A n t i c i p a t i o n s

f a b i a n sy o u n g

V o l u m e 1 0 i s s u e 3 - W i n t e r 2 0 0 6

“ A c o n f e r e n c e i s ag a t h e r i n g o f p e o p l e w h o

s i n g l y c a n d o n o t h i n g , b u tt o g e t h e r c a n d e c i d e t h a t

n o t h i n g c a n b e d o n e .”Fred Allen, Comedian

2 A n t i c i p a t i o n s

Welcome to another fun-filled edition ofAnticipations. A lot has happened since thelast edition and I’m sure you’ve beenchomping at the bit to get your hands onthis one. The suspense has been killingyou, hasn’t it?

Well, the Labour Party conference – you know,the other most wonderful time of the year –has been and gone. As the theme ofthis edition, the subject of LabourParty Conference has sparked someinteresting commentary.

This year’s conference was in Manchester –which, I think you’ll notice, is neither aseaside town nor does it begin with the letter‘b’; who knew it could happen to a politicalconference? Of course, the downside of this –other than the complete lack of ‘kiss me quick’caps and multi-coloured sticks of sugar rock –was that I couldn’t decide whether to attendthe conference or go shopping. Thankfully Imanaged to find a happy compromise in theshape of a pub near the conference venue.

The Party Conference, as the main theme ofthis edition of Anticipations, is a subjecttackled by several of our writers this time.And, unsurprisingly, the location is arecurring theme.

However, its being in Manchester was not theonly remarkable thing about this conference;it was also Tony Blair’s final conference asPrime Minister. Blair’s speech to theconference, which received a nine minuteovation, focussed on what the Party hasachieved in his time as Prime Minister andwhat challenges are ahead. It was anemotional farewell which left some of themost unlikely looking spectators with tears intheir eyes – many of whom, I’m sure, wouldnot care to admit to that now.

Carrying on with the theme of conference, inthis edition there is a series of mini-interviewswith Labour MPs - basically any of them whowere silly enough to stand still long enoughfor one of our interviewers to get their voicerecorders out and start asking questions.

We have interviews with Meg Munn, DrHoward Stoate, Ivan Lewis, John Hutton, LiamByrne, Jack Straw and Kitty Ussher. We askedthem about the success of the conference,their opinions or predictions on Blair’s speechand, to keep them on their toes, somethingunknown but interesting about themselves.

They were very good sports; I’ll leave you tofind out for yourselves which of them used tohave a Mohican and who got themselvesinto trouble with a pair of knitting needlesand a ball of wool.

Of course, the Conference and the in-fightingwhich preceded it are only the tip of theiceberg. Since the last edition there has alsobeen the monumental and life-changing eventthat is the Young Fabian executive elections.

Our much loved chair, Prema Gurunathan, hasstood down and been replaced by our newmuch loved chair, Conor McGinn (what can Isay, we’re a very loving bunch).

There is also a brand new executive –although, you do seem to have voted in manyof the same people as last year, so it is a newexecutive in a very limited sense. Somepeople didn’t stand again, of course, and theywill be sorely missed. And Nisha Taylor wasforced to stand down – after being dulyelected – because of time pressures.

Our newest member of the executive, Yue-Ting Cheng, also now holds our newestexecutive position, Universities Officer.

To find out more about the new executive,their roles and how to contact them see thefeature on pages 14 -15.

I guess all that remains is to thank you forvoting in the election, I hope you got theexecutive you wanted. If you didn’t, give ustime, I’m sure we do alright in the end. Thecoming year looks likely to be an interestingone with a new leader to be elected and allthat involves, there will be Scottish electionsand local elections as well as some interestingelections going on outside f the UK – see AlexBarker’s piece on the upcoming Frenchpresidential elections. I am pleased to havethe opportunity to edit Anticipations foranother year and I look forward to reading allyour articles. Remember to get involved andto get in touch if you have any ideas forarticles, interviews of other features.

And so, for the last time this year, we give youAnticipations. I hope you enjoy it.

To contribute to the next edition ofAnticipations, please email Emma Carr onecarr@youngfabians.org.uk or Angela Greenon agreen@youngfabians.org.uk.

N e w b e g i n n i n g sE d i t o r i a l b y E m m a C a r r

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 3

W i n t e r 2 0 0 6 - C o n t e n t s

Anticipations, like all publications of the Fabian Society, and the Young Fabians,represents not the collective view of the Society, but only the views of the individualswho prepared it. The responsibility of the Society is limited to approving its publicationsas worthy of consideration within the Labour movement.

Published by The Fabian Society, 11 Dartmouth Street, London, SW1H 9BN. Tel: 0207 227 4900 Fax: 0207 976 7153 Website: www.fabian-society.org.uk

Printed by Juma Printers, 44 Wellington St, Sheffield, S1 4HD

Emma and Angela would like to thank: Kevin Bonavia, Tom Flynn and PremaGurunathan

The end of an era 4Tom Flynn, was lost at conference, andnot just because he was in Manchester

Vox Pop: Meg Munn MP 5

Exclusively Labour 6Sam Strudwick explains why a little bit ofexclusivity goes a long way at LabourConference

Vox Pop: Ivan Lewis MP 7

Vox Pop: Howard Stoate MP and TheRt. Hon John Hutton MP 8

Vox Pop: Liam Byrne MP 9

An Ode to Manchester 10Tom Miller explains why Manchesterwas the perfect locations for thisyear’s Labour Conference

Vox Pop: Rt. Hon Jack Straw MP 11

Welcome in my back yard 12Noel Hatch explains why we need todevelop from being a joined-up state tobeing a join-in society

Vox Pop: Kitty Ussher MP 13

The new Young Fabian Executive 14Ever wondered what we all look like? No?Well, here are some photos of us anyway

Time to move on? 16With the Bush agenda collapsing, the leftmust renew its foreign policy saysJessica Studdert

Vive la socialisme 18Alex Barker writes the first in a series ofcolumns following the progress of theFrench presidential elections

L’Etat C’est Moi 19Kevin Bonavia sums up the Frenchpresidential system

Tertiary education policy: a fewdegrees off course? 20Gavin Lingiah tells us why he thinks it’stime to increase university tuition fees

Book reviews 22Conor McGinn, Young Fabian Chair,reviews 100 Years of Labour by GrahamBash and Andrew Fisher

Book Club 23Paul Miner reviews Franz Kafka’s novel,The Trial

Events 24

Swedish elections 25Mark Rusling, who organised the trip tocampaign in the Swedish generalelection, tells us how it went

Goodbye from her... 26Chair’s Column by out-going Chair,Prema Gurunathan

... and hello from him 27Chair’s Column by new Young FabianChair, Conor McGinn

Photos 28Photographs from this year’s YoungFabian trip to Edinburgh

4 A n t i c i p a t i o n s

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raThe end of an era

T o m F l y n n , Yo u n g F a b i a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l O f f i c e r, f e l t l o s t a tc o n f e r e n c e , a n d i t w a s n ’ t j u s t b e c a u s e o f t h e n e w l o c a t i o n .For many delegates attending the LabourParty Conference 2007, the mood was one ofchange, the end of an era and the start ofsomething new. Some embraced the change,the chance for a change of direction, anopportunity to explore new territory. Others,including myself, felt lost, unsure of the wayforward, nervous about the obstacles that layahead. The reason for this was that this year’sannual conference was held, for the first time,in Manchester, and having never been therebefore I genuinely was lost, unsure of the wayforward and the obstacles that made menervous were tram shaped and appeared fromnowhere at regular intervals, sendingdelegates scrambling for cover.

Once the conference was underway, the moodof change continued, but for very differentreasons. This conference would be the lastunder the current leadership, a chance to saygoodbye or good riddance to our retiringPrime Minister, depending on your point ofview, but also a chance for renewal, anopportunity to search deep into the party’ssoul and assess the direction in which we areheading. One thing was painfully clear fromthe speeches heard in the main auditoriumand the many others given at receptions andfringe meetings long into the night – whenit comes to delivery of a political speech, therewere two people at this conference who arein a league of their own. One of those is TonyBlair. Love him or hate him, his delivery,his choice of words and the usual scriptedjokes (that we all have to laugh at becausethe TV cameras are watching) combined toproduce a phenomenal display of politicaltheatre that left many in tears and wonderingwhat would fill the Tony-shaped hole nowstarting to form at the top of our party. Theother great orator, unfortunately, is noteligible to stand for Labour leadership, beingfrom Arkansas and having not been a memberof the party for the required six months beforeeligibility for office.

The last time that Bill Clinton appeared at ourannual gathering he visited a well known fastfood chain on Blackpool High Street beforebuying a ‘kiss me quick’ hat and a stick of rockfor Hilary (probably). That was 2002, the lasttime we held the event in that part ofthe world, when his speech lit up an otherwisefairly average week at the seaside. This yearhe blew us away again in the vibrantmetropolis that is Manchester – acity thriving from the hard work and

dedication of aLabour Councilworking inp a r t n e r s h i pwith a LabourGovernment.The city ofM a n c h e s t e rgave us aglimpse ofwhat ispossible, whatwe haveachieved as aparty in 9 yearsof Government– a muchneeded chanceto take pride inour efforts to ensure our Labour governmenthas remained in office for an unprecedentedthird term. It also gave us the chance toreflect on what comes next.

Gordon Brown, or whoever else inherits themantle next summer, will simply not be ableto perform in the way that Blair could. Butthat is not necessarily a bad thing. A majorcriticism of the Blair years has often been theprioritisation of style over substance. Thisoption will not be available to the next leader,and it is possible that in order to survive, theparty will have to seize the initiative andattempt to steer the debate towards concretepolicies and away from vacuous meaninglesspolitician speak, as perfected in recent timesby the David Brent of politics, ‘Dave’ Cameronand his ‘inner tosser’.

