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A suitable case for socialism Labour’s long-awaited 2002 “pensions judgment” has been handed down by the hapless Andrew Smith, with the pre-Christmas publication of the new pensions Green Paper. The Labour Party is unique in its political custody of the great ideal of a decent, universal, State-guaranteed redistributive Old Age Pension, to dignify our society and define our common humanity. Even the City, and the Financial Times, agree that this primal function can be performed only by the State, in the absence of any credible private sector institutions. I shall argue that the State pension, payable at 30% of average wage at the age of 70 (=£130 pw), is not only the right socialist solution, but is practicable and realistic. This is an opportunity that Labour must not miss.
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Renewing participatory democracy Multiple Differential Uncertainty
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Week 52 NB An understandable mistake, but one of you has been searching these pages to find the new Welsh Fabian newsletter - I have indeed created a new 2003 Welsh Fabian Newsletter over Christmas, which you will find at www.fabiansofwales.org... Hail the Commentariat! Cheriegate prompted, from Martin Kettle in The Guardian, a profound analysis of a new political force, which he calls the commentariat. This is the cadre of 120 professional journalists who write regular week-in week-out opinion pieces about domestic politics. What worries me is the prospect of conflict and collusion withthe new political salariat... The new political Salariat My image of the new political
Salariat
was originally no more than a doodle, right here on this Website. My
perception is now of a new profession, coming to resemble my own profession
of the Bar. And as with the threat posed by all professions to the lay
public, we must devise new systems - because this new
Let me
know what you think Just ONE Year AgoChristmas Day is the first anniversary of my very venture onto the Web, in 2001. I was quite defensive about Tony Blair, who was under attack by Barbara Castle - and I was already preaching the primacy of road over rail..
Foundation Hospitals
I am sad that such a major spat is blowing up, between Alan Milburn and the Labour backbenchers. Because the foundation hospital concept does contain within it the seeds of real NHS reform. Alan Milburn and Tony Blair must now summon up the courage to confront the medical professions and ensure that all hospitals are the subject of effective local democratic responsibility. That is the real point. And this issue must not be fudged.
Let me
know what you think Who’s to blame for blaming? Actuaries are a funny lot, but very clever. So when the Institute of Actuaries recently reported a crisis in the UK’s growing “compensation culture”, which they said was costing £10 billion a year, I sat up and took notice. But I think they are scare-mongering...
The Sainsburys This large tube of toothpaste is sold by Sainsburys at 44p. Smaller proprietary brands, indistinguishable in their effectiveness, retail on the same shelves at over £2... McCains Oven Chips retail at over three times the price of the Sainsburys Low Price equivalent. The deceit lies in the doctrine that the right price is the price the market will bear.. I believe in cities I believe in the dynamism of city government, the power of city loyalties, the cogency of city identities. Life would be richer - more diverse, more exciting, more challenging – if we gave our cities their head, as primary institutions of contemporary society. Recent topics
And read my own Big Theory itself, at Special Footnote I love the online newspapers, which are my access to the world - share them with me - click through to their Homepages from here -
back to top Follow my August 2002 Russian Tour Diary, now unfolding in splendid technicolor - capacity problems have so far limited the scale of how much I can E-publish, but there is still plenty to read - |
Cherie Blair "Closure" I agonised
over Cherie Blair’s plight, with Peter
Foster. My own agonies, at the 
Alas poor Soros! George Soros will not, at 72, miss the £1.4m fine imposed on him by the French Courts, for insider dealing in 1988 - he is reported to be "worth" $6.9bn, which makes him the 37th richest man in the world. But the idea that "insider dealing" should be treated as a crime betrays the mess that the global corporate sector is in. We all need informed insiders to tell us what is really happening, in the corporate jungle...Let me know what you think back to top House Price Forecast Greater precision called for You have called for greater precision in my forecast of what will happen when the housing bubble bursts. In that forecast, I said - "I cannot imagine house-prices falling to a plateau-level more than 10% below mid-2002 levels.
Wolff questions prison... Lord Wolff has been attacked for his willingness to abandon first-strike prison sentences for burglars. But maybe we should not treat imprisonment as a first-option "punishment " at all. Can "consumption" Yes, says Sam Brittan. Christmas prompts the FT guru to ponder on the future of “consumption”, and its changing character – just as I did (remember?) on Buy Nothing Day – Sam Brittan is always good value, and his own Weblog is not a chargeable FT service… I browsed, and found a telling recent extract. What do you think? back to top Shoppers Terrorised On Monday 16 December 2002, Scotland Yard issued a terror alert to all Christmas shoppers. But what good do such “public warnings” serve? They only intensify public anxiety, for no preventive gain. I believe that Ministers must learn to absorb more of the anxiety themselves.
Fancy a winter break in Wales? No ferry-travel, no air-travel, tucking into a great dinner by Friday evening? Super breaks on offer from the excellent Wales Tourist Board Democracy Shamed Two subjects overshadow current politics, namely immigration and drugs. Yet our elected politicians, for sheer fear of the electorate, shy away from the reform process. Rational, open debate is impossible on either subject, seemingly because none of our leaders – of any Party – is prepared to take the lead. This represents a serious failing of the democratic process.
“Corporate Social Responsibility” O dear o dear o dear. 2003 will see a new MBA in Corporate Responsibility launched by the University of Nottingham - on conjunction with the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR is corrosive new jargon. It is dishonest. For it suggests that private “corporations” are themselves to be considered warm and cuddly, generous and community-spirited, socially acceptable organisations. That is specious nonsense, and profoundly misleading. These qualities can attach only to natural persons – never to corporations.Anniversary! Having launched this Weblog on Christmas Day 2002, my first anniversary
rapidly approaches.
Diary 2002 Now up to date! I have re-structured my Diary to give you a day-to-day means of looking back, throughout the year just click through
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Created by GMID Design & Communication COPYRIGHT NOTICEThe originating content of this website is my own work, and subject to my copyright. But on one condition only, I hereby give my consent to its unrestricted reproduction for any purpose: the condition is that its source is subject to proper acknowledgment, giving my name, my assertion of copyright, and the name of this website as it source, namely: www.warrenevans.net - is that a deal? Roger WE
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New
.. acknowledging Robert Preston of The
Guardian
hands of a conman in Swansea, were all
replayed - and