish the rule of money and the markets. Britain almost took a different path in 1974-76 to that of massive wealth inequality, the dominance of the City, and the slow death of the welfare state. This is the story of a struggle within government almost forgotten, and of a tragic turning point in British history.
194 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 28, 2025
Highly recommended for a reader with a reasonably good pre-existing knowledge of left politics, and who wants to read a left perspective of Britain's political economy in the 1970s.
That Option No Longer Exists centres on Tony Benn's tenure as Minister of Industry. This was the period where Benn shifted radically to the left, even as much of the elite establishment was lurching to right. There's more to the book than just Benn's time as minister. Medhurst discusses the cultural and international context of the 1970s, all of which is useful and interesting, but the Bennite attempt to reshape society through economic transformation is the central motif.
Benn arrived at the Ministry with a sweeping electoral mandate for a "fundamental shift in the balance of wealth and power" in British society. Somewhat naively, he actually attempted to set about implementing it. He built strong links with the trade union movement at a grassroots level, and invited some of the most radical and innovative thinkers of the day into his close circle of advisors.
This book is the story of how he was thwarted and how he failed. Thwarted by 'the permanent government' of civil servants who refused to implement his plans; by capitalism and the City of London; by the media; by the United States and the IMF; and, most galling of all, the centre of the Labour Party who never had any real intention of following through on their own manifesto commitments.
John Medhurst frames the failure of Bennism as something like a less bloody (but perhaps just as significant) version of the fall of Salvador Allende in Chile.
The message of the book at first appears to be about the impossibility of achieving democratic socialism within a capitalist state, but Medhurst actually reaches a different conclusion. The juxtaposition of reform and revolution is a false one, he argues, and that a deep and committed reformism can trigger revolutionary change in its own right.
The lesson of Bennism, according to Medhurst, is not that reformism failed on its own terms, but that a sort of false revolutionary consciousness on much of the left blinded them to the revolutionary potential of the Benn's radical reformism. This places the book firmly within the Ralph Miliband school of Marxist theory, with the advantage of being more accessible to a non-academic reader.
Somewhat missing from this book (understandably given its short length) is an exploration of the internal politics of the trade union movement at the time. For someone that wants to go deeper into this side of things, I'd recommend Revolutionary Communist at Work: A Political Biography of Bert Ramelson or Union Man - An Autobiography.
Written in 2014, Medhurst's eerily prescient conclusion is a prediction of an imminent British 'Syriza moment' driven from either within, or outside, of the Labour Party. That moment has now come and gone, that option no longer exists, but there are many interesting lessons in this book for those who want to understand it better for next time.
That Option No Longer Exists centres on Tony Benn's tenure as Minister of Industry. This was the period where Benn shifted radically to the left, even as much of the elite establishment was lurching to right. There's more to the book than just Benn's time as minister. Medhurst discusses the cultural and international context of the 1970s, all of which is useful and interesting, but the Bennite attempt to reshape society through economic transformation is the central motif.
Benn arrived at the Ministry with a sweeping electoral mandate for a "fundamental shift in the balance of wealth and power" in British society. Somewhat naively, he actually attempted to set about implementing it. He built strong links with the trade union movement at a grassroots level, and invited some of the most radical and innovative thinkers of the day into his close circle of advisors.
This book is the story of how he was thwarted and how he failed. Thwarted by 'the permanent government' of civil servants who refused to implement his plans; by capitalism and the City of London; by the media; by the United States and the IMF; and, most galling of all, the centre of the Labour Party who never had any real intention of following through on their own manifesto commitments.
John Medhurst frames the failure of Bennism as something like a less bloody (but perhaps just as significant) version of the fall of Salvador Allende in Chile.
The message of the book at first appears to be about the impossibility of achieving democratic socialism within a capitalist state, but Medhurst actually reaches a different conclusion. The juxtaposition of reform and revolution is a false one, he argues, and that a deep and committed reformism can trigger revolutionary change in its own right.
The lesson of Bennism, according to Medhurst, is not that reformism failed on its own terms, but that a sort of false revolutionary consciousness on much of the left blinded them to the revolutionary potential of the Benn's radical reformism. This places the book firmly within the Ralph Miliband school of Marxist theory, with the advantage of being more accessible to a non-academic reader.
Somewhat missing from this book (understandably given its short length) is an exploration of the internal politics of the trade union movement at the time. For someone that wants to go deeper into this side of things, I'd recommend Revolutionary Communist at Work: A Political Biography of Bert Ramelson or Union Man - An Autobiography.
