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What Jon Cruddas will say on “The Condition of Britain” tomorrow

February 13, 2013 4:20 pm

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Tomorrow Jon Cruddas will be speaking at the launch of IPPR’s “The Condition of Britain” as Mark blogged this morning. Here are some of the pre-released sections of the speech he’ll be delivering tomorrow:

On the scale of the task

“Today Ed Miliband will be standing up in Bedford to deliver a major speech on how we create a One Nation economy: built on better jobs, support for new businesses, and public services that bring people together. What I want to talk about this morning is the kind of society we need that will underpin this new economy. The new project the IPPR is launching today will be as big and as influential as the Commission for Social Justice which reported in 1994. Its job is to identify the major pressures facing the British people. But it will also consider how to harness their ambition and ingenuity to tackle these pressures and create a better society.”

On the Labour Tradition:

“Labour grew out of the mass popular movements of mutualism, self-improvement and collective self-reliance. It was working people organising together to change their lives for the better. Building their own power and strength. Creating building societies, cooperatives, libraries, education groups and trade unions.  A great force for civilisation in Britain. It is a tradition that believes in opportunity, contribution and the power of relationships.”

Cruddas will also be on Newsnight tonight, ahead of tomorrow’s speech.

On a Britain that is not broken – but where some feel they are outside of society:

“I do not believe Britain is broken. But many feel they no longer belong to society… Too many people have no work, or too little work or fear losing work. People are struggling to survive by juggling two or more jobs. Cheap labour has been favoured over investment in workforce development and vocational education. The social epidemic of loneliness, particularly amongst the old, generates fear, anxiety and hostility to others, the loss of industries and skilled work that once gave pride and purpose, the loss of the ways of life that gave a sense of belonging and meaning to life, the loss of esteem and with it the shame of failure.”

On why more markets, or more state – are now part of the problem, rather than the solution:

“We do not live by the managerialism of the state nor by the transactions of the market. We live in families and relationships and networks of friendships in local places. Yet markets and financial transactions have been introduced into areas of life they do not belong while the importance of relationships and trust between people that lie at the heart of public services and institutions has been underplayed.”

Related posts:

  1. Tomorrow, Britain will be set back 13 years
  2. Organising to win — Jon Cruddas full speech
  3. Jon Cruddas is back – about bloody time
  4. Join us for our Jon Cruddas Q&A this afternoon at conference
  5. Jon Cruddas has already revealed Labour’s policy priorities (and the Policy Review timetable) – but no-one noticed
  • http://twitter.com/bencobley Ben Cobley

    I’m glad that Jon Cruddas is starting to get more prominence in the media and public life more generally, not just because he is genuinely interesting and thinks for himself but also because he speaks ‘human’, for the most part. That no doubt causes trouble here and there, but it’s something we need more of from our politicians, not less.

  • Daniel Speight

    So let’s have one policy this week just to add a little meat to the bones.

    How about mutualising the railways. I just want to see Branson’s face if that was announced.

  • MrSauce

    At last, a policy announcement from the Eds!

    And it is idiotic:-
    Re-introduce a 10p tax band and pinch the ridiculous LibD mansion tax.
    So that is their proposal for sorting out the public finances and making Britain competitive in the world?
    God help us.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720770365 Peter Carrol

    Jon Cruddas should stay off the telly unless his manner improves. He was unnecessarily hostile to Gavin Esler, looked very uncomfortable and unhappy to be there, and overused the phrase ‘tentatively suggest’. Extensive media training or background role; got to be one or the other.

    • AlanGiles

      I think the truth is he is not half as clever as he and some of his supporters think he is. Good at thinking, terrible at articulating, and probably embarrassed because after all this navel-gazing he still can’t really come up with anything, other than “tentaively” suggest nicking a LibDem policy and admitting Gordon Brown “got it wrong”…

  • Dave Postles

    Of course ‘Britain is broken’. There are many here who prefer to support German carworkers than their neighbours in this country. They give not a thought to it nor shed any tear for the consequences. They insist on their Apple computers. There is a considerable section of the population which has no conscience.

  • Dave Postles

    Of course ‘Britain is broken’. There are many here who prefer to support German carworkers than their neighbours in this country. They give not a thought to it nor shed any tear for the consequences. They insist on their Apple computers. There is a considerable section of the population which has no conscience.

    • Alexwilliamz

      Well i bought a car built in britain partly for that reason and the fact it is a great car, however i am writing this on an ipad so i must be pretty wishwashy morally speaking!

      • Dave Postles

        Never mind: it will soon be possible to have a full OS like Ubuntu on a tablet, assembled in this country, rather than tablets assembled here with the cut-down version of Linux which is Android which, like the iPad, is useless for productivity.

  • Dave Postles

    The Office suite to beat all others.

    • Dave Postles

      LibreOffice

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