The works of most of the great political philosophers of the past (even The Bible) have been claimed to support variously Left & Right.
It is not that Left & Right change their views – though they do: Thatcherite Free Market economics belonged to the dangerous Radicals of the 19th century, not the paternalistic landed Tories; in my life time the Common Market, under its various names, has gone from being seen as a capitalist conspiracy to an organisation for enforcing workers rights
That Matthew Parris should be paying close attention to Marxist thought in a recent Saturday column – albeit as a stick with which to beat current Labour policy – made me wonder if the time is not too far off when Das Kapital is seen as a Tory text