It is time to elect a leadership team whichreflects the direction in which the Party wantsto go and for those who are unsuccessful intheir quest for the crown to accept thedecision of the grass roots members and givetheir full support to ensuring another Labourvictory on a manifesto which shows that we,not the Tories, are the party of change, theparty of the people. One thing that the Blairspeech showed was that we have ourarguments in private, but when the world iswatching we clap, cheer and unite around ourleader to fight the common enemy ofconservatism. If those who represent us atthe highest level of Government can manageto stick to that winning formula then thefuture could be bright for the next LabourPrime Minister when he or she enters number10 next year.

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 5

C o n f e r e n c e Vo x P o p sFor this edition we opted to take advantage of the situation at annual conference - lots ofMPs with very little place to run - and instead decided to do lots of little interviews, or VoxPops.

We asked a series of MPs the same three questions:

And then just for fun, we asked them to tell us something interesting about themselves thatwe wouldn’t already know. We got some very interesting answers.

The interviews - with Meg Munn, Dr Howard Stoate, Ivan Lewis, John Hutton, Liam Byrne,Jack Straw and Kitty Ussher - are spread over the next few pages.

The interviews were conducted by Emma Carr and Patrick Woodman.

V o x P o p : M e g M u n n M P

At the end of this week what would makeyou say that this conference has been asuccess?It will be a success if we come out of it with asense of a party that is focused on the future,a party which is focused on what we need todo to take us forward into the next year andright up to the next election. One which isrealistic that there is going to be a leadershipcampaign but one which isn’t tearing eachother apart over the personalities.

What would you most like to hear in theleader’s speech tomorrow?That’s a really good question because I’ve no

doubt that Tony will make an excellentspeech, he always does. I mean the moredifficult the circumstances, the better speechhe makes so you’re asking me to be as goodas our leader in what he’s going to say.

But what I think is important is that he givesa big vision. I think Gordon’s speech todaygave a big vision and he needs to do that aswell. I think in doing that if he has that bigvision he will effectively establish thatalthough he won’t be taking it forward, it’snot the end of the process but the beginningof the next phase.

What do you think is the country’sbiggest policy challenge in the comingyears?I think that the temptation is to say climatechange because that is kind of the issue ofthe moment that everyone is talking about.But I think what you have to do is set thatalongside what can we do in terms of theeconomy, and people’s commitment toinvolvement in the economy, while dealingwith the problems of climate change in thecontext of globalisation.

Can you tell us something interestingabout yourself that we don’t know?Would you know this or would you not? I wasonce told off for knitting in a council meeting.

At the end of the conference, what will have made it a success?

What would you like to see in Tony Blair’s speech?

What is the country’s biggest policy challenge in the coming years?

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S a m S t r u d w i c k e x p l a i n s w h y a l i t t l e b i t o f e x c l u s i v i t y g o e s al o n g w a y a t L a b o u r P a r t y C o n f e r e n c eThe best thing about conference this year wasits exclusivity. Like me you probably believebeing an inclusive party, open to all, is all welland good in this age of political correctnessgone mad, but at conference time it doesrather result in a lot of riff-raff getting in.

Not this year however. Thanks to themeticulous hard work of the conference staffand Manchester Police a lot of theundesirables, who arrogantly presumed theirpass would turn up on time, were filtered out.Hopefully, with the long overdue introductionof ID cards, this process will become easier.

Despite the tiresome clapping, the conferencehall remains a nice place to sit, read thepapers and eat a few biscuits. However formany, I included, the real reason for going toconference is that it affords one theopportunity to meet new people, oftenwithout their partners. Which is why, I for one,was a little miffed that the greatestnetworking opportunity of the entire weekwas omitted from the conference guide.Apparently large queues of members,delegates, lobbyists and the odd MP werenetworking for literally hours on end atsomewhere called the conference servicesoffice. Come on, I didn’t get all these cardsprinted for nothing.

So what were the hot topics? Well obviouslythe environment was preying on everybody’smind. There seems to be a commonmisconception that the Conservatives havestolen a march on Labour over theEnvironment. Poppycock. They may have theirtree, their hollow words and their unfoundedpolicies, but if anybody doubts which party isreally committed to delivering on theenvironmental agenda, they only needed to

walk around the exhibition stands inManchester. I’ve now got so many free bagsI’ll be able to fly to Bournemouth next year onAirMiles paid for entirely by my greenClubcard points. And no, you can’t armourplate a Toyota Prius. They barely get up hillsas it is.

Another sizzling topic was local government.It’s all I heard anybody talking about as Iwalked around the Local Government Zone.It’s so glamourous that it’s often over lookedfor more frivolous talk of leadership contestsetc. However local government is much morethat just bins and bogs. It’s the nationalgovernments most important tool fordelivering its policies and its most importantscapegoat when the cash runs out.

Salacious talk of “double devolution” and“place shaping”, which had been givingcouncillors and public servants the horn intown halls up and down the country formonths, exploded at conference with frenzied,almost uncontrollable, speculation about thecontents of the Local Government WhitePaper. After one particular session on theLyons Review I had to dash back to my hotelfor a cold shower just to calm down. Or wasthat just the thought of Anna Randel? Stilltime moves on and of course the White Paperhas now been published, and in what isgenerally a stunning piece of forward thinkingmy favourite paragraph has to be 3.28.

Finally what about Manchester itself. All I cansay is that as far as cities go it is outstanding.The locals were so welcoming, I’m sureeveryone has a story of a Manc coming up tothem to say how happy they were to behosting the conference. Like them, I can’t waitfor it to return.

And we thought theriff-raff were beingkept out: the FabianSociety receptionproved a hit for all,Fabian Society GeneralSecretary SunderKatwala included.

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 7

V o x P o p : I v a n L e w i s M PAt the end of the week what would youmake you say this conference has been asuccess?Unity. Complete and utter unity. And a beliefthat the government is back, focused on theday-to-day issues which concern the Britishpeople. And more than that, we have abrighter, better vision for the future of thecountry than our political opponents.

What would you most like to hear in theleader’s speech today?I’d like to hear of his personal and thegovernment’s massive achievements since1997; I think he should remind people ofwhat Britain was like when we came intogovernment, what Britain is like now. Finally,an identification of what the future challengesare and a total commitment to work withGordon Brown on a stable transition.

And talking of challenges, what do youthink is the country’s biggest policychallenge in the coming years?I think one of the great moral purposes has tobe ending child and pensioner poverty inBritain - equal energy to the amazing workthat has been done on the international MakePoverty History campaign. I think the otherbig issue is: what can the state do to enhancequality of life? Now I think that now that thestandard of living on the whole for manyfamilies is greatly enhanced, many familieshowever are really worried and insecure andanxious about quality of life-type issues. Weneed to be much clearer about what we cando as government on those issues but alsowhat we need from individuals andcommunities in terms of both theirempowerment and their responsibilities.

So can you now tell us somethinginteresting about yourself that ourreaders might not know?As we are in Manchester, I’m one of the fewMPs, probably, who was born, raised, andhave lived all of my life in the constituencythat I represent. Now some people mayregard that as boring, but it’s something thatmakes the relationship I have with myconstituency very special. I think there aremany people who have lived in theconstituency they represent for many, manyyears before they become the MP but I thinkthere’s probably not many were born, raised,and have never ever left – in my case noteven to go to University, do you know what Imean? So I literally have lived there all of mylife. Probably interesting.

The theme for the next issue of Anticipations, the first of 2007, will be about the policiesthat Labour should introduce but can’t. Basically, imagine that there’s a General Electionaround the corner and Labour is about to, no matter what happens, lose control of theGovernment - it’s a horrible thought, but use your imagination. There’s time to implementa few choice policies and there are no political implications - the election is lost anyway,what could you lose? - what would you introduce? Basically, we want to know what thepolicies are that you think Labour should introduce but can’t for political reasons - theones that you think are the right thing to do but which are the hard choice to make.

Please email your ideas for articles to Emma Carr at ecarr@youngfabians.org.uk or AngelaGreen at agreen@youngfabians.org.uk as soon as possible.

The deadline for final submissions is Wednesday 31st January 2007.

T h e N e x t I s s u e o f A n t i c i p a t i o n s

8 A n t i c i p a t i o n s

At the end of this week what would makeyou say that this conference has been asuccess?I want to hear some great speeches from theleadership. I want to hear that the Party isentirely united. I want to hear that what weare in the business of is running the countryand not squabbling over who runs the Party.And I want to see meaningful reform of publicservices on the agenda for the next year andI think, if we can do that, then it’ll have beena great conference.

What would you most like to hear in theleader’s speech today?I want to hear that unity is on the agenda. Iwant to hear that the delivery of publicservices is the only thing that matters for thiscountry; that we do not want to get ourselvesbogged down with internal squabbles whichdogged us in the 80s. So I want Tony to comeout with a positive, hard-hitting reformspeech saying that the agenda continues. Tenyears: we’re still not tired, we’ve got plentyto offer.

What do you think the country’s biggestpolicy challenge is in the coming years?Well, in broad terms it’s the reform of publicservices because public services have had allthe money going into them, they haven’tyet reformed in the way I want to see.So reform of public services has to be thebiggest challenge.

Can you tell us something interestingabout you that we might not alreadyknow?There’s very little interesting about me. I’m aworkaday backbench MP, who does me joband does the best I can for my constituents.

Vox Pop: Dr Howard Stoate MP

Vox Pop: Rt Hon. John Hutton MPAt the end ofthe week whatwould youmake you saythis conferencehas been asuccess?That we’ve beenable toreconnect withthe public, withthe people outthere, that theysee us talkingabout theirproblems andnot talking aboutourselves. Thatwould beimportant.

What would you most like to hear in theleader’s speech today?A sense of the future, where New Labour isgoing – we’ve got to stay New Labour if wewant to win. And we’ve got to wake up to the

new challenges that are facing our countryand our people. I’m quite sure Tony will setout his vision of that future and I’m sure theParty will want to follow it.

