‘Le New Labour à la recherche de « la meilleure relation possible entre les individus, l’État et le marché »

Abstract

New Labour rejected both the ‘big state’ associated with the ‘old left’ and the ‘minimal state’ identified with the ‘new right’. Instead it favoured the ‘enabling state’ whose object was not to instruct but to empower ordinary people. For Tony Blair a ‘prime illustration’ of the meaning and implications of this model of the state could be found in the stance it took on ‘the issue of healthy living.’ This article accordingly seeks to analyze both the policies followed by the Labour Government between 1997 and 2008 and the reasons they were adopted in combating the two major problems of ‘healthy living’, alcohol abuse and obesity.