Act Now: Call to Action
The report presents a comprehensive set of policies that would be feasible and popular, and would make life in Britain clearly better for almost all inhabitants. The policies are well known and should be commonsensical. It is remarkable that they seem controversial, and that none of the main political parties currently has the courage to endorse the programme in its entirety. This fact goes a long way to explaining the high level of disillusionment with all the political parties on offer. However, there are grounds for hope. In times of social change, political parties have in the past shown themselves responsive to the upswell of public opinion. The Labour Party adopted nearly all of the Beveridge Report prior to the 1945 UK General Election. They won in a landslide. They did not create the Beveridge Report, but they saw that the population wanted it and were prepared to vote for whoever would offer to make it real. We urge readers to advocate for the policies we have discussed here, or better versions of them, in their councils, churches, workplaces, trades unions, clubs and households. We challenge political parties to respond to that demand, where possible by forming cross-party consensus.
The time for change is now.
The time to act is now.
Recommendations
We urge readers to discuss the policies we have presented here with their families, friends and colleagues. You may like some better than others, or think they can be improved. But, whatever you think, talk about them. Talk about them in workplaces, schools and colleges, trades unions, clubs and pubs, households and places of worship. You will find a surprising degree of agreement about the need for change. Don’t assume that you’re the odd one out – you aren’t. Those of us who want our lives to be secure are in the vast majority and we often agree on solutions. We need to be brave in expressing those opinions.
We challenge political parties to respond to the ideas presented here: will they rule them out, or will they commit to implementing them if elected? They should not be mealy-mouthed about this. If they deserve your vote, they should say where they stand. And if they won’t give you the answers you need, take your vote elsewhere. Even the media is ultimately responsive to public sentiment: they will begin to take these ideas more seriously if they can see that most of the people do. Together, we can cause change to propagate through our communities into the media, political parties, and eventually government.
The time for change is now.
The time to act is now.