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Barry

Peoples Vote – but only on Labour terms?

by Barry March 15, 2019

written by Barry

I can not get over just how pissed off I am about the behaviour of Labour members last night int he latest episode of the Brexit Circus.

One thing we can not claim is that politics is boring anymore, the activities of Parliament is providing entertainment worthy of any soap opera. However, last night provided the metaphorical throwing of the boot at the TV moment, when Labour MP’s, almost en-bloc, quite likely scuppered any chance of a peoples vote on Brexit.

To be fair, I expected abstentions or voting against from the front bench and Corbyn, everyone knows he wants Brexit and is well experienced at voting with the Tories, it must be like muscle memory. However there were key back benches who I thought were committed to taking any and every opportunity to ensure that we could stop this madness, but they primly sat on their hands whilst the rest voted and returned a 334 votes to 85 against a peoples vote.

The excuse is that this came from TIG and that others have been working for months on a Kyle/Wilson amendment that is better and that the main aim was to get the extension to article 50. Whilst they are right that there has been a lot of work gone not the other amendment, there is no guarantee that there will be an opportunity to put it, for a whole host of reasons, not least of which , because of last nights result, it could be clearly argued that it would be pointless and the speaker might choose something else.

There were some MPs who rose to the occasion, and could see the opportunity. Ruth Smeeth resigned in order to support it before hand, and afterwards, Stephanie Peacock, Justin Madders, Emma Lewell-Buck and Yvonne Fovargue. However Siobhain McDonagh described it best in her tweet:

Sometimes politics can be messy but I always think it’s better to try and be straightforward. I support a #PeoplesVote and I will be voting for a #PeoplesVote tonight. Simple. No if’s. No buts. No may be next week. Just voting for it tonight.
— Siobhain McDonagh MP (@Siobhain_MP) March 14, 2019

We may still get peoples vote, and I hope we do. But, I am so disgusted at the actions yesterday and the damage it could cause, all for political posturing and “it wasn’t “my” amendment”.

But fair play to Corbyn, afterwards he did say that he supports a peoples vote – just to keep the faithful onside. He said it, so it must be true.

March 15, 2019 0 comment

Enough!

by Barry March 4, 2019

written by Barry

Today I resigned from the Labour Party.

I am sad that I am leaving an organisation that I (and my family and friends) have put so much heart, time and effort into over the past decade. But I am pleased that I have taken a stand against the bullying and the the toxic atmosphere that exists. I am happy that I am not condoning behaviour that the current Labour leadership have made acceptable, either by commission or omission. I am relieved that I now feel less ashamed of what the Labour Party has become.

Fundamentally, I did not join the Labour Party to fight other members. I enjoyed the broad church discussions, the ability to voice thoughts, and use discussions with others to develop my own understanding and formulate my views. I joined to do things in my community and to fight for those who need it. However, the current membership sees community activism coming a long second to ensuring the (boring) meetings are packed out, that the internal organisations are packed with “correct” people, and gunning for those people who may actually have the ability to develop an opinion.

There is little ability to enjoy and utilise the broad church, with the primary filter being if its an attack on Corbyn. And pretty much everything is an attack on Corbyn. Even when complementing Corbyn, its a hidden attack. The cult-like, fanatical nature of this is deeply worrying for any organisation. However, the really unforgivable thing is the lack of leadership when its required. Great to bang a drum to a large crowd of the faithful, but when the hard decisions are being made, its very quiet.

I hope the party can recover themselves, because an organisation so full of hate is unhealthy, but I will not condone what is going on through my inaction in the vain hope that it all might come right in the end.

The letter to my CLP secretary is below, which I think gives an overview on my reasons.

