The Unfinished Revolution?
• Fabian New Year Conference 2005: Book now for Britain's biggest
think-tank conference as we kick off the big political year.
•Saturday 15th January 2005: Join 40 top speakers - including Ed Balls,
Hilary Benn, Yvette Cooper, David Goodhart, Will Hutton, Tessa Jowell, Mary
Kaldor, David Lammy, Frances O'Grady and Polly Toynbee
• Advance booking for the conference is essential to secure your place. How
to book call 0207 227 4914. (The Fabian office is closed over the Christmas
holiday and reopens on Tuesday 4th January. Applications can be sent by
post using the details below. The phone line reopens on Tuesday 4th
January).
• Venue: Imperial College, London, Exhibition Road, SW7.
Programme
AGENDA
9.00 REGISTRATION
Tea and Coffee
10.00 WELCOME
Eric Joyce MP, Vice Chair, Fabian Society
Sunder Katwala, General Secretary, Fabian Society
10.05 KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIP Ministerial speaker to be announced
11.00 MORNING SESSIONS
A. Citizens or Consumers: do we have to choose? Can we introduce more
choice in public services without damaging equity? What would this mean in
practice in health, education and other public services? How could we
enable everyone to exercise equal choice?
Phil Collins, SMF
Heather Wakefield, Unison
Estelle Morris MP
Tony Wright MP
B. Does Equality Matter? The government has made child poverty a priority
but is less clear about its vision of an ‘opportunity society’. Is
increasing social mobility or equalising life chances the right objective?
Can we win the public debate about inequality in Britain?
Lord Victor Adebowale, Turning Point
Stephen Byers MP
Yvette Cooper MP
Ed Miliband, Treasury
Polly Toynbee, Guardian
C. The Progressive Economy How should a Labour third-term increase
productivity and skills? Can the regional agenda spread growth to the
less-developed regions? Is there a progressive vision for the future of
work to deal with social and demographic trends?
John Denham MP Frances O’Grady, TUC Mike Rake, International Chairman, KPMG
and Chairman, Business in the Community Kitty Ussher, PPC
D. Democratising Democracy How should we respond to falling trust in
politicians and institutions, and to falling party membership? Can
political parties involve members and voters more? What is the future of
local democracy?
Fareena Alam, Q News
David Lammy, MP
Deborah Mattinson, Opinion Leader Research
Meg Russell, UCL
E. Global Futures Will George Bush’s re-election lead to a Transatlantic
divorce? Is the public argument for full British participation in Europe
being lost? How can Britain best contribute effectively to a progressive
world order?
Hilary Benn MP
Timothy Garton Ash, Guardian and St Anthony's College, Oxford
Mary Kaldor, LSE
Roger Liddle
12.30 LUNCH
13.30 AFTERNOON SESSIONS
1. Who Cares about the Environment? Will green issues ever really move from
the margins to the electoral mainstream? What would a genuinely ‘red and
green’ progressive politics look like? Ben Bradshaw MP Julie Foley, IPPR
Paul Gates, Community Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace
2. After the Nanny State? The politics of sex, drugs and sausage rolls
Should the increasing political focus on personal behaviour see government
intervene more – from obesity and binge-drinking to smoking and sexual
health? Will the public accept it? Tessa Jowell MP Anna Coote, King’s Fund
Richard Reeves, New Statesman and Intelligence Agency
3. Family matters? The politics of childhood Is the ‘early years’ agenda
the next Big Idea? Or will it prove little more than the policy equivalent
of politicians kissing babies’? Does the left need a new politics of the
family? Douglas Alexander MP Fiona Millar, Observer Meg Munn MP Ben
Summerskill, Stonewall
4. Does Local Democracy have a Future? Is local government dying – or can a
‘new localism’ revive it? Would greater diversity threaten fairness and
equality? Hazel Blears MP Dan Corry, New Local Government Network Cllr Jane
Roberts, Camden Council David Walker, Guardian
5. Can We Manage Migration? Will immigration and asylum knock the left off
course? How should progressives deal with public anxieties? Eric Joyce MP
Claude Moraes MEP Prof. Saskia Sassen, Author of 'Guests and Aliens'.
15.00 TEA AND COFFEE BREAK
15.30 FINAL PLENARY
Third Term Lucky?
David Aaranovitch, Guardian
Ed Balls, PPC
Sunder Katwala, Fabian Society
Oona King MP
Chair: David Goodhart, Prospect
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