Social recession needs action right now

My mother used to frequently guffaw at politicians or commentators who talked about ‘a better future’.  She would say, ‘we may all be deid and buried by then!’.  Indeed, it was me as a young lad, who was mortified when she laughed these words in the face of an MP, outside Perth city hall, circa 1980.

It was in a debate in central London, on public service reform, two weeks ago, that I was reminded of my mum’s laughter. Surrounded by journalists, think tankers, policy wonks and merchants of ideas, I suppose I was in a Westminster bubble!  The debate featured innovation and creativity in public services.  I liked the ideas.  I heard some good ‘test case’ case studies. But how to accelerate them?  The discussion for all its power, was about a better future – some time, rather than right now.

Of course, a better future to our public services is of great importance.  Across the world, the future of public services is uncertain as demographic, economic, social and political shifts, are altering the way we live, work and interact.  This is not just about an austerity-induced moment, which will pass.  Managing demand, and how we pay for public services is an ongoing concern. Therefore, we need to think through and adopt a different approach.  But the declining social safety net, poverty and inequality, is here right now. Poverty and the social recession ain’t waiting for a solution.  They are marching onwards.

On another occasion a director of Westminster based think tank said, ‘Neil, stop taking sides, we should learn to love and respect each other more’.  But tell that to a single mum forced to take a zero hours contract.  Indeed, tell that to the DWP and the welfare system, which seems to have substituted respect for our fellow citizens with mistrust.

I believe we must secure more empathy in policy-making, but the hard realities of life in many parts of Britain are very distant to Westminster and our policy-making circles.  Furthermore, some intellectualism often shies away from taking sides and is not hurried by growing but distant social pain. There is a tendency to be eclectic and plural.  And in this culture of plurality, it misses an edge.

What about some old ideas?  What about an argument for taxing the wealthy a couple of more pence in the pound, and redistribute this to poorest. It might be a bit big state, old hat and invoke old debates, but it would deal with the worst aspects of social pain and social recession enduring.  We could give it a new slant and call it ‘innovation in wealth capture’!

New ideas are often more comfortable to debate, discuss and explore. Innovation and creativity, are not part of, or ‘owned’ by any political party agenda, so they are less ideologically charged. Newness has little history. It is safe.

So for all the buzzy plural intellectualism, around some great new ideas, we should never forget the uses of old, maybe ‘crude’ policy stuff.  And for those who genuinely wish to deal with social issues, we might need to spend less time empathising with the plurality of possible positions and straining for mutual way forwards.  Instead we should be condemning clear injustice and apportion blame and do something.  Right now.