What do you think is the country’sbiggest policy challenge in the comingyears?Helping people to succeed, to make sure that,when people go through times of change intheir lives, that a proper safety net and propersupport for them there when they go throughthat and we help people not just get by butget on.

Can you tell our readers somethinginteresting about yourself that theymight not already know?Well, I’m a Cabinet Minister, you know, there’snever very much interesting about us. I’mwriting a book about the First World War,which I hope to get published next year

Well, excellent. We’ll look out for it.Great. Buy 50 copies.

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 9

V o x P o p : L i a m B y r n e M P

Has this conference been a success? If so, why?It’s been a great success this week. Whatwe’ve seen is how quickly Labour hasrecovered its balance after a couple of weeksof mucking about. What we’ve seen this weekis quite a lot of coherence and unity around,not just an analysis of what Labour needs todo today, but what the challenges are overthe next four or five years. I think Bill Clintonactually put it very well today; he said Labourneeds to get back to work, and that kind ofsummed it up for me.

In terms of Tony Blair’s speech whatwere you looking to get from that? Doyou think he delivered?Yeah, I mean it was one of the most incrediblespeeches that I’ve seen in 20 years worth ofmembership of the Labour Party. What wasmost extraordinary about it for Ministers isthat it presented an incredibly clear andconcise analysis of the kind of things thatLabour needs to sort out over the next fewyears. And what he was able to do was offera lot of benefit of his experiences as nearlyten years as Prime Minister – that kind ofexperience is invaluable, but that kind ofinsight is even more precious.

Of those challenges Tony laid out whatdo you think is the biggest policychallenge in the coming years? Or isthere something else that is going tocome up?Well, it basically comes down to this simplequestion about how we as the Labour Partyuse collective power to help makeglobalisation work for ordinary workingfamilies. You know, very often todayglobalisation means jobs shifted offshore; itcan mean high levels of immigration, andvery often there are great benefits from that,but often the benefits come to middle-classfamilies or business. Our job is to make sureglobalisation actually works for every familyin Britain. We have to make sure that we havethe policy in place so that aspirational familiescan look forward to a better future both forthem, their parents, and their kids too. Youknow, that’s hard, it’s tough, the challengesand the obstacles are changing really rapidly,and we’ve got to navigate them on behalf ofBritain.

After nearly 10 years of governmentunder Tony – and we’re looking at thechange now – do you think Labour hasthe credibility with the public to moveforwards and secure government in thelonger term?To be honest, I think we’ve got a bit of workto do to get that credibility back to the levelsin needs to be. I think a lot of people will havelooked at the last couple of weeks andwondered, “Are these guys interested in meand my family’s future, or are they moreinterested in who runs the Labour Party?”. Sowe have got a lot of work to do over the nextsix months to get back out there, to spendtime with local residents talking to themabout our ideas for the future and alsolistening to their concerns. So, you know, Idon’t think our credibility is as high as itneeds to be and I think, to be blunt, we’ve gota lot of work to do to get it back up to thelevels that are needed.

Finally, tell us something interestingabout yourself.(laughs) Well, this is going to sound verystrange coming from a man who has verylittle hair but I once had a Mohican.

If you’d like to respond to any to the articles or interviews featured in this edition ofAnticipations or continue any of the debates, please visit the Young Fabian messageboard on the website at www.youngfabians.org.uk.

Yo u n g F a b i a n We b s i t e

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T o m M i l l e r e x p l a i n s w h y M a n c h e s t e r w a s t h e p e r f e c tl o c a t i o n s f o r t h i s y e a r ’s L a b o u r C o n f e r e n c e

I was lucky enough to attend Labour’s annualconference in Manchester this year as avolunteer helper for Compass, an organisationhoping to steer the direction of the democraticleft. I can only speak for myself, but I dowonder if anyone else is still, even now,surfing on that post-conference buzz?Commiserations to those of you who couldn’ttake the time out to join us for our annualgathering – you missed a great week.

Conference is an excellent opportunity toescape the clutch of Westminster politics, andmeet Labour activists from across the UK, asgovernment ministers and activists cometogether in an environment which feels amillion miles away from the capital, givingpolitics a less London-centric feel.

My adopted home city of Manchester hostedthis year’s conference; what a show it was.

Manchester, a real Labour heartland, wasafforded the opportunity to show delegatesfrom across the UK that it has so much tooffer. A successful period of regeneration,providing excellent social facilities, is theresult of a highly progressive Labour counciland serves to remind me of the reasons Ibecame, and remain, a Labour activist.

The conference venue itself was appropriatelysteeped in Labour history, the site havingbeen the location of the infamous Peterloomassacre, where radicals and socialists,demonstrating against the grossly unfair CornLaws, and for Parliamentary reform, werecruelly cut down by Yeoman cavalry. Here, theradicals who would later become the Chartistssuffered a stinging early defeat, and standingat the place where such a cruel massacre tookplace, served only as a reminder of why wefight for a fairer society.

In my opinion this year’s Conference was themost successful for many years. Despitemedia attempts to portray our Conference asa struggle for power between warringfactions, an admirable display of unity on theconference floor helped to dispel the rumoursof petty infighting which had dominated theheadlines in preceding weeks and provided awelcome bounce in the opinion polls.

Perhaps this was down to Mr Blair’s speech. Iam by no means ‘Blairite’, where labels apply;many of you, like myself, believe that theparty needs a radical policy rethink, and a

good old-fashioned Fabian style debate ondirection. But no-one can deny the masteryBlair displays, captivating audiences with hisunique display of political theatre. It will besad to see such a loss of skill when he leaves.His speech had a palpable effect on the publicand many delegates bought copies from theLabour Students stall soon afterwards as areminder of the last performance by theoutgoing PM.

On a more negative note, conference wastainted for many delegates by the chaos of thelate accreditation office, which saw hugequeues of people waiting for hours, evendays, for their conference pass – withoutwhich access to the secure zone is impossible,regardless of status or rank. There were alsocomplaints about the ConferenceArrangements Committee, as countlessdelegates saw resolutions ruled out of order.Despite this, the Government suffered acouple of defeats.

Many attendees found themselves pleasantlysurprised with Manchester, the bars especiallyproviding a welcome change from the usual£3 a pint of the capital, according to onedelighted London trade unionist. He clearlyhadn’t been to the Labour Students event inthe Baby Grand bar the previous night.

For all the quaint charm of the normal seasidelocations, Manchester seemed to provide analtogether more suitable location for agathering of this size and significance,providing a vibrant backdrop to the mainproceedings, with all parts of the conferenceconveniently close together. It also showedthat London is not the only English citycapable of ‘doing politics’ on a large scale.

The beneficiaries among local businesseswere many, from the countless bars andrestaurants doing a roaring trade, to thehappy hoteliers for whom Christmas cameearly in 2006. Many Mancunians were amusedand impressed by the sight of famouspoliticians and other assorted celebritieswandering the streets of their city on the wayto and from the fringe meetings andreceptions which provide the true conferenceexperience away from the main hall.

So let’s hope that the first time in Manchesterwon’t be the last. Come back another yearand help to promote and support theregeneration of this fine Labour city.

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 1 1

Vox Pop: Rt Hon. Jack Straw MP

At the end of this week what would yousay has made this conference a successor not?I think it has been a success. I was slightlyworried about it at the beginning of the week,but I think the quarters have come together.No question that the top of the conference foreverybody was Tony Blair’s speech onTuesday, but also a very thoughtful andpowerful speech from Gordon Brown onMonday. I think that the public have beenable to see that this concoction about othermatters cannot submerge the substance ofthe Labour Party and the substance of whatthe leadership are trying to do for the LabourParty and at their request.

What did you most want to hear inTony’s speech? And did you hear it?I thought it was the best speech that he hasever made and that’s a very, very high bar letme tell you. Well, I think you heardeverything you wanted to hear and a lotmore. The most important part of that speechwas to say to people that though your partieshave to link the past, the present, and thefuture together in a very imaginative way,

you’ve got to both provide people with asense of security and safety – because thefuture is a journey into the unknown - butyou’ve also got responsibilities to see wherethe future is going and make the bestassessment you can and take people thereagain as safely as possible. That’s one set ofthings. The second is absolute overwhelmingambition that Tony has, and the Party shouldhave, for this country. We’ve pulled thecountry out of where it was ten years ago butthere is no reason why we can’t be the bestand most successful country in the world andthat is what we need to do.

What is the biggest policy challenge forthe coming year?Well, the biggest policy challenge really foreverybody is the combined issue of climatechange and instability in the Middle East at aninternational level. And they are linkedbecause a lot of the instability in the MiddleEast is to do with the high price of oil and theover-dominance of fossil fuels in theeconomies of those countries. Dealing withclimate change is absolutely fundamental tothe future. Domestically, it is about stayingon top of the astonishing change and thenature of our economies and we can’tget caught out.

And on that point do you think thatLabour can win the argument on theenvironment?Yes, I do. And I think the public is with usand can see the leadership that Tonyhas exercised.

Tell us something interesting aboutyourself? We’ve heard about Megknitting in council.Well, things that people may think areinteresting about myself, some of them I tryto talk about. About my family background,which is about coming from, as it were, atribal Labour family. Delivering leaflets at anearly age. My father being a conscientiousobjector and getting jailed for that. But one ofthe things I missed in my speech was theimportance of ensuring we get converts to theLabour Party as well as people who happenedto be born into it.

When - Saturday 13th January, 2007Where - Imperial College, Exhibition Road, London, SW7Who - Ed Balls, Hilary Benn, David Miliband, Polly Toynbee and many more...

To attend, please download the booking form at www.fabian-society.org.uk

Fabian New Year Conference 2007 - The Next Decade

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rdSo what did we learn from the partyconferences of 2006? We learnt that we arestill “we will always strive to be on your side”and that life is no longer "just about me, me,me any more". From Brown’s emphasis onsocial conscience to Cameron’s cajoling ofsocial responsibility, the mantra has movedfrom the “I choose, therefore I am” to the “Ijoin in, therefore I am” - that we all have acommon endeavour in defining what we wantthe good society to be. From a joined-up stateof individual choices to a join-in society ofmutual belonging.

