What do you think?  Is this a religious position?  Drop me a line

 < Back to Home Page

• Social justice - there is no appetite for old-style socialist egalitarianism, but our fellow-citizens continue to be affronted by the unjustifiable extremes of wealth and poverty that continue to disfigure our society.  It is not enough merely to "eliminate poverty" as a matter of fact, what is needed is a philosophy which explains the wrongfulness of such extremes - man is a moral creature, and demands a moral explanation - Human Rights, enforceable through the Courts, must become part of future concepts of social justice - and the rights of the workforce, in their perpetual confrontation with "the employer", should form an integral part of this agenda.

• Peaceful prospects - global conflict increasingly disturbs the peace of mind of our fellow-citizens, and the Left cannot simply muddle through with good intentions - relationships with the US must be re-configured - making a success of the EU will be essential, for Labour, and it must be done in distinctive socialist style, for distinctive socialist reasons - similarly, on the home-front the generation of a more coherent philosophy of civic order, consistent with Human Rights, liberal in character and respectful of human individuality and freedom - Labour's "law and order platform" has been wrecked by Straw and Blunkett, it has become narrow and mean-spirited, vindictive and unimaginative, populist and fearful of a perceived prejudices of "the mob" - the Left must give real substance to the maintenance of "the Queen's Peace", linked closely with the reduction of disruptive social injustice - and internationally, the inculcation of a more peaceful world is fundamental to the prospects of the global economy - as consumer economies flourish, it is becoming ever clearer that the world cannot afford war any more.  Even Bush will be forced to learn this lesson - we should be preaching it first.

• Lifelong learning - my nose tells me that the ability of every adult to change course, to re-deal the cards of youth, is of growing importance, as the majority are better educated, living longer and understanding more about life's options - our society already devotes major resources to school and university education, coinciding with the natural period of the child's maturation to adulthood, and the importance of that allocation is not in doubt - socialist perceptions now require the spotlight to shift to adult education, with a coherent philosophy of continuing development;

• Tame the Corporations!  Labour must dig deep, and find the courage to confront the labyrinthine wrongs of our systems of artificial personality, which interpenetrate "Western" civilisation - civilisation has become enmeshed in a thicket of interlocking company-law systems, a nightmare of our own making, which disempowers Governments, promotes the grossest forms of personal and social injustice, and has become a primary vehicle for the abuse of power throughout human society.

• Support when unemployed - Labour has been blessed with a period of high employment and economic growth - our public support systems for the un employed have not been stretched in recent years, and remain institutionally weak - the Left must propose a more coherent rationale of support following job-loss, both in terms of training and support

• Security in old age - and the anticipation of such security -the majority of our fellow citizens, both in the UK and in continental Europe, experience growing anxiety because of the weakness of society's old age pension systems, whether "State", private or supported - the Left has never really grasped this nettle, and it must do so now.

Blair could perm any three from six, and lay the ground for a successful, radical Third Term.  The task is to redefine "socialism for the middle classes" - because only a small minority of the under-40s now identify with traditional working-class perceptions, and we must approach them differently.  I have never been convinced that the two pillars of Blair's second term (namely the education of children, and the provision of healthcare) constitute the commanding heights of political ambition - while essential, they represent no more than the obvious common ground - where Tory, LibDem and Labour are bound to meet.  Indeed, it is difficult to find any distinctive socialist policies in these sectors - there is nothing to inspire the socialist troops.

• For that, Labour III will have to look elsewhere.