New Labour or socialism?

While the late entry of veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn into the race for the Labour Party leadership has been one of the most positive and welcome political developments in British politics of late, the fact that he has such a major struggle on his hands to even get onto the ballot paper tells you just how far removed from the values of working class solidarity and the principles of internationalism the modern Labour Party has become.  The fact that it is almost certain that the next leader of the Labour Party will be a Blairite (or in the case of Andy Burnham, a former Blairite) who will be even more right wing than Ed Miliband means that it is perhaps timely to reconsider a 1996 pamphlet that is now online by Alex Callinicos, New Labour or socialism? - its content is kind of self-explanatory from the title, but it explains well - as does a 1983 book by Callinicos which is also now online, The Revolutionary Road for Socialism, why the task ahead for socialists remains to build a socialist alternative to New Labour - a task that looks set to become more pressing than ever given the likely outcome of the ongoing leadership election.