The tectonic plates have shifted in therelationship between the state and the peopleit serves. From an era in which thisrelationship was defined by the state’sstructures – parliament, the town hall, thelocal park - these structures now must beredefined by the fluctuating andinterdependent relationships between thestate and its people as users, consumersand citizens.

The new era which is defined by the“fragmengrated” society – relationships aredominated by a dual paradox of fragmentationand integration: brand infidelity versusfairtrade evangelism, outsourcing versusfreedom of movement, ghettos and gatedcommunities versus neighbourhoodassociations, etc. These patterns ofrelationships, (previously predictable andinstitutionally managed) are now increasinglyfluctuating and interdependent of oneanother. Shaping these social interactions hasbecome easier than keeping them in shape,which is why single-issue groups are stealingthe wider political ground. Only “bottom up”local democracy can provide the opportunityfor creating consensus across the communityand nurture active local citizenship.

Creating a consensus has always been a keychallenge for democracy. More than ever, thepublic space is riven by both conflict andstagnation - refusal of the other and refusal ofchange. And yet, consensus is ever morecritical at a time when difficult decisions needto be made about how to tackle pensions,climate change, national identity, etc. Weneed a joined-up society, but moreimportantly a join-in society.

How do we create this join-in society? Lack ofinterest in participating in democratic activity

derives partly from a lack of confidence inbeing able to make a difference. It alsoderives from the inappropriateness oftraditional structure-led, democratic activitywith the remote-controlled society that welive in.

General interest should not be cynicallyviewed as a repository of mutual fears, atbest, drawn together by shared worries and atworst mutual hatred of each other. Somecommunities do have a strong sense ofidentity; some people may rarely vote in localelections; but many are already making a vitaldifference through statutory caring, youngenterprise and mentoring. Involvement,exchange and redistribution of experiencesand knowledge all build social capital.

Naturally, there is no “one-size-fits-all”solution. We need to look on the ground to seewhat fits best. Some communities mayalready have a strong democratic vitality,while others may benefit from capacitybuilding for a more gradualist approach.

We need to reinvigorate the concept ofgeneral interest and common good throughrefashioning the relationship between thecitizen and those who represent the generalinterest, our politicians and our government.Everyone needs to reconnect with each otherand confront together the new realities

First, politicians need to enhance theirlegitimacy by spreading a civic gospel whichgives citizens greater voice in the decisionsthat are made on their behest and alsogreater diversity of arenas in which they canexpress their political motivations

We l c o m e i n m y b a c k y a r dN o e l H a t c h e x p l a i n s w h y w e n e e d t o d e v e l o p f r o m b e i n g aj o i n e d - u p s t a t e t o b e i n g a j o i n - i n s o c i e t y

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 1 3

Second, both citizens and politicians needto accept their shared responsibilities infinding adaptable solutions to thecompeting demands.

This requires both tangible change andbehavioural change to break the status quoand foster civic renewal, where people do notparticipate more for the sake of participating,but engage in making communities betterplaces both for themselves and for thosearound them.

We cannot expect people to assume sharedresponsibilities in rebuilding the public realmif their communities are vacant ofopportunity. We need to go to allcommunities, especially the most isolated andexcluded, to feel the democratic pulse. Torenew democracy, we need relationships andlocal institutions that integrate the diversity ofchallenges and opportunities, but also whichintegrate people’s daily lives, so that peoplecan practise democracy through gettinginformed, getting inspired, taking action andthereby improving their communities.

We need local public services to lead byexample more than by authority. They mustmobilise involvement and work in partnership

with all those who have a stake in thecommunity. We therefore need local partnersto be ambitious and risk-taking; brave andcourageous in providing the necessary gluefor social cohesion; communicating a clearervision of how they want to improve thequality of life-chances for their residents.Citizens should be enabled to scrutinisethe powers-that-be. We need local championsto come together to bring clarity and edge tothe local conversation – that choreographa local narrative that is inclusive andcommunity-driven.

Empowering people to contribute to thecommon good should therefore be aboutgiving people access to opportunities andconfidence to access these opportunities. Thisneeds to be deeply rooted in an ethos ofmutuality and shared responsibilities. Activecitizenship can only be formed throughenabling a reciprocal relationship betweencitizens and between citizens and theirrepresentatives. Double devolution cantherefore only be possible through a grass-roots WIMBYist* renaissance.

*Welcome In My Back Yard

Vo x P o p : K i t t y U s s h e r M PCan you tell me at the end of this weekwhat would make you say that thisconference has been a success?A new, renewed spirit of hope andconfidence and unity in the Labour Party –I think we are there. And also lots of peoplehaving a great time and networking.

What did you most want to hear in theleader’s speech today and did you getit?I did get it. I wanted honesty and anassessment of the current situation and aclarity as to what is going on – and I gotthat completely. I think he showed us whata fantastic leader he is and has been. I wascrying, I think, three seconds into it andmost of the way through so yes, I think Igot it.

Can you tell us what do you think isBritain’s biggest policy challenge inthe coming year?Global warming.

Can you tell me something interestingabout yourself that our readers don’tknow yet?I’ve got Grade A trombone.

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As Secretary I aim tocommunicate with themembership of theYoung Fabians andadminister meetings of

the Executive. I hope to examine severalpolicy issues this year including theleadership/deputy leadership of theLabour Party and the use ofpositive discrimination in the politicalselection system.

kgroucutt@youngfabians.org.uk

Over the forthcoming year, I will be seeking to coordinate the writing ofpamphlets and organise events on a variety of topics including racialequality and Labour values. I will be working with various organisationsto secure funding for the publication of Young Fabian pamphlets.

fgrindrod@youngfabians.org.uk

As Parliamentary Officer,I will be arranging anumber of policyseminars relating to the

Parliamentary and legislative agenda.I am also organising an event onUK/Iran relations.

pwoodman@youngfabians.org.uk

Having spent the past fewmonths working on apamphlet, I am pleasedto say that it will be outsoon. In my new role I

plan to develop new and innovativetechnologies to make the website a forumfor stimulating political discussion.

dfloyd@youngfabians.org.uk

As Chair of the Young Fabians I hope to oversee a year of stimulatingand topical debate on topics such as the recent seminar examininghow Labour can reconnect with the working class. Having establishedthe idea of a nominated Chair’s Charity, I will be organising fundraisingevents for the South West Miners’ Convalescence Home inBournemouth.

cmcginn@youngfabians.org.uk

C o n o r M c G i n n - C h a i r

K a t e G r o u c u t tS e c r e t a r y

As Treasurer I will beorganising the financingof Young Fabian events

over the year, including our reception atLabour Party Conference. I also hope toorganise an event examining currentclimate change issues and contributingto an event on the role of positivediscrimination in promoting equality inUK politics.

rrennison@youngfabians.org.uk

R e b e c c aR e n n i s o nT r e a s u r e r

F r e d G r i n d r o dP o l i c y a n d P u b l i c a t i o n s O f f i c e r

D a v i d F l o y dWe b s i t e O f f i c e r

Patrick WoodmanParliamentary

Officer

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As well as assisting the Chair with the day-to-day running of the YoungFabians, I will be following up on our links with Labour's French andIrish sister parties during those countries' elections. 2007 is also animportant year of Party, local and regional elections, and we must beat the forefront of the debates over ideas and policies. I will work hardto ensure that this is the case.

mrusling@youngfabians.org.uk

I hope to build upon the work of previous media officers and continueto raise our media profile through the better promotion of our eventsand publications. In addition to organising the book club I also hopeto write more for Anticipations and organise an event in the new year.

agreen@youngfabians.org.uk

As Universities Officer Iaim to develop andpromote the YoungFabians within higher

educational establishments and workwith other groups to involve and engageyoung people into politics.

ytcheng@youngfabians.org.uk

M a r k R u s l i n g - V i c e C h a i r

I will be working closelywith the Labour Party toforge links between theYoung. Fabians, Young

Labour and Labour Students. I will alsoseek to develop the Young Fabiancandidates’ network.wmartindale@youngfabians.org.uk

As International OfficerI hope to organisetopical policy debates

with the representatives of a wide rangeof different countries and cultures topromote understanding. I would also liketo organise a seminar to examinethe choices for Labour in theforthcoming leadership & deputyleadership elections.

tflynn@youngfabians.org.uk

T o m F l y n nI n t e r n a t i o n a l

O f f i c e r

As Editor, I aim toproduce four editionsof Anticipations over

the coming year. We are also intendingto redesign the magazine and introducenew ways for members to get involved. Iwill also be organising the annualtrip to Edinburgh again andhopefully other events throughoutthe year.

ecarr@youngfabians.org.uk

E m m a C a r rE d i t o r,

A n t i c i p a t i o n s

A n g e l a G r e e nM e d i a a n d P u b l i c i t y O f f i c e r

Will MartindaleParty and TU

Liaison Officer

Y u e - T i n g C h e n gU n i v e r s i t i e s

O f f i c e r

1 6 A n t i c i p a t i o n s

Nothing has damaged the Blair governmentmore than the Iraq war. Regardless ofwhether one supported the original war, thefolly of intervening without a realistic plan towin the peace has become increasingly clear.Yet critics have not gone far enough beyondissuing a collective ‘told you so’ to Blair andBush. Three and a half years on, progressivesare still fighting a political battle that was lostthe day our troops entered Iraq.

If we can’t do better than this, we risk missinga major opportunity when the neo-cons are insharp retreat. Politically, scandal, lies and theIraq aftermath have weakened theRepublicans. In foreign policy, the NorthKorea crisis has left the world’s hyperpowerlooking like a lame duck, relying on China’sinfluence and having to work throughthe multilateral processes they previouslyargued are irrelevant. Intellectually, FrancisFukuyama has declared the neoconproject dead.

