Alan Johnson

Editor of Democratiya

The left seeks a society of fellowship, or social solidarity. We want to empower the individual, yes, but it is not our job to foster the spread of what Michael Sandel calls the ‘unencumbered self’ – that creature detached from the public sphere, civic virtue, citizenship, and the sentiment of fraternity. Instead, we seek to create citizens who deliberate with each other about the common good.

4 Comments

Sheenagh Pugh

Writer

What most makes me angry about the way Britain is now? The right wing bias in the press and the way politicians fall over themselves to placate it. And the fact that so many people believe the lies they read in it.

2 Comments

Tom Bentley

Policy Director for Julia Gillard, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister

Needs will always conflict with each other and aspirations – by definition, will always go beyond what is currently possible. But one constant in social history is the unlimited nature of human ingenuity and the capacity for human responsibility. Both consistently go beyond the limits of what government policies and received wisdom allow at any point in time. As social forces they are deeply linked. The job of politics is to understand how they can be more widely inspired and converted into durable, legitimate institutional settlements.

1 Comment

Tim Probert

Journalist

All things being equal, I want to see top universities being incentivized to take on the poorer students rather than the wealthy.

No Comments

Chris Cherry

Student and writer
I believe that an efficient State apparatus can deliver for everyone, provided the primary purpose of the State remains to assist and not instruct. The State performs an essential function to secure freedoms, not restrict them.

No Comments

Blair McDougall

Former government adviser

To be on the Left is to commit to using the power of politics to create a better system. The best that can be said of being on the Right is that they think they can run the current system better. The Left are the agents of progress, never satisfied with the status quo. By contrast the Right are conservative if not completely regressive.

No Comments

Chris Wilson

Librarian

How would I describe the sort of society I want Britain to be? A society in which nobody gets left behind and everyone can fulfill their potential. A society in which the market is a useful tool for providing goods and services, not a metaphor for the whole of human existence.

No Comments

Harry Brighouse

Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The recent fracas over whether the Tories or Labour are more gay-friendly is symptom of the success of the gay lesbian and transgendered movement, and as it becomes more successful (as, surely, it will) it will become even less closely connected to the left. What makes the left the left is that whereas each dimension of unjustified inequality (class, gender, race, sexuality) triggers action from some interested parties, the left is concerned with all dimensions.

3 Comments

Howard Thorp

Environmentalist and Politician

What makes me angry about the way Britain is now? A rotten democracy, poverty, inequality and the disempowerment of ordinary people.

No Comments

Ken Stewart

Mature Student

One of the greatest contemporary quandaries is in identifying the ownership of political space, or having our policies clearly recognised by the public as belonging solely to our party. This is exemplified by the current phenomena which sees Liberal Democrats and the Conservative left joining us in much of the middle ground, wherein resides the floating voter.

No Comments

Matthew Lee

Parliamentary Assistant

I want Britain to be a country where everyone has enough material resources to live a happy, healthy and rewarding life. I also want to see a Britain where people are proud of the community they live in – and are given the power to affect real changes in their areas which can make this happen.

No Comments

Charles Crawford

Writer, Mediator, Speaker, Businessman

Leftist preoccupation with Distribution without a clear vision of Creation is dishonest, and when pursued on a big enough scale culminates in cataclysmic violence. Societies which encourage those principles emphasising creativity/freedom and the legal rules needed to make that happen tend to be far more successful on every front than societies which do not.

No Comments
keep looking »

  • Join the Mailing List





  • About Demos

    Demos is a London-based think tank. We generate ideas to improve politics and policy, and give people more power over their lives.
    Go to Demos

  • Labour Leader Election events

    Ed Miliband Q&A

    David Miliband speech

    Ed Balls in conversation

    Andy Burnham Q&A

  • Open Left launch





    Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, writes for Open Left about what being on the left means to her. Click here to see what she thinks.

  • Contact Us

    openleft@demos.co.uk


    For an archive of Open Left project press, see here.

  • Open Left Project

    immigration Jobcentre Plus jobseeker's allowance Labour Unemployment welfare