Jon Cruddas
Thursday is a big moment for the
renewal of social democracy.
The Institute for Public Policy Research's The Condition of Britain Report sets out a plan to tackle our social problems and rebuild society when there is no money to spare.
Whoever wins in 2015 there will be more cuts to come. There will be no more make-do-and-mend spending solutions.
We need radical transformational change in the way our country governs itself to meet the challenges ahead.
The Condition of Britain sets out how we can tackle the big social issues.
More, better-quality childcare; early years intervention, investing in preventing social problems; getting people off welfare and into work; building the houses we need; creating access to affordable credit; developing a new system of care for older people; and establishing the principle of contribution in our welfare system.
Big state top-down solutions won't work. The politics of the future will be about innovation and participation.
It is about individuals and the lives they want to lead and politics is about the power of people's relationships to transform society.
That means renewing our institutions, and government devolving and sharing power and working with people, not doing things for them or to them.
Policy is about building support for public action. It means promising less and asking more.
The Condition of Britain will define social policy in the coming decade, and not just on the left.
David Cameron's "big society" has failed and the report shows why. It marks the most radical development in social democratic thinking since the 1994 Commission for Social Justice helped to define the New Labour project.
It puts politics back into everyday life and it puts power back into the hands of individuals.
It sets out three broad strategies for social renewal: spread power and responsibility to build democracy and strengthen society; foster contribution and reciprocity to re-establish a sense of fairness and justice; and strengthen our shared institutions to help tackle social problems for good.
These establish the foundations on which we can build a competitive wealth-creating economy.
The pace of change in our society is faster than at any time since the industrial revolution. The economy is being transformed by the digital revolution.
I have been around the country and there is fantastic energy and willingness to create and to build and to turn Britain around.
People want the opportunities to use their skills to make a better life for themselves and their children.
But our system of government is failing them.
Wages for most working people are stagnant, homes for ordinary families are not being built, and the skills training which business and young people need to succeed is inadequate. The talents of too many are wasted in dead-end jobs.
There is not enough quality affordable childcare to help women earn and achieve their ambitions. The care system for the elderly is turning into a social catastrophe.
People feel their lives are increasingly out of control. Many feel left behind and are losing faith that the system will ever listen to them.
The policy review I am leading is building a programme for national renewal and the transformation of our country.
There is more to come.
In the next few weeks Andrew Adonis's growth review will be the blueprint for turning our cities into dynamos of innovation, job creation and growth. Richard Leese will publish his Local Government Innovation Task Force report and set out plans for the radical redistribution of power across England and reform of our public services around local place and communities.
We will extend devolution in Wales and Scotland. Our New Deal for England will be the biggest devolution of power to our cities and county regions in 100 years.
It will bring regional banking, local powers over high streets, people-powered public services, and a top-class system of vocational education and training tailored for local need.
At next month's National Policy Forum, Labour will have a policy programme for national renewal equal to the scale of the challenges facing our country.
We will renew our country around family life, the work people do and the places they live.
1945, 1964 and 1997 prove that Labour wins when it is patriotic and when it speaks for a radical and promising sense of national renewal.
With The Condition of Britain, the IPPR has provided us with an invaluable resource to achieve our ambition.
The Institute for Public Policy Research's The Condition of Britain Report sets out a plan to tackle our social problems and rebuild society when there is no money to spare.
Whoever wins in 2015 there will be more cuts to come. There will be no more make-do-and-mend spending solutions.
We need radical transformational change in the way our country governs itself to meet the challenges ahead.
The Condition of Britain sets out how we can tackle the big social issues.
More, better-quality childcare; early years intervention, investing in preventing social problems; getting people off welfare and into work; building the houses we need; creating access to affordable credit; developing a new system of care for older people; and establishing the principle of contribution in our welfare system.
Big state top-down solutions won't work. The politics of the future will be about innovation and participation.
It is about individuals and the lives they want to lead and politics is about the power of people's relationships to transform society.
That means renewing our institutions, and government devolving and sharing power and working with people, not doing things for them or to them.
Policy is about building support for public action. It means promising less and asking more.
The Condition of Britain will define social policy in the coming decade, and not just on the left.
David Cameron's "big society" has failed and the report shows why. It marks the most radical development in social democratic thinking since the 1994 Commission for Social Justice helped to define the New Labour project.
It puts politics back into everyday life and it puts power back into the hands of individuals.
It sets out three broad strategies for social renewal: spread power and responsibility to build democracy and strengthen society; foster contribution and reciprocity to re-establish a sense of fairness and justice; and strengthen our shared institutions to help tackle social problems for good.
These establish the foundations on which we can build a competitive wealth-creating economy.
The pace of change in our society is faster than at any time since the industrial revolution. The economy is being transformed by the digital revolution.
I have been around the country and there is fantastic energy and willingness to create and to build and to turn Britain around.
People want the opportunities to use their skills to make a better life for themselves and their children.
But our system of government is failing them.
Wages for most working people are stagnant, homes for ordinary families are not being built, and the skills training which business and young people need to succeed is inadequate. The talents of too many are wasted in dead-end jobs.
There is not enough quality affordable childcare to help women earn and achieve their ambitions. The care system for the elderly is turning into a social catastrophe.
People feel their lives are increasingly out of control. Many feel left behind and are losing faith that the system will ever listen to them.
The policy review I am leading is building a programme for national renewal and the transformation of our country.
There is more to come.
In the next few weeks Andrew Adonis's growth review will be the blueprint for turning our cities into dynamos of innovation, job creation and growth. Richard Leese will publish his Local Government Innovation Task Force report and set out plans for the radical redistribution of power across England and reform of our public services around local place and communities.
We will extend devolution in Wales and Scotland. Our New Deal for England will be the biggest devolution of power to our cities and county regions in 100 years.
It will bring regional banking, local powers over high streets, people-powered public services, and a top-class system of vocational education and training tailored for local need.
At next month's National Policy Forum, Labour will have a policy programme for national renewal equal to the scale of the challenges facing our country.
We will renew our country around family life, the work people do and the places they live.
1945, 1964 and 1997 prove that Labour wins when it is patriotic and when it speaks for a radical and promising sense of national renewal.
With The Condition of Britain, the IPPR has provided us with an invaluable resource to achieve our ambition.
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