The moment is right for the left to construct a‘neoprogressive’ agenda from the ashes of thecurrent global disorder. A new positiveinternationalism would set out priorities forinternational action and cooperation,benchmarks for interventions in failed statesand consider means to be crucial to achievingthe right outcomes.

What sort of foreign policy shouldprogressives seek? At one level, this is aneasy question to answer. We know where wewant to get to in the end. Unlike the neocons,we think multilateralism matters. Without thelegitimacy it can deliver, Iraq has beenmission impossible. So our long-term aims inglobal politics are easy to define. We shouldall be working for the International CriminalCourt, a strong United Nations and otherregional organisations committed to theprinciples of human rights and democracy –and to ensure there is internationalcooperation on the biggest issues we face,from climate change to managinginternational migration. But the difficulty -and our own divisions - come about becausewe don’t live in that world.

Iraq developed and discredited the concept of‘humanitarian intervention’, but there hasnever been an easy response to the questionof whether or how to intervene in failed

states. The left has always struggled topresent a coherent response to the tensionsbetween human rights and state sovereigntythat have come to the fore since the end ofthe Cold War stalemate. The 1990s werelittered with examples of Western-led militaryinterventions which ranged from misguided toshambolic and tended to be defined, in largepart, by who intervenes.

In Somalia, the paradoxical ‘peace-enforcement’ mission failed when 18 USsoldiers were killed. The new Clintonadministration soon realised that this loss wasnot worth the hundreds of thousands ofSomali lives that could have been saved if themission completed. Withdrawal from Somaliawas rapid and six months later the Westernpowers shamefully allowed the genocide inRwanda to continue unchallenged to itsgrotesque completion.

Towards the end of the decade, the NATO-ledKosovo War, which led to the toppling ofMilosevic, was widely trumpeted as a triumphof foreign intervention. Yet is it enough tojudge success by the outcome and not themeans? The Balkan crisis highlighted theinadequacies of the UN and of Europeanmilitary power. The intervention was in realityalmost entirely US-led, and thereforedesigned to avoid repeating the mistakes ofSomalia. It was not politically feasible forAmerican troops to die, so a campaign ofbombing the region from a high altitudemarked the new phenomenon of ‘virtual war’,with no risk to the attacker, but did little toaddress the complication of ethnic warfare.With neighbour pitched against neighbour,ground troops would have been much moreeffective, but neither the political will tointervene on behalf of the Americans, northe military capacity on behalf of theEuropeans, existed.

9/11 provided a political will for US-ledinterventions that had not previously existed,and the neo-cons seized their moment. Foraysinto Afghanistan and Iraq followed, on thepretext of the War on Terror. Waging war onan abstract notion is a difficult enterprise,particularly as the political and military buildup to each war concentrated on the fact of theintervention, not the capacity fornation-building that necessarily followedregime change.

T i m e t o m o v e o n ?W i t h t h e B u s h a g e n d a c o l l a p s i n g , t h e l e f t m u s t r e n e w i t sf o r e i g n p o l i c y s a y s J e s s i c a S t u d d e r t

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 1 7

The post-9/11 world allows little scope forinterventions that cannot be justified underthe banner of the War on Terror. We are nowfaced with an escalating crisis in Sudan towhich the international community’s limitedresponse has already broken the post-Rwanda promise of ‘never again’ and makes amockery of the UN’s 2005 commitment to aninternational ‘responsibility to protect’. TheUS is preoccupied, Europeans incapable, theUN hamstrung: meanwhile Darfur is in ruins.

So what is the progressive response to theimmediate challenges of global security? Wemust start by asserting our belief indemocracy and human rights as innate valuesthat must guide our foreign policy. Whenactivities within sovereign borders threatenthese principles, action must be taken. Theproblem is that international law and theinstitutions that enshrine it have notovercome the dilemma between respect forstate sovereignty and respect for humanrights, on occasions when the two conflict.The UN is an imperfect institution because itdoes not distinguish between democratic andnon-democratic states and is only the sum ofits diverging parts. The Security Council givesdisproportionate power to the victors of theSecond World War and is often deadlockedand incapable of responding to crises.

Reform of the UN must be a long term aim.The neoprog commitment to democracy mustin practice lead to an explicit recognition ofthe difference between legitimate andillegitimate states. Engagement within the UNshould seek the emergence of a ‘democracyclub’ and begin to challenge the authority ofstates who do not speak for their people. Anaim could be to formalise voting rights in theGeneral Assembly only for democracies.

In the meantime, the neoprog agenda mustprioritise multilateral collaboration as the bestway to effect change within a state’s borders.Diplomatic pressure is crucial, but the modelof the EU demonstrates the ‘clubmembership’ offer that multilateralinstitutions can use to effect changeinternally, as has been demonstrated inEastern Europe and may prove to be the casein Turkey. The EU has a role in promoting themodel elsewhere and supporting theemergence of strong regional institutions inthe developing world. In Africa, this is theonly role the former colonial powers canlegitimately have in response to crises. So theonly credible course of action to the internalchaos within Zimbabwe is to support andstrengthen the African Union. This could bedone with a preference for successfuldemocracies like Botswana, which wouldprovide incentives for other African statesto reform.

Soft means must be exhausted before the useof force is considered. Regional institutionsare the best vehicle for intervention, becauseneighbouring states have a greater stake in astable lasting settlement and are thereforemore likely to use force that matches theneeds on the ground. The beleagueredAfrican Union Mission in Sudan (Amis) hasmade little impact and is about to withdrawbecause it is poorly equipped, lacking acredible mandate and facing a financial crisis.There is a role here for the Western powers inconvincing the AU to press for resumednegotiations, and to support the emergencein the long term of a suitable rapid reactionforce that can protect civilians.

So the neoprog agenda should prioritisemultilateralism, seek to strengthen regionalinstitutions, and underpin the promotion ofthese means with a democratic preference.Yet the emphasis on democracy should notequate to a simplistic view of all democraticstates as innately peace-loving. Somecountries like the US and Israel may betermed 'militant democracies' and the UN hasso far proved an ineffective institution to stopthem pursuing their interests unilaterally. Asignificant coalition of democracies must be inagreement before another Western-ledintervention is pursued. The neoprog agendamust seek to strengthen other multilateralinstitutions for this purpose and here militaryalliances like NATO are key to determining acourse of action and assigning legitimacy.This is what happened in Kosovo, a widelysupported intervention, when the prospect ofintervention within the UN was opposed byRussia. On this benchmark, the interventionin Afghanistan would have proceeded, but notIraq – arguably the former, which did havewidespread popular support, could have beenmore successful if resources hadn’t beenstretched by the latter.

There has never been a more urgent need forprogressives to unite around common goals inforeign policy and international interventions.Within the UK, a new prime minister is theperfect opportunity to revise theinternationalism of the left, while theConservatives remain unable to articulate acredible opposition to a foreign policy theyessentially supported all along. The neoprogagenda must move forwards into this politicalspace. In 2008 the much awaited prospect ofa world after Bush will be a reality. We musthave an agenda for action by then.

Jessica Studdert is Events Director andResearcher at the Fabian Society. She can becontacted at jstuddert@fabian-society.org.uk.

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eIt is a cliché that the French are a people notafraid to take time off work to militate for theirinterests and political beliefs. Next year willsee them offered the chance to expressthemselves without having to down tools,burn cars or shut down lecture halls. TheRepublic is preparing for the election that willsee the Right’s power tested more thoroughlythan it has been since 1995. Jacques Chirac’s12-year tenure of the most powerful executiveposition in a Western democracy, spared theultimate test in the controversial election of2002, is at last coming to an end, and allparties seem determined to send a breath offresh air into the Elysée.

New direction is what the country needs, if weare to trust recent history. Starved of anadequate outlet for the communication fortheir problems, different sections of Frenchsociety have vented their malaise in their ownways. The “Non” vote against the EuropeanConstitution, the troubles in the banlieues,and the student strikes; the most alarmingevents in France over the last two years readlike frustrated cries against the status quo.The establishment, the most obvious target ofthese movements, now has the opportunity toshow that it has the capacity to offer itscitizens what they want. The politicians havetaken on board the desire for change,scrambling to interpret these various protestsin the hope of tapping into a current ofpopular sentiment that will sweep themto office.

The gaullist UMP’s likely candidate, NicolasSarkozy, and freshly selected Parti Socialiste(PS) candidate Ségolene Royal, are the mostserious contenders in a race that in the pasthas often been seen by minor political groupsas a means to reach a national audience withtheir message. The first lesson the Left haslearnt from its catastrophic result in the 2002election is that eclecticism comes at a highprice. With eight candidates splitting the left-wing vote last time, far right Jean-Marie LePen managed to sneak ahead of favouriteLionel Jospin by 16.9% to 16.2%, obliging theelectorate to vote overwhelmingly for Chiracfor lack of a mainstream alternative. Thistime, even the disperate groups of the far-leftare attempting to settle their differences andfind a common candidate. Jean-PierreChevènement, a ex-PS member whosecandidature captured over 5% of the vote in2002, has promised to stand down if Le Penlooks likely to repeat his performance.

Sarkozy’s rhetoric and policies as Ministre del’Intérieur have earned him a reputation forheavy-handedness. He has pledged to opposeTurkey’s membership of the EU. It was hiscontemptuous branding of banlieu youths as“racaille” (scum) which sparked the Autumnriots. It appears these attempts to poach LePen’s voters have only legitimised the latter’sdiscourse, however, as recent surveys indicatethe 78 year-old’s support at an all-time highnear 20%.

Following the riots, strikes, and “Non” vote,Sarkozy and Royal are aiming to portraythemselves as outsiders. Sarkozy did not gothe elite political school, the Ecole Nationalede l’Administration (ENA). He is currently,however, a senior minister. Royal regularlydenounces machismo in politics, and would ofcourse be the first female President of France.Her long-term partner and the father of herchildren, however, is the Secretaire Généraleof the PS, and they met while studying … atthe ENA.