Written in 2014, Medhurst's eerily prescient conclusion is a prediction of an imminent British 'Syriza moment' driven from either within, or outside, of the Labour Party. That moment has now come and gone, that option no longer exists, but there are many interesting lessons in this book for those who want to understand it better for next time.
April 19, 2016
timely and useful, very good at picking apart the right-wing arguments about the 70s. Not so good at analysing the different strands of left-wing thought though. Also, a bit too dismissive of some strands of soft left thought, especially Crossland. Finally, although he is discussing the 70s, has nothing whatsoever to say about prog, but quite a lot to say about glam, punk or disco
July 22, 2017
An account of a moment during the 1970s when the British political system seemed to lean towards the left. Some of this went a little over my head, I confess; the author presumes a familiarity with economics and some of the intricacies of the British political system and its players. Nevertheless, some interesting themes emerge, and I had no idea of this recent historical interlude. (I was also unaware of the various moments it seemed like there would be a military coup in the UK during the 1970s.)
September 27, 2017
I have never met a British person that actually likes Margret Thatcher and now I know why.
The economics in the book are a bit a slog, and like all books about politics of the times I am tired about hearing 'revolutionary' as a verb but it is quite an interesting reveal of the rise of 'Reagan era' politics in England.
The economics in the book are a bit a slog, and like all books about politics of the times I am tired about hearing 'revolutionary' as a verb but it is quite an interesting reveal of the rise of 'Reagan era' politics in England.
March 29, 2024
Given the current far right political context this book is hugely relevant to the question- whither the left ?
Many modern historians place the hinge point of the end of post war consensus politics to 1979 with the election of Thatcher. John Medhurst has written an excellent revisionist text which could be said to combine the real history of the 70s with a counter - factual element and a thesis that posits 1974-1976 as the actual point of change to the far rightism that prevails today. Medhurst wants to make a plea for a dynamic optimistic period of feminism; socialism and people power that was the 70s whilst also speculating on what could have been a country adopting methods that allowed workers and unions to contribute meaningfully to how the economy and politics could help most people in relation to incomes and workers rights. Tony Benn tried to steer the mid decade Labour government into a period of socialist values that underpinned the lives of people.
It’s a predictable story of establishment forces joining together to destroy the left and Benns strategy - Medhurst is meticulous in the main text and informative footnotes in outlining how Benn was undermined and how Wilson and then Callaghan and Healey were forced or at least too easily persuaded to bow to the IMF with spending cuts and income controls. The extent of American influence is new to me at least though Peter Jays influence is well known - less familiar is the monetarist diktat that underpinned the iMF loan and the complete paranoia about socialism that threatened army coup rumours and establishment strong arming. Benns ideas ( more important than his personal ambition despite media hysteria) were blocked and ignored and the unions themselves lost their way with a plan that went array.
Medhurst text is even more shocking and revelatory about the very definite Thatcher plan which was underpinned and outlined not just by monetarist influence from
America but by Nicholas Ridley whose industrial plan anticipated the danger of a challenge to Thatcherism by the miners and recommended stock piling of coal well before the actual 1984 strike had even been conceived- the thatcher experiment was born in a secret annexe of paperwork by Ridley. They ruthlessly implemented it in full and now she’s being praised by of all people the hopeless leader of the Labour Party who is a Tory in all but name.
Given the destruction of Corbyn in 2017 & 2019 by the right of his own party and a vicious right wing press feeding an anti semitism lie ( which happened after this book was published in 2013) this book reminds us that with Corbyn history had simply repeated itself …. Even though his supposed left wing ism was really in line with most social democratic European party policies. The red scare continues. Callaghans famous speech heralding Thatcherite monetarist policies ( and dumping the post war keynesian doctrine) said effectively that the Keynes methods and the lefts tweeks option “ no longer exists” …. As it turned out Healey was working on duff figures that made the deficit worse than it was ! Whitehall spoiler tactics ?? Maybe. Healey complained in his memoirs but didn’t say sorry to Benn!!
Medhurst book is in turns optimistic, elegiac, brutal and counter factual- it leaves one still hungry for what might have been - and as an alternative account of those crucial years it’s essential reading especially as we are now sat in the right wing dystopia of a Sunak Britain with a neutered and highly ineffective starmer led establishment opposition with not a left winger in sight - they’ve mostly all been expelled- read this and weep
Many modern historians place the hinge point of the end of post war consensus politics to 1979 with the election of Thatcher. John Medhurst has written an excellent revisionist text which could be said to combine the real history of the 70s with a counter - factual element and a thesis that posits 1974-1976 as the actual point of change to the far rightism that prevails today. Medhurst wants to make a plea for a dynamic optimistic period of feminism; socialism and people power that was the 70s whilst also speculating on what could have been a country adopting methods that allowed workers and unions to contribute meaningfully to how the economy and politics could help most people in relation to incomes and workers rights. Tony Benn tried to steer the mid decade Labour government into a period of socialist values that underpinned the lives of people.