Dear Secretary,
It is with regret that I am writing to you to resign from the Labour Party.
I have only been a member for just under 10 years, but in that time I have been a Parish Councillor, County Councillor, CLP vice Chair, membership officer, deputy leader of the Gloucestershire Labour Group, Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate and Parliamentary Candidate. I have been very keen to stand up for people and for what I considered to be the most important thing, our Labour Values.
You are probably aware, during and after the 2017 General Election I was treated rather badly by Gloucester CLP before we moved to Trimaran. This included collective bullying by the CLP Executive and a smear campaign that not only affected me but my family and friends. A situation that the National Party insisted that the Gloucester CLP apologise for but they never did and the National party did nothing to enforce.
Since then, I have seen and experienced the party increase in its bullying, particularly on social media and the more racist and anti-Semitic abuse that is directed by Labour Members and activists, particularly at our own elected representatives, but also at anyone who offers any criticism. This has been coupled with the lack of action by our party, and in many cases the abject denial that we have a problem. The Labour Party conference this year was the first Labour conference that I have been to that I felt nervous and unsafe at.
We saw that in the CLP meeting after the AGM where there was calls that the Anti-Semitism was a myth and simply a ploy to get rid of the leader. A demand by others to “name “the anti-Semitic members because they did not believe what Nia and Lee were saying about the nature of what is going on. This was coupled with some posts by a local member in Kidwelly this week on public community pages again saying that the anti-Semitism issue is a labour right-wing attack on the leader. These are not isolated views, they have CLPs passing motions in the same vein (EG Hackney).
Then, the issue of our stance on significant policies particularly Brexit is shameful. Even at this late stage, the Labour Party is pushing us down a road which will see people in Llanelli worse off and we are not doing anything about it. Lee’s report was like a hammer blow to me, and UK Labour has been complicit in what I consider to be the most divisive Tory act of my lifetime. We have put Party before Country, and when we still defend the Referendum as a democratic decision “will of the people” when we know it was based on lies, and criminal ones at that, we are not doing the right things by our people, we are failing them.
I am on the record of not being a fan of Jeremy Corbyn as leader but have been able to put that aside and stand as a Labour Candidate for both PCC and Parliament. I have had to defend his actions in hustings and I have put my misgivings aside for the broader benefit of the Labour party. However, he has not done the same and I believe he has let the Labour party down.
I had very high hopes to have Welsh Labour as a new home for community-based politics, and I do believe the majority of members that I have met have real community values, and I would hope that I can remain friends with many of you. However, I hate what the UK Labour party has become. We spend more time fighting amongst ourselves than fighting the opposition, more time worrying about the leader than those who need us most, more time shutting down the broad church that was our greatest asset.
I don’t believe my values have changed. I will work for local communities and for those who need us most. Where I can, I will support activities locally that help our residents. But I cannot stand by whilst the current UK Labour Party values cause me more shame than inspiration.
Kind Regards,
Barry.

March 4, 2019 2 comments

Labour Politics

Political Education

by Barry February 22, 2019

written by Barry

I’ve said for a while now that we should be introducing much more political education in Schools. Not one sided ideological stuff, but more about the mechanisms of how our democracy works. This week, and the call for by-elections, has again shown how many of us are politically naive in terms of how our country works. We need to get educated.

I guess this really started to come to light when I first started becoming politically active myself, and people asking what I was standing for, what the various councils did and was I going to be the MP (little did I know that 8 years later I would be standing to do exactly that). And this was couple with my own ignorance of things like the role and scope of various layers of government, what elected representatives could actually achieve and the various tools and mechanisms available.

This is coupled with the fact that we all expect this information to be given to us, from who is standing and what they stand for, or what the election is actually about. If someone hasn’t had a leaflet through their door, then they are less likely to vote at all. We need to help people have simple and easy access to resources that do explain these elements.

More recently there has been the EU referendum which also showed high levels of not understanding how it worked. Some people thought that the very next day that we had left, many people didn’t know that it is not legally binding.

And now, with the TIG (The Independent Group, full of Tiggers?) leaving their parties and many people demanding by-elections, we need to realise what we are voting for, we are voting for an individual to represent us. That individual belongs (or not) to a party but that is secondary. There is no reason for the TIG to put themselves up for by-elections. Why would they, being on a few days old, there is a good change they would lose their seats. Why would they care that Labour or Tories “demand it”? Both parties lost those rights when the TIG left them.

So perhaps now we can drive for better political education for our residents, so they have an understanding what they are voting for and how the structures work. Perhaps Political history is a bit too much to ask for, but may also be advantageous.

February 22, 2019 0 comment

Labour Politics

Crisis? What Crisis? Reflections on our response to IG (not Instagram)

by Barry February 20, 2019

written by Barry

Over the past few days we have seen the reaction from the Labour hierarchy about the departure of, now 8 MPs, that have formed the Independent group. I have already commented on Tom Watson’s video that I thought pitched it about right, but it seems that is pretty much a lone voice, from everyone else all we hear is about the manifesto in 2017 and calls for a by-election. John McDonnell has suggested a “mammoth listening project” (what have you been doing for the past 3 years), but that’s as good as it gets. Now, to couple the Leader hiding from the PLP on Monday evening, our response is to look at forcing out MPs who quit the party. At what point is the leadership going to acknowledge that we have to do something, we have to acknowledge we have a bloody big problem, and take some actual bloody action!

I’m pissed off, so I will apologise now for some of my language. But we had an opportunity to make the best of a bad situation. We could have very easily said along the lines of “we are sorry that these MPs had to go and we have listened to their statements. Whilst it is too late for them, we recognise that we have some significant problems within the Labour Party and we will address them” And then go on to outline a programme of zero tolerance to the issues and support to those who are at the unpleasant end of it.

But no – All we are going on about is how they were elected on our 2017 manifesto. A manifesto that the public at large rejected and kept Teresa May in power when she should have been out on her ear. Yes we did much better than expected and everyone put their heart and soul into trying to return a Labour Government (I say everyone, that’s not quite true, but that’s history). However to keep going on about the manifesto is just getting embarrassing. This then leads into demands for by-elections – which again is completely missing the point. I would be sympathetic, but in the bigger picture, when people have defected to us, at all levels, not just parliamentary, then we have given them big open arms. To demand by-elections now will put people off ever crossing the floor to us.

Then we hit out with the careerist politician. For gods sake, how is it careerist to break away from a large party, with large personal majorities where the fight will be much harder, they will have to fight for every single vote at the next election instead of relying on the labour vote, there is a significant change that they will lose their seats, that’s hardly the move of a careerist politician.

We had a moment where Angela Smith screwed up her interview and came out with her “funny tinge” comment, but we double down with Labour MP Ruth George suggesting that the group may be getting funding from Israel AND then letting Derek Hatton back in the party after he pretty much screwed over the residents of Liverpool when he was on the City Council with illegal budgets and debt that wasn’t paid off until 2001.

We have a situation where the “Young Labour” twitter account is a sewer of filth and no-one can shut it off, the Jewish Labour Movement, who have been in the party for 99 years, are considering leaving and there are so many examples of abuse and gutter language from members and supporters that is quite awful.

We need to step away from the “but sir, they are not playing the game” type of rhetoric. We must listen, acknowledge the problem and lay out how we are going to deal with it. Already this new group has 10% polling and they haven’t even set up a party as such yet. And if our response to that is “but polls are Tory owned” or “they are inaccurate” or any other excuse, then we are truly screwed!

February 20, 2019 0 comment

Politics

Not SDP2 – The Independent Group

by Barry February 18, 2019

written by Barry

Turns out that my previous post was closer to the event than I had anticipated. The news that 7 MP’s have resigned from the Labour Party has filled me with disappointment, not only because of the fact they have left, but because of the way that the majority are reacting to it, with some notable exceptions. So while we do not have have a new Party as such, Parliament has a new MP grouping – the Independent Group.

Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, and Ann Coffey all announced at a mid-morning press conference that they had resigned from the party. Each gave a very personal account about their history with the Labour Party, and being rather damning about the current atmosphere in the party, the lack of action on anti-semitism, the complicit nature of our actions on Brexit and generally gave voice to “enough is enough”.

In many ways, this should not come as a surprise. In fact, as I commented tot he BBC earlier today, the surprise is that it has taken this long. From my own personal experience I know how nasty some of the membership now is, and I only got a small dose of the nastiness of what the likes of Luciana has had to, and is still going through. When many MPs and members are being called red Tories, and told to leave and join the Tories, then it should come as no surprise when patience runs thin, and they do leave.

But what does this really mean for Labour Politics, whilst today and the next few days will clearly put a spotlight on this, will there be a long term effect? I think its too early to say – it is clear that the Leadership is rattled, with an email to the membership and already laying the groundwork for laying any future blame for anything at the “magnificent 7”. But unless the group grows, and more importantly it lays out the values that it will work (see my previous blog post), then it might just be a distraction.

What is disappointing from a membership perspective is two fold – Firstly that the abuse on social media is disgusting. Secondly, that with only a couple of notable exceptions, the leadership is not going to reflect on this at all and see what culpability they have in this, how they have not dealt with any of these issues decisively and they effectively dared these MPs to do this, and the Labour Party lost!

I keep mentioning notable exceptions. There have been good messages from Jess Phillips and Alison McGovern stating that they understand and empathise, but the most notable message has come from Tom Watson. Many will know I’m not a huge fan of Tom, but this video I think captures the issue very well.

Will this go the way of the SDP, its too soon to tell, I think many in the Labour Party hope it does fizzle out because already I know there are a lot of people in the groups that I am a member of are fizzling with excitement and optimism, not something we have seem much of in the past couple of years.

Fundamentally this might make us realise that the Labour Party does not have a divine right to exist, never mind be the official opposition or be back at Number 10.

February 18, 2019 2 comments

Politics

Should we fear a new SDP?

by Barry February 17, 2019

written by Barry

There is a lot of talk about a new political party being formed, largely seen as a centrist creation, with Labour members who are really unhappy with the direction that the party is taking regarding Brexit, Antisemitism and general attitudes between member factions. Coupled with Centrist anti-Brexit Tories and perhaps a few others, then the rumour-train is rife with speculation, and more depressingly lots of comments of “off you trot then” or words to that effect then. So, should this talk of a new party be surprising? Should we fear or embrace it? Should we not be learning from what happened to the SDP last time?

Lets deal with the “easy” stuff first. Comparing with the SDP exercise is not, in my opinion, helpful because this is a different time, different circumstance and lets not forget that the SDP led to the Liberal Democrats which has provided a different perspective on politics. In 2010 the Cameron/Clegg love-in was deemed to be a new era of coalition politics. Yes, they are very low in representation right now, but I think that could be pointed at one simple, bad decision. Imagine if they had not voted against their own manifesto pledge on tuition fees.

I think that also lends itself to the next issue, many people highlight that a new political party would not win the next GE “so what is the point”. Personally I would not expect it to. Its going to take time to get its message across, get its campaign machine working, and to talk to people to gain support. In reality, I would be very wary of a too quick a rise, because it would struggle to cope.

Many also point to the Labour brand and the organisation. If the party splits then the new party will have nothing, or very little. The organisations could be copied (if they want to) and a new name could be developed, which wouldn’t have the history, but that works both ways, it has none of the negative history either.

So, lets look at the harder stuff – the stuff of the heart. Many Labour members in this boat, have been members for 5/10 and in many cases, 20 or more years. Its difficult to contemplate that you would want to leave an organisation that you have literally shed blood, sweat and tears for. You don;t go far round my house without finding a rosette, sticker or sign and I’ve only been a member for 9 years. But Labour has changed dramatically over its lifetime, and while we talk that we know the broad church approach to membership is our true strength, at the moment, that broad church simply isn’t tolerated. And tolerance is what I always associated with Labour.

And that takes me to the big issue. I joined Labour, not because of the people, not actually on the policies of the time (for those of you who know me, I first got engaged in politics because of a disagreement with Labour Policy), but because of the underpinning values. Those values of Compassion, Community, supporting those who need it, helping people become the best they can be. Equality in the workplace, and joint endevour in our home and communities. Fundementally you should not need to know the detail on any of the policies, attitudes or direction of the party, you should be able to lean on the core values and “know” what the right answer is.

This is why, for me, a new party will struggle and not be appealing. Because a party can not be just a place that is seen to be saying the right thing, but it needs to be doing the right thing too. It should be unsurprising when it deals with issues of racism, anti-antisemitism and bullying with an unequivocal no-tolerance approach, it should be expected. Its policies should be grounded in the core values that it doesn’t flip flop for votes, it gains votes by doing the right thing for the majority of the country.

This is not to say a new party could not do that, it would just take time. And if a new party is going to give it a go, then now is the right time for it to try, because both the Labour Party and the Tories are suffering a similar issue of faultlines within the parties, and being exaserbated by the current politcs of the day. A new party would need to be very clear on its core values, and tug atthe heart strings of both politicans, but more importantly the public. This is where the Lib Dems have consistently failed. They are great on a local level becuase everything is geared around getting a good headline, but that has never translated well nationally. Fundementally most people understand the core values of Labour and the Tories and the Greens. But the Lib Dems are a shifting sand of populism, and that has been their fundemental issue and why they are not that attractive to jump ship to.

So yes, we should fear “SDP Take 2” – it will predominantly take centre left votes if they get it right and will weaken Labour considerably. But there is a deeper question, I’ve outlined why I think they will get it wrong and it wont work, but what if they get it right?

February 17, 2019 0 comment

Random Wales

Should English Schools teach Welsh? – Probably Yes

by Barry January 23, 2019

written by Barry

At school I, like many others, sat through 5 years of French, and I had a smattering of German too. I can order a beer in both languages, and I do have a vague idea, but mainly down to lack of use both at the time of learning and ever since. Lots of experts in the area agree that to get a grasp of multiple languages, you should learn one when you are young, because its not so much about which language, but about the ability to do so, and to use it. Inspired by the Times online survey about if we should bother with the Welsh language anymore, it got me thinking that perhaps English Schools have got it wrong and they should be using and promoting Welsh as their first foreign language choice.

Now, obviously Welsh has recently much higher up my agenda since we moved here and I have been attempting (not with huge success I have to admit) to learn Welsh. But this is what prompted my thinking in this vein, I came on holiday to wales much more than I ever did France or Germany, therefore if I had been learning Welsh early enough, then I would have had much more chance to speak it and it to be much more embedded.

Combine this with tighter budgets at schools, household incomes meaning that a UK holiday is more likely and easier for families, then add in day trips, business trips, those who live on the border and finally those who ahve done what we ahve done and moved here.

Once you have Welsh as an early first Foreign language then other languages would be easier to pick up, so everyone is a winner.

PS: And as it seems nothing can be talked about without mentioning Brexit, going Welsh first would mean we are not relying on the EU for our supplies of foreign languages.

January 23, 2019 0 comment

Random

National Recycling Service

by Barry January 11, 2019

written by Barry

We need a more Joined Up recycling system where we can have a common system for residents and greater leverage for monetising recyclable materials. The current devolved system where each area is responsible for going their own way is more akin to a postcode lottery and really depends on the keenness of the local council and cooperation between councils. Fundamentally Residents are very low in the consideration.

We have lived in places that uses Black Wheelie Bins for Rubbish, Green Boxes for Recycling and Food Bins, also Black Bins for recycling, Green for Waste (yes you read that right), as well as other combinations. Current we are back to using bin bags, and food waste bin. This seems such a backwards step because if nothing else the wheelie bins are vermin proof, much tidier and easier to put out, as well as it being easier for the people who do the rubbish collection.

If we had a set system for everyone, then it would be easier to get the best price for the recycling items that are sold, things could be clubbed together or stored as appropriate and we would get the widest effort in recycling. Then also we could look at centralised sorting, increasing the amount of recycling returned which is better for the environment. This does have its drawbacks, but that is mainly around the distribution of funds gained from the recycling.

Now, I know this won’t really happen. Therefore a more sustainable proposal is a national Framework for Recycling. We set a national standard and expectation about what will be recycled and that is facilitated locally. More importantly we make that resident centric not council. If we fundamentally do what we can to make it easier for residents then we will increase recycling and reduce fly-tipping.

PS – Notice not one mention of the B word – We can think about other things too…..

January 11, 2019 0 comment

Random

The Toll of the Prince of Wales

by Barry January 6, 2019

written by Barry

I have to admit I was skeptical, but the promise to remove the toll on the Severn Bridges has been removed and over the next months the work is underway to remove the toll booths and make it free flowing. However, there has been severe criticism of what the impact will be, not only in Wales, but in Bristol too. Lots of people are concerned about increasing cars on both sides of the river. So what do we need to do? Clearly nationalisation of the Public Transport Systems should be a priority.

Its no secret that one of the small contributing factors in us moving to Wales was the promise of the Tolls being removed and the impact that will ahve on South Wales being more attractive to other businesses. But, having had some expereince now on driving the Welsh M4, particualrly at rush hour, it is clear that it is broken. There is simply too much traffic for the limited capacity. Particualrly when it reduces to 2 lanes.

In the first instance, the answer seems simple, increase the capacity. But there are limiting factors to this, firstly money, any upgrading is expensive, with the bit by Newport alone looking like billions of pounds. Then there is the Brynglas Tunnels, unless there is more work again then they are 2 lanes each way.

But for me we should be looking more simply. If we want to reduce cars but we do want to see business invest in Wales, then we have to provide a reliable alternative. Therefore it is obvious, we need to stop talking about the dream of a good public transport system, and make it a reality. Devolution in Wales gives us the building blocks, and there are some good bits of progress, such as the new Train deal, and the Swansea Metro. But these need to have a bigger, more dynamic vision of how we join up public transport and make it work together, not disparate parts that sometimes join up.

This means we need to look at:

Bus Services, and how they fit with Train and Coach.
Cycling provision, making it easier to either securely store bikes at stations, or take them on trains.
Park and Ride Services

But overall, we need to look at cost. Public Transport is not cheap, and this year again the Train fares have gone up. This makes using public transport not efficient, especially when looking at travelling greater distances. I would love to use the train to go to Cumbria, but its just so expensive with so many changes and therefore unreliable.

This is the argument for taking public transport back into public ownership, because (quite rightly) each sector and franchise needs to be profitable. But as a public body, then we could invest and subsidise the early years to gain confidence and therefore usage up. But that would also mean not returning to old inefficient ways when under public ownership. As residents we want and need cost effective and trustworthy services. We are not getting them now, so we must do something different.

January 6, 2019 0 comment

Carousel Labour Politics

Brexit is coming!

by Barry January 4, 2019

written by Barry

I am one of those people who loves a bit of change, if something is broken I really relish the challenge of fixing it or if change is imposed, then I do like the bit where you work out how to make it work. I get accused of being too much of an optimist and its true in that I try not to linger once a decision has been made, I much prefer to get on with stuff.

So in some respects, Brexit, no matter what form it takes, should be right up my street, and in many ways it is, but not for the externally facing issues as that is largely out of our hands, what I am looking forward to are the people issues and the challenges they will present. Because I don’t care what anyone says, there are no winners in Brexit, we are cutting some of the biggest divides in our society that has every existed and bringing that all back together is going to take a herculean effort. Its going to take leadership (and I can’t see where that comes from) but its going to involve everyone taking a really deep breath and evaluate our own grief and working out our plan for moving on.

Because regardless of what happens in Westminster, we as a population still see this in terms of winning and losing, of them and us. Teresa May will have her vote and the Parties will not be looking at the national interest, it has turned into the biggest political football ever.

The Tories are split and infighting. May can barely hold her cabinet together. She has a deal, the only deal on the table, yet no-one seems to be willing to compromise. The backstop is simply a useful issue, if it wasn’t that, then it would be something else. So they are playing a defensive position.

The only other real player in this is Labour. Before Conference we had a clear position – The 6 tests. If the deal met all (or most, if Starmer felt like there was some slack) of the tests, then we would not support it. After conference, we had an even clearer plan. We would push for a GE and then Peoples Vote if that failed. But the leadership had different ideas and pushed for the wrong vote of no-confidence. No matter what happens now, there will not be enough time to play the strategy. Now you can ague the if that was deliberate, or incompetent. The point is it doesn’t matter. There is no real opposition to Brexit, it’s a case of Deal or no deal.

(The real gutsy leadership position from anyone would be to withdraw article 50 and start again. Not popular, but its clear there was illegal campaigning, lies (on all sides) and the people did not have the facts in front of them when they voted. Everyone knows what “they” voted for, but everyone has a different definition.)

Brexit is coming!

So that takes it to the point of Brexit is (almost certainly) happening. How do we bring the nation back together? How do we yoke the strength of a nation? I think in terms of national crisis, it’s not going to be at the ports, or the aircraft terminals, but its going to be on the streets. People are still going to have families ripped apart, communities and groups are still going to be remainers and leavers.

So, moving on is the challenge, everyone is going to be bitter because the majority will not get what they voted for. How do we suture the wound? How to we become Best of British again?

What does a leader need to do?

The first thing would be do bring a comprehensive homes building programme. This would hit a number of high points, including Jobs, infrastructure and community. It would also allow a lot of trade training and development.

I would also look at the NHS and the integration of Health and Social Care. In particular, I would look at the Pharma industry and how to reduce the research impact of drug development. One of the reasons that drugs are so expensive is the research aspect, so we can use different development models to focus on drug development. A National Drug Development Agency. The crucial bit would be that the drug development would be a national asset.

I have already talked about how I consider a sensible nationalisation programme is necessary, but not just a wholesale “nationalise everything”. It has to be fit for purpose and we know it can be (look at East-coast rail). see this post from 2017 – https://www.barrykirby.co.uk/policy-baz-nationalisation-me/

Again, this not only looks at infrastructure, but jobs and education.

We do have the ability to have “wartime spirit” and “best of British”, but it needs to be inspired, to have purpose and a common vision. Inspire that and we are on a winner.

That’s just off the top of my head, but with my “glass half full” attitude, this could be a catalyst that a leader would grasp for Social Change for the better.

January 4, 2019 0 comment

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Brexit is coming!

What does a leader need to do?

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