There is a clear desire for change in France,but it is not clear what form this changeshould take. Last year’s student protests,after all, successfully defeated a law passedby the current government which aimed tofree up the youth labour market. The rivalsare turning to look overseas for inspiration.“Ségo”, as the media know her, admitted tothe FT last spring that she admires Tony Blair;an admission which cost her the disapprovalof the PS old-guard. “Sarko” is said to havegone as far as to seek advice on the electionsfrom our Prime Minister. With the successfulcandidate set to come to power just as Blairleaves office in Britain, will his legacy continueto be felt across the Channel as the lessons ofthe Third Way are applied to France?

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A n t i c i p a t i o n s 1 9

L’Etat C’est MoiF o r m e r Y o u n g F a b i a n C h a i r , K e v i n B o n a v i a , s u m s u p t h eF r e n c h p r e s i d e n t i a l s y s t e m

French democracy, certainly as articulated bythe constitution of the Fifth Republic, can befairly expressed as an elected monarchy.

British democracy, in contrast, has often beensummed up as an elected dictatorship, bywhich the individual who can command aCommons majority, effectively sets thelegislative agenda, exercises executiveauthority and, not least, has awesome powersof patronage.

With the French version, I would emphasisethe “monarchical” – representativeassemblies play a supporting role to thefigure of the president. That certainly wasCharles de Gaulle’s view of the newconstitution which he demanded upon beinginvited to rescue France in its political crisis of1958. De Gaulle wanted to restore the so-called ‘grandeur’ of France, embodied in itsstrong leaders. These strong leaders hadactually been absolutists such as the SunKing, Louis XIV and the Emperor Napoleon.

Whilst the French president could not getaway with some of their arbitrary measures,de Gaulle and all his successors have oftenlived in in a manner that would make evenour old dear Majesty blush, residing in theirseveral presidential chateaux, served by vastpersonal retinues and fortified by pricelesswine stocks.

At least Her Maj sticks to the ceremonial.Monsieur (or perhaps soon-to-be Madame) lePresident’s constitutional powers have atouch of the old absolutism too. Apart fromactively heading the armed forces andrunning foreign policy (even when parliamentis controlled by an opposing party), thepresident has the right to dissolve parliamentand call national referenda. But these last twopowers can have nasty consequences: deGaulle had to resign after losing a referendumin 1968 and Chirac did both in his presidencyending up with a Socialist parliament in 1997and a rejection of the European Constitutionin 2005.

The president can justify his activist role inthe constitution from the mandate sent fromthe largest direct electorate in Europe. Itshould not be surprising if next year’spresidential election is essentially apersonality contest. Sego and Sargo are welladvised to continue developing their cults of

personality. This is vital if both are to reachthe run-off between the two highest placedcandidates: the Socialists’ lacklustre LionelJospin failed this hurdle when the populistdemagogue of the National Front’s Jean-MarieLe Pen overtook him in 2002.

But a personality-driven campaign cannotafford to be too detached from the supportingparty, as parliamentary elections followshortly after the presidential ones.

All 521 seats in the National Assembly are upfor grabs, currently controlled by a coalitionled by the right-wing Union for thePresidential Majority (a name demonstrativeof the system). Should Royale triumph in May,she might well anticipate a strong bounce forthe Socialists, but a trait common to Frenchgovernment, apart from its taste formonarchism, is its susceptibility to the upsetof a revolution…

Segolene Royal has a suitable nameto liveup to Louis XIV, who was amodel ruler for the currentpresidency.

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By the time this issue of Anticipations ispublished, “freshers” will be under the new“top-up fees” regime. The Higher EducationAct 2004 is a step in the right direction. TheHigher Education Policy Institute predicts thattotal fee income for the university sector willbe around £3 billion per year. This is inaddition to the £7 billion from the state. Yetthe resultant injection of funds intouniversities is not transformative.

The Assosiation of University Teachers (AUT)estimates it would cost £10 billion to remedythe backlog of capital repairs let alone makesubstantive improvements, whilst the OECDnotes that state spending per student in theUK is half that spent in the USA. The picture isworse than it first appears given the largeamount of private spending on highereducation in the USA. Additionally, the declinein the average funding per student from over£7500 in 1989-1990 to a little over £4500 in2000-2001 (Bekhradnia 2004), illustrates howvulnerable universities are to governmentspending decisions. This reduction in perstudent spending has inevitably led to lowerrelative salaries for staff (a relative reductionof 37 % since 1981), reduced staff-studentratios (from 1:9 in the mid 1970s to anestimated 1:23 in 2010), over-crowding, lackof support services and an overall decline inthe learning experience.

I applaud the moves this government havemade to stabilise and begin to reverse this fallin funding per student. However, there is noprospect of a return to the value seen manyyears ago. It is in the interests of our countryto have many educated to the highest globalstandards. Yet taxpayers are unwilling toprovide sufficient funds. UK expenditure HEstands at 1% of GDP whereas the USA spends2.7% of GDP (OECD 2005). As progressives,we know that education is the only viableroute out of poverty.

What should progressives be arguing for? Thetaxpayer will not pay taxes. Instead graduatesshould pay more and give universities backtheir autonomy. I propose that the ceiling onundergraduate fees be lifted to over £50,000per year. Even the moderately wealthy can notafford £50,000 a year for 3-5years. Becausethe benefits to individuals and society at largeaccrued by tertiary education demand state

intervention, the state should provide loanslinked to the rate of inflation to cover thesehigher tuition fees. Such loans would allowuniversities to receive funds up front whilstnot inflicting financial damage on students.Further, universities would no longer requirefunds for teaching from HEFC or theirequivalents in the devolved administrations.This could free up money to encourage non-traditional students into HE through summerschools, to develop innovative teaching toolsor to help commercialise research.Universities will also no longer be tempted tobecome overly reliant on overseas studentfee income.

I have not chosen £50,000 arbitrarily. Medicalcourses are the most expensive and UCL isestimated to have spent £50103 per medicalstudent in 2002-2003 (HEPI 2005). Fewcourses justify such fees. Might thisdiscourage people from low socio-economicgroups from studying a subject that wouldlikely charge such high fees? It should notbecause students will not need to find thatmoney upfront. Additionally, medicalgraduates tend to be high earners; thuspotential medical students should be contentto know that they will not be plagued by largeun-repayable debts. In contrast, a subject liketheology would probably not charge such highfees. Theology is less expensive to teach andits graduates tend to earn less. Of criticalimportance is that what ever you wish tostudy, the funds will be available from thestate. The state could further entrench thislevel playing field by providing a non-meanstested loan. I would suggest around £10,000a year (NUS survey 2004-2005). This meansthat what ever, whereever you study, andregardless of your socio-economicbackground, you will have the means toprovide for yourself. We will be treatingstudents as adults. The absence of statemeans testing will reduce tortuous formfilling too.

What could students expect from universitiesfree from over-regulation and with greaterfinancial independence? As universitiescompete for students, you can expect threetypes of benefit: better financial aid,infrastructure and support. The accessregulator would insist on the institutionalprovision on bursaries for those from lower

T e r t i a r y e d u c a t i o n p o l i c y : a f e w d e g r e e s o f f c o u r s e ?

G a v i n L i n g i a h t e l l s u s w h y h e t h i n k s i t ’s t i m e t o i n c r e a s eu n i v e r s i t y t u i t i o n f e e s

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 2 1

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socio-economic groups and scholarships forthose demonstrating high achievement onentry and during their course of study. Thisentitlement would be on top of the £10,000loan entitlement.

We may also see improved studentaccommodation, upgraded lecture andseminar rooms, improved scientific facilitiesto name but a few improvements. In terms ofsupport we could expect a return to betterstaff-student ratios and better pay for staff.We might also see more support staff in orderto allow teachers to teach. Furthermore, it islikely that there would be an improvement inthe level of pastoral care. For instance, nearlyhalf of students suffer a debilitating mentalepisode at least once a year (ACHA 2006) butwith better support, we might see a reductionin the drop out rate and an improvement inthe well-being of students.

We might enter a “Golden Age” of tertiaryeducation in this country. But expectobjections from students, parents, the mediaand political parties - including sections withinLabour. It is fair not to wish to load youngpeople with such a large amount of debt.However we need to remember that very fewpeople would graduate with the maximumlevel of debt, financial aid would be availableand importantly, tertiary education is aninvestment in oneself. It is worth pointing outthat as a society we are increasinglybecoming comfortable with borrowing. Takingout unsecured personal loan for things likecars and holidays, or even generalexpenditure is now the norm. No one evergraduates and thinks ‘I am going to have torepay thousands of pounds in tax’.

The policy of the Scottish Executive to replaceup-front tuition fees with a graduate

endowment shows that the line between taxand fee is less than clear-cut in the publicmind. Of course, if universities in Englandwere given more flexibility in what theycharge, this would inevitably put pressure onthe Scottish Executive to change direction.They would simply not be able to match theincreased funding of institutions south of theborder. As such, I hope they too movetowards the position outlined above.

Moving to increase the fee cap is politicallydifficult. But if we truly value education andwant to improve our universities, the studentexperience and provide support for talentedpeople from disadvantaged backgrounds thisis the way to do it. The Labour government has already enactedmany controversial policies. Labour has alsoimproved lives on several levels, transformedthe country along progressive lines and givenlong-ignored communities the chance toreach their potential. Education is at the coreof Labour values; isn’t time we let ouruniversities and students reachtheir potential?

References

Bekhradnia B. (2004). HE Bill and Statement: Implications of the Government’sProposals. Higher Education Policy Institute.

Association of University Teachers. Website: Http://aut.org.uk

Organisation of Economic Development & Cooperation. (2005). Education at a Glance:OECD Indicators, Paris.

Higher Education Policy Institute (2005). The Education and Training of Medical andHealth Professionals in Higher Education Institutions.

National Union of Students. (2004-2005). Student Income & Expenditure Survey.

American College Health Association. (2006). National College Health Assessment.

Royal College of Psychiatrists, London. (2003). The mental health of students in highereducation. Council Report CRIR.

But howcould he payhis tuitionfees withoutthe help of acertain MrsRobinson?

2 2 A n t i c i p a t i o n s

B o o k R e v i e w1 0 0 y e a r s o f L a b o u r , G r a h a m B a s h a n d A n d r e w F i s h e r

( L o n d o n 2 0 0 6 )

C o n o r M c G i n n r e v i e w s 1 0 0 Ye a r s o f L a b o u r a s s e e n f r o m B a s ha n d F i s h e r ’s h a r d l e f t p e r s p e c t i v e

I consider John McDonnell MP to be a personalfriend, a man of integrity and an articulateadvocate of his sincerely held beliefs. None ofthat, however, stops me from believing thatthe political direction he, the authors of thisbook, and the dubiously-titled LabourRepresentation Committee (LRC) want to takethe Labour Party in would be nothing short ofdisastrous for the very people they claim tofight for, namely the British working class.

The book itself is a well written and relativelyeasy read. In some respects it is like a GCSEguide to the Labour Party from a hard leftperspective, with aesthetically pleasing textboxes appearing every few pages in which thebiographies of prominent Labour figures orfactions are outlined.

This of course is to illustrate to the reader howwonderful Tony Benn/Militant/the Miners’Strike was, and how evil Ernie Bevin/NeilKinnock/Peter Mandelson was, lest we were inany doubt about the socialist purity and moralsuperiority of Labour’s hard left.

Despite its title, the publication fails as a newhistorical account of much merit and it is notan exaggeration to say that academics andscholars will learn nothing new about Labour’spast from it.

The arguments and the “if-only-we’d-beaten-Healey” rose-tinted views of Labour’s hard leftare well rehearsed. This is perhapsepitomised in the fleeting references to theMiners’ Strike as being ‘the final and greatestdefeat of the working class’? Really? Whilstin no way diminishing the courage and cause

of the striking miners in 1985, and in no wayjustifying the actions of that horrible woman,Thatcher, can we really say that the collapseof a strike undertaken by a small percentageof working people was the ‘…greatest defeatof the working class’? I think not.

But perhaps I am being too harsh on what isat least an addition to the library of Labourhistory, but it is very difficult to lookobjectively at an especially romanticised andrevisionist history of Labour’s hard left whichitself is partisan far beyond the hard rightJohn Golding’s Hammer of the Left was.

The most interesting - and that’s still not very- part of this book is the final chapter, in whichthe authors deliberate on what the futuredirection of the Labour Party should be.

The rant about the treachery of Blair and NewLabour is to be expected. The accusation,however, that Clem Atlee’s pioneeringgovernment, and indeed all Labourgovernments, reverted to Tory economic andsocial policies and therefore betrayed theworking class is nothing short of ridiculous.

The final astonishing flourish says that areturn to ‘old Labour’ is not enough, that theparty must adopt the policies, values andtactics of that time that brought us closest tothe working class: the glory days of theBennites. I know, I nearly vomited as well.Yes, the authors want us to return to thosewonderful days when we had our worstelection results in history and alienated morepeople from our party than even the mostright-wing of Tories could have hoped for. Asold Wedgie himself would say: “You justcouldn’t make it up.”

If you would ike to review a book, or ifyou know of a book that would make aninteresting Anticipations book review,please email Emma Carr atecarr@youngfabians.org.uk or AngelaGreen at agreen@youngfabians.org.uk.

B o o k R e v i e w s

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 2 3

B o o k C l u b

August's Young Fabian Book Club discussedFranz Kafka's The Trial. When reading it I wasreminded of the original advertising campaignfor Staropramen lager when it first becameavailable in this country in about 1995. LikeKafka, 'Star' is from Prague, and the generalgist of the campaign was that if he had drunkStar a bit more, Kafka's literary work mighthave been a bit less depressing.

It's quite easy to get depressed at the view ofpolitics put across in The Trial, which vergeson the nihilistic, reinforced by the mordantlanguage, characterisation and description inthe work. The central thread of the book isthe tale of Joseph K, a middle-rankingemployee of a bank who is arrested withoutexplanation by two anonymous governmentofficials. The charges are never explained, a

proper hearing is promised and never takesplace, and K's professional and personal lifegradually unravels before his morbid end. Itseems to be better to not participate at alland to hide, or to physically resist arrest,rather than to participate in processes thatare inherently rigged, irrational and corrupt.In a key passage, the painter Titorellisuggests that Joseph should just get on withhis job and not let the case bother him.

The Trial suggests a huge scepticism aboutpost-Enlightenment theory about the natureof the state, in particular that it should bejust, protect rights, and arise through consentor a social contract. State officials just comealong and arrest people without explainingwhy, and the legal process merely serves theinterests of the professionals who operate itrather than justice or the public interest.

When considering the identity of the author -Kafka was Jewish - and the setting - 1920sEastern Europe - The Trial takes on afrightening poignancy, even though this pointhas been noted by many studies of the novel.I was particularly struck by the unfolding ofthe process from arrest to execution. This isincremental, mannered and bureaucratised -as was often the case with the Final Solution.

There is more to The Trial than the darkcorners of interwar Europe - particularly inthe sexual politics of the novel. Joseph K'sexploitative and self-centred approach topersonal relationships almost seem to formthe basis of his guilt and indictment. Both thevalue of loving, mutual relationships on thepersonal level, and the importance ofaccess to a fair and transparent system ofjustice, are shown by their respectiveabsences throughout.

T h e Tr i a l , F r a n z K a f k a ( 1 9 2 5 )

R e v i e w e d b y t h e Yo u n g F a b i a n B o o k C l u b a n d w r i t t e n u p b yP a u l M i l l e r

Y o u n g F a b i a n B o o k C l u b

The next book to be read by the Young Fabian book club will be The Time Machine by H.G.Wells.

The club will be meeting on Thursday 18th January 2007 at The Old Star in Westminster.If you are interested in attending or would like to submit your comments for discussionby the group, please contact Angela Green at agreen@youngfabians.org.uk.

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sEvents Diary

Embassies:

Immigration and Integration - Why and How?14 September, Royal Netherlands Embassy, 38 Hyde Park Gate, London SW7 5DP Speakers: John Denham MP (Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee); RoisinDonachie (Head of European and International Relations, Commission for Racial Equality);Alan Travis (Home Affairs Editor, The Guardian); Dr Wendy Asbeek-Brusse (DutchAcademic Council for Government Policy).

Lessons for the UK from Spanish devolution10 October, Spanish Embassy, 39 Chesham Place, SW1X 8SBSpeakers: Spanish Ambassador; Jordi Pedret (MP from the Catalan Socialist Party); GuyLodge, IPPR Democracy Research Fellow and former Young Fabian Chair); Ramiro GilSerrate (LSE Researcher into regional and public economics).

Debate on the flat tax 25 October, Estonian Embassy, 16 Hyde Park Gate, SW7 5DGSpeakers: Andy Love MP (Labour MP for Edmonton and member of the Treasury SelectCommittee) and Greg Hands MP (Conservative MP for Hammersmith & Fulham).

Socials:

Young Fabians in the North 31 August, Pitcher and Piano, Coney Street, YorkDetails: Exec members Conor McGinn,and Matt Blakely attended. This was the precursorto the regional section of the Young Fabians website, which is currently being developedand will provided a network for regional members.

Pub Quiz31 August, Upstairs at the Marquis of Granby - 41 Romney Street, London SW1PDetails: Put Young Fabians’ intellect to the test to win special prizes (and glory) with quiz-mistress Ellie Levenson.

City of London Fabians19 October, City University Club, 50 Cornhill near Bank Tube StationDetails: The City of London Fabians held their inaugural meeting.

Young Fabian Annual Dinner 3 November, City Spice, 138 Brick Lane Speaker: Tristram Hunt (historian, broadcaster and columnist).

Labour Party Conference:

'The world after Bush' – Fabian Society/Young Fabians fringe 24 September, Conference Hall, Manchester Town HallSpeakers: Peter Mandelson (EU Commissioner for Trade); Mary Kaldor (LSE); RashmeeRoshan Lall (Times of India); Mark Leonard (CER), Jef McAllister (Time Magazine).

Young Fabians Annual Reception at Labour Party Conference27 September, One Central Street Manchester. Speakers: Rt Hon Jack Straw (Leader of the House of Commons), Graham Goddard (Dep.General Secretary, Amicus), Meg Munn MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary, DCLG) andMartin Salter MP.

Seminars:

Young Fabian debate: 'Multi-culturalism's Dilemma: Does religion fit?'19 October, Committee Room 7, House of Commons Speakers: Lord Bhikhu Parekh (chair of the Runnymede Commission on the Future ofMulti-Ethnic Britain 1998-2000), John Battle MP (Prime Minister's Faith Envoy), Harriet

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On 13th September, a group of 10 YoungFabians jetted off to the supposed socialdemocratic paradise of Stockholm.

The five-day trip was in order to campaign forthe Social Democrats in the final few daysbefore the Swedish local, regional andnational elections. In terms of votes gained,the trip was not a success – our sister partyslipped to their worst result since 1914.However, in terms of opportunities to forgelinks with, and to learn from, our fellowEuropean social democrats, the visit wasundoubtedly positive.

We lived and campaigned with members ofthe young Social Democrats from theStockholm region and from Denmark.Campaigning involved handing out roses attrain stations and shopping centres, puttingup posters and door knocking. One group,finding that their Swedish was not quite up tothis task, managed to accost a bilingual ten-year old Swedish-Palestinian youth who wentfrom door to door with them translating theirSocial Democratic entreaties!