It’s a predictable story of establishment forces joining together to destroy the left and Benns strategy - Medhurst is meticulous in the main text and informative footnotes in outlining how Benn was undermined and how Wilson and then Callaghan and Healey were forced or at least too easily persuaded to bow to the IMF with spending cuts and income controls. The extent of American influence is new to me at least though Peter Jays influence is well known - less familiar is the monetarist diktat that underpinned the iMF loan and the complete paranoia about socialism that threatened army coup rumours and establishment strong arming. Benns ideas ( more important than his personal ambition despite media hysteria) were blocked and ignored and the unions themselves lost their way with a plan that went array.
Medhurst text is even more shocking and revelatory about the very definite Thatcher plan which was underpinned and outlined not just by monetarist influence from
America but by Nicholas Ridley whose industrial plan anticipated the danger of a challenge to Thatcherism by the miners and recommended stock piling of coal well before the actual 1984 strike had even been conceived- the thatcher experiment was born in a secret annexe of paperwork by Ridley. They ruthlessly implemented it in full and now she’s being praised by of all people the hopeless leader of the Labour Party who is a Tory in all but name.
Given the destruction of Corbyn in 2017 & 2019 by the right of his own party and a vicious right wing press feeding an anti semitism lie ( which happened after this book was published in 2013) this book reminds us that with Corbyn history had simply repeated itself …. Even though his supposed left wing ism was really in line with most social democratic European party policies. The red scare continues. Callaghans famous speech heralding Thatcherite monetarist policies ( and dumping the post war keynesian doctrine) said effectively that the Keynes methods and the lefts tweeks option “ no longer exists” …. As it turned out Healey was working on duff figures that made the deficit worse than it was ! Whitehall spoiler tactics ?? Maybe. Healey complained in his memoirs but didn’t say sorry to Benn!!
Medhurst book is in turns optimistic, elegiac, brutal and counter factual- it leaves one still hungry for what might have been - and as an alternative account of those crucial years it’s essential reading especially as we are now sat in the right wing dystopia of a Sunak Britain with a neutered and highly ineffective starmer led establishment opposition with not a left winger in sight - they’ve mostly all been expelled- read this and weep
August 24, 2025
This is my first exposure to the Labour Programme of 1973 and the 1974 General Election Manifesto and to other aspects of industrial reform in the UK in the early 70s. As an American born on the other side of neoliberal monetarism industrial democracy seems beyond possibility yet in this book a high water mark of the British left actually came close to real reforms. Medhurst ends the book with a call for something that might be the forming “Left Party” in the UK and I would hope that the ideas and policies exampled in this book would be a good source to start from. The victory of the Thatcherites and the neoliberal turn has obscured the left positions they crushed so thoroughly. The passion called out in the conclusion is evident throughout the book and it is something worthy of that passion.
April 16, 2021
Interesting insight into an overlooked and maligned era of British history.
In the Post-Thatcher years of Capitalist Realism, '74-76 has been framed as an era of lethargy, failure and despair. Medhurst goes a long way to look beyond this and examine the thinkers and activists that sought to reshape Britain in those years. Some of their ideas are long forgotten by the political mainstream, such as workplace democracy, whilst others, like Euroscepticsm, have taken on a very different shape in the intervening years. It is not hard to see the impact of this era on the present nor is it hard to see recurring parallels in the struggle between ambitious vision and entrenched elite interests.
In the Post-Thatcher years of Capitalist Realism, '74-76 has been framed as an era of lethargy, failure and despair. Medhurst goes a long way to look beyond this and examine the thinkers and activists that sought to reshape Britain in those years. Some of their ideas are long forgotten by the political mainstream, such as workplace democracy, whilst others, like Euroscepticsm, have taken on a very different shape in the intervening years. It is not hard to see the impact of this era on the present nor is it hard to see recurring parallels in the struggle between ambitious vision and entrenched elite interests.
January 29, 2023
A lot about the political conditions that led to Thatcher’s rise
December 22, 2015
Thorough account of a brief period when the UK nearly got some socialism (albeit not that extraordinary by northern European standards). Probably more detailed than I needed - not really a criticism, but if you're like me and not after micro-history the excellent Andy Beckett book of the 70s will do you.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews