Book review: Justifying New Labour policy

"Justifying New Labour Policy." Judi Atkins. Palgrave Macmillan. April 2011. --- Justifying New Labour Policy presents a detailed empirical analysis of the ideas, language and policy of New Labour. Politicians often appeal to moral principles and arguments in their efforts to win support for new policy programmes. Yet the question of how politicians use moral language has so far been neglected by scholars, and Judi Atkins aims to fill this gap, with chapters on welfare reform, the Iraq war, and ASBOs. Reviewed by Andrew Crines.