Philip Collins

20 July 2009

What is it about your political beliefs that put you on the Left rather than the Right?
The priority of the least well-off. The belief that the biggest problems in domestic politics concern those people who, unrelated to their own efforts and talents, receive too little reward. The political Left takes this more seriously than the Right, which tends to be more quiescent. To be on the Left is to be restless and dissatisfied. I don’t like complacency and selfishness as individual traits and conservatism is complacency and selfishness elevated to the status of ideology.

What do you consider made you Left wing?
Disposition, inclination, friendships and reading. Everyone thinks that their beliefs come before their allegiance but it’s rarely as simple as that. It’s more likely that we have instincts and dispositions which are then confirmed by friends and solidified and legitimised by reading.

How would you describe the sort of society you want Britain to be?
A liberal republic in which people are free to choose their own account of the sort of society that they want Britain to be. The assumption that there should be a single answer to this question is the most common error on the Left.

What one or two changes would make the biggest difference to bringing that about?
Inevitably, a liberal republic requires very many small changes rather than one large change. But it will be important to tax unearned income heavily and earned income lightly and it would be good if we used the state to transfer money to powerful citizens rather than act on the delusion that we can devise services centrally that will suit so many different individual needs.

What most makes you angry about the way Britain is now?
The fact that too many children, in a rich developed democracy, cannot read properly. It’s an extraordinary failure.

Which person, event, era or movement from the past should we look to for inspiration now?
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty: the crucial lesson is that beginning from an overarching vision of what we want, then commanding the state to wish it into being is just about the last way we ought to proceed. For the same reason I would recommend Edmund Dell’s A Strange Eventful History which piles up the evidence to show that the Labour party’s method is bound to fall short of its hopes.

Comments
  • Ian Bennett
    "What most makes you