Another slightly bizarre addition to theotherwise standard campaigning routineinvolved handing out leaflets at Stockholm

railway station while half the cabinet sangsongs from the ‘Jungle Book’ behind us!

There were many similarities between Britishand Swedish elections. We even foundourselves in the familiar position of cheeringas the first, favourable, results came in fromthe north. However, by far the most ominouswas watching up close as a seeminglysuccessful centre-left government was beatenby a policy-light opposition reinvigoratedunder a new young leader. We watched asPrime Minister Göran Persson concededdefeat just a few metres from where we werestanding and were reminded that we do notwant to find ourselves in a similar position inthree years’ time.

The Social Democrats will be back soon –after all, the centre-right coalition won byonly 2% and has already lost two ministers toscandals. Now is the time for Labour to learnthe lessons of the Swedish campaign,particularly about the need for incumbentgovernments to set out their vision of thefuture, rather than simply relying on pastachievements. Having experienced thiselection at first hand, the Young Fabians arewell-placed to deliver these lessons to theParty.

Young Fabian Trip to SwedenM a r k R u s l i n g , wh o o r g a n i s e d t h e t r i p t o c a m p a i g n i n t h eS w e d i s h g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s , t e l l s u s h o w i t w e n t .

Crabtree (Inter Faith Network UK) and Shaista Gohir (Muslim Voice UK)Details: 'Multiculturalism's Dilemma' examined how religion fits into multicultural Britain,and explored from a grassroots perspective the feasibility and implications of a'shared citizenship'.

"I've got the foreman's job at last": Can Labour reconnect with workingclass communities? 28 November, Committee Room 8, House of Commons Speakers: Liam Byrne MP, Mary Creagh MP, Jon Cruddas MP, and Jim Devine MP

A "whole Middle East" strategy: how can the UK build a new partnershipwith Iran?5 December, Grand Committee Room, Westminster Hall Speakers: Dr Phyllis Starkey MP, Chair of the British-Iranian All-Party Parliamentary GroupSimon Tisdall, Assistant Editor & Foreign Affairs Columnist, The Guardian. Details: Following the Prime Minister's recent call for a "new partnership" with Iran, thisParliamentary seminar considered the current condition of the UK’s relationship with Iranand the prospects for a new dialogue. Given the conditions laid out by the Prime Minister,how likely are improvements - and how big a threat does Iran continue to pose toregional security?

2 6 A n t i c i p a t i o n sgo

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.. Goodbye from her. . .P r e m a G u r u n a t h a n , o u t g o i n g Y o u n g F a b i a n C h a i r, s a y s ol o n g , f a r e w e l l , A u f W i e d e r s e n , g o o d b y e

After four years on the Young Fabianexecutive, I am now in ‘retirement’. It hasbeen a journey for me: challenging,stimulating and fun. I’ve tackled my fear ofpublic speaking in the last year, speaking to150 people in a debate against the Tories, aswell as 150 Upper Six students. I’ve gonefrom correcting bad grammar, setting off thefire alarm and creating bad puns as editor ofAnticipations to being cheeky to Secretaries ofState, singing songs from the Sound of Musicto get everyone to be quiet, and creating yetmore bad puns during speeches.

For those of you who have thought aboutgetting involved with the YFs, I can only saythat it is a worthwhile experience, and urgeyou to do so.

The busy schedule has continued since thelast issue in early August - our trip to theEdinburgh Festival, a regional event in York, adiscussion at the Dutch Embassy onimmigration, another on devolution at theSpanish Embassy, and a more than timely onmulticulturalism. At party conference we hada very successful reception, kindly sponsoredby Amicus; as well as a joint event with theFabian Society on ’The World After Bush’.

Our reception at party conference attractedover 80 people on a cold and soggyWednesday evening. Fortunately the venuewas cosy, the food decent, there was lots ofdrink - at one point, YF Treasurer Tom Flynncame over to be, expressing grave concern wemight not even use all the money behind thebar. Our speakers for the evening - MPs MegMunn, Martin Salter, Jack Straw and GrahamGoddard from Amicus were good value, full ofthoughtful remarks and amusing anecdotesabout their early years as political activists.

Speaking of the Leader of the House, theautumn to date has been dominated byheadlines after he remarked that he found itdifficult to communicate with Muslimconstituents who wore the ‘veil’ (ormore accurately the niqab and burqa) duringhis surgeries.

Two of our events - on immigration andmulticulturalism have clearly struck a chord,taking place to packed audiences. I grew upin Singapore, like the UK, a multiculturalsociety, but with a different approach tomulticulturalism. Singapore prefers aninorganic, to-down approach to ensuring that

multiculturalism works, primarily because asa recently founded state (gainingindependence in 1965), there was, and is anenduring urgency to ensure that any potentialhurdles to nation-building were tackled. Tothis end, state-funded housing has to meetracial quotas - there are no ethnic ghettos inSingapore, or at least not to the same extentthere were 50 years ago. Faith schools followthe state curriculum, and their intake is notlimited to people of the same faith.

Indeed, my main memory of attending aCatholic convent was a place with friends fromall faiths- Hindus, Muslims, Christians andnon-believers. Chinese New Year wascelebrated with a mass where a Catholic priestblessed the ‘good luck’ oranges we hadbrought. For this reason I find the acidic viewsof faith schools somewhat hard to swallow, formy experience - albeit in a very differentenvironment - was so very different.

The emphasis is on shared goals- the nationalpledge which all Singaporean children aretaught to recite from an early age says asmuch that ‘regardless of race, language orreligion’, we are there to achieve the goal of‘happiness, prosperity and progress for ournation’. Doubtless there are problems with aninorganic approach - fewer people for instancenow live in public housing, so how muchlonger will racial quotas work? In addition,does blind recital of the pledge amount toanything in practice?

The Singapore model is not perfect (and I’m abroken record on its faults), and the UK isdifferent in countless respects, but as the‘outside insider’ I think there is something theUK could learn. The debate the Fabian Societyhas started on Britishness is key - it’sdoubtlessly difficult to define who you are, butit’s high time you made a start, and stoppedhaving a long-running case of colonial andliberal guilt. I for one wouldn’t be here if Ididn’t like it, so there must be somethinginnately attractive about British values.

But for now, I’d like to thank my executivemembers over the years for all their support.Several are now personal friends who I amsure are looking forward to my piano recitalsnow that I’ve had to find an obsession tooccupy the big gaping hole in the heart of mylife. New chair Conor McGinn will no doubtkeep up the good work - and may not evenneed the luck of the Irish to do so!

A n t i c i p a t i o n s 2 7

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. . . a n d h e l l o f r o m h i mT h e n e w Yo u n g F a b i a n C h a i r, C o n o r M c G i n n , s a y s h e l l o w i t hh i s f i r s t C h a i r ’s c o l u m n .Let me begin by thanking last year’sexecutive and, especially, last year’s chair.Prema Gurunathan has done a wonderful jobover the past year in leading the Young Fabianexecutive and enabling them to produce ahuge number of excellent events, trips,debates and receptions. Her work was neverceasing and her size four shoes will be veryhard to fill – even with my size nine feet.

Next I’d like to thank the membership forvoting – having a democratically electedexecutive is an essential aspect of the FabianSociety and the Young Fabians. It isimportant, therefore, that every member hasthe opportunity to have a say in who is partof their executive.

The coming year is set to be a veryinteresting one in Labour Party politics. TonyBlair has already said that he will be standingdown as leader in 2007 so we are set for if nota leadership contest then certainly a changeof leader. Perhaps the more interestingcontest will be for the role of Deputy Leader.Many have indicated that they will bestanding for this position and the debate iswell underway on who is best suited for it.

The Labour Party faces an important yearwhich will hopefully bring together the variousquarters and results in a more unified,stronger Labour Party; one which is fit foranother ten years in Government and onewhich will ensure that leader of the oppositionremains forever the pinnacle of DavidCameron’s political career.

As Young Fabians it is important that we areinvolved in the debates that are to come,helping to shape the future of the LabourParty as the Fabian Society helped to shapeits past. As Chair I hope to lead the YoungFabians in an active year of intellectualdebate and political campaigning.

However, the Labour Party has always beenabout helping those that are most in need.With this in mind I am setting up the idea ofa Chair’s Charity that the executive as awhole will aim to raise funds for over thecoming year. For the first year’s charity I havechosen The South West Miners’Convalescence Home. This charity is based inBournemouth and provides convalescenceplaces for ex-miners suffering from lungdisease caused by coal dust. The miners havebeen important to the Labour party and to the

country as a whole. They did a very hard joband deserve better than they’ve had. I hopeyou will all join me in raising funds for thischarity and helping some of Labour truegrass-roots.

I hope that this initiative will be the first ofmany, with Young Fabians across the countrygetting more involved with their communitiesand giving something back locally aswell being as involved in the widerpolitical movement.

I am also hoping to not only see the YoungFabian membership grow but also to seemore of our members take a much moreactive role. As ever, there is a limit to howmuch the executive can do, this is never moretrue than in the various regions, where it canbe very difficult to get a regular eventsprogramme running. If you have ideas forrunning events in your area, please get intouch with the national executive so that wecan help you to put your plans into action.

Once again, thank you for voting. I amlooking forward to working with the newexecutive in what looks set to be a very busyyear. And I hope to meet as many YoungFabians as possible in our upcoming events soplease do come along and get involved.

To contact Conor, email him atcmcginn@youngfabians.org.uk.

2 8 A n t i c i p a t i o n s

Yo u n g F a b i a n Tr i p t oE d i n b u r g h 2 0 0 6

The Young FabianEdinburgh Tripgroup pose for aphoto at theEdinburgh bookfestival in themiddle ofCharlotte’s Square.

Final night away -the group’s lastmeal in one ofEdinburgh'srestaurants

Hear no evil, see noevil and speak noevil - Exec membersRebecca Rennison,David Floyd andEmma Carr arefooling nobody.