how now Brown cow

just been reading some stuff on the Guardian about Brown. Here's some ideas for policy changes (in no order at all):

getting the UN and esp Arab League to help in Iraq, if they will.

Ending the policies on Faith Schools and Academies. This is one of the most stupid policies i've ever heard. Give the gov £2mil, they give you £30mil, and you get your own school to do with as you wish.

re-examination of the use of the private sector in public services. if it works, actually REALLY works, then fair enough. But too often it doens't, but Labour are 'the party of business now' so they need to court the CBI. And who looses out?

trying to get back to substance over style. i realise i'm in the minority in that i study what goes on in politics, but it would reassure me. Brown is definatly substance based so i'm hopeful.

Stopping the Trident thing. i realise we need it, i don't like it and i don't like accepting that but Bevan was right, we would be sent 'naked into the conference hall'. But it doens't need doing for a few years, and even having 1 less sub would save £1billlion. That's alot of schools and hospitals.

PR in local government would be lovely, as would a greater dissemination of control to local gov

MAJOR reform of the house of Lords. This is a piss-take and needs sorting.

Local income tax to replace counicl tax

less financial pressure on the NHS, rather pressure on patient care. If necessary, raise taxes, which leads me onto

Tax reform. inlight of what's coming out today (http://money.guardian.co.uk/pay/story/0,,1979244,00.html), i think the wealth gap needs closing. cut taxes at the bottom and raise them at the top.
Massive wealth gaps are BAD FOR BUSINESS as optimal meritocracy is reached in an equal society, where all people are able to give their best to business and showcase their talents and abilities in business. If only 75% of the population is literate to the expected level, there's alot of competition lost because we lack the skills. a high skill economoy based around R&D and science and technology is the best way for our economy to go. We need better skills throughout the economy and a more equal soiety in terms of wealth is important.
it'll help alot. i personally think that Brown's baby of tax rebates are a silly idea. Why not just not tax them in the first place and save all that time and money in adminitration?

further to better skills, we need some investment in Further and Higher education. i understand the need to invest in schools, but leaving HE and FE in a state means that the successes are lost further down the line



http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1979168,00.html
"Prudent Chancellor? Does this idiot think we all are cretins?
Brown has asset stripped this country,the whole success of his Chancellorship is based on illusion and massive unsustainable debt. Do you think there is a possibility of a working class man being able to buy a House or find a bloody Dentist in Brown's successful Britain?"

good point. can't help but feel that the wealth gap is a little too massive. My friend is 22, has a fine (1st) degree from Nottingham in bio-medical science, works in the city and lives with her boyfriend who is 25ish with a very well paid job. They can afford a mortguage! How the hell am i ever gonna afford one, being a social scientist as i am? Move to Wales of course.

drop the ID card thing. I don't know who's been lining whos pockets, but it's not a good idea. Has it helped anywhere else in the world? No (please correct me if i'm wrong)

Focusing more on Europe than America. Ok, America has the biggest economy in the world. BUT, it's the size of a continent. If we compare USA to EU, we in Europe are richer and more efficient, with a social model that is both nicer and more effective. And they like football. I know there are alot of Euro-haters around, but maybe we could look at some Europe-wide policies, maybe in terms of defence (refering in part to Trident). sorry, definatly.

other policies will be along as and when they get formulated.
They're just a start, and i don't claim to be a policy maker but there's a good few of us coverting them. Remember how the Republicans won by mobilising their core support?....

ahh, finally managed to make my way into this bloody thing.
Seeing as the average viewership of blogs is one, the blogger, i can see the advantages of the Friends page on livejournal. Note to self: increase readership.

This thing with Bevan is most interesting indeed, though i feel i'm not really getting to the heart of his significance. I've started by concentrating on his skill as an administrator, because the ideas of a full and free national health service existed in embyionic form before he ever got his hands on the Health Ministry. His legacy is important in that he managed to turn the health service into a public service, which is increadible considering what it was like before the NHS came about. This of course has considerably wider implicaitons for public services and profit motive generally, and maybe something that i can touch on/ramble on about when it comes to my dissertation, should i ever be able to write it, but that's another thing entirely.

Since reading about Bevan, i'm really considering joining Labour. It's about time i got off my arse and put my money where my mouth is, so i need to get round to being a fully paid up member of the Labour movement, which to me is far more important than being a member of the party, considering its present condition. This is an interesting, and possible historically unique, time as it is the first time that the moderate (or right wing, depending on political predisposition) end of the party has sustained power. It remains to be seen how long this will last, although i feel that Brown will do nothing to diminish its influence. The likes of Miliband coming through make references to radicalism, and of course there's the influence of family and genetics in his case, but i fail to see where the radical element will come from. McConnell is going for the leadership,, which could lead to an interesting battle of ideas, but with the way things are at present i think the influence of the further, rather than far, left is dead and buried. the membership numbers seem to support this, as there are so few now. Maybe a shift back to the left is in order to get some people back? Is a shift to the left possible, or indeed plausable?
we shall see i suppose

it begins

Welcome to the domain of the Bearded Socialist. I was goaded into the 'minima black' thing by Adam, a goth.

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