Blue Labour argues that the party lost touch with its base by embracing anti-patriotism in the face of Brexit and by undermining solidarity in local communities through bureaucratic collectivism, social agendas, and neoliberal economics. It argues that whilst postwar Old Labour had become too uncritical of state power, New Labour far worsened this with an uncritical view of global markets as well. The group further advocates a switch to local and democratic community management and provision of services, rather than relying on a top-down welfare state which it sees as excessively bureaucratic. Economically it is described as a "movement keen on guild socialism and continental corporatism". The Blue Labour position has been articulated in books such as Tangled Up in Blue (2011) of Rowenna Davis, Blue Labour: Forging a New Politics (2015) of Ian Geary and Adrian Pabst and Blue Labour: The Politics of the Common Good (2022) of Glasman himself. Additional elucidations on Blue Labour's ideas can be found in The Purple Book (2011) of Robert Philpot and Despised: Why the Modern Left Loathes the Working Class (2020) of Paul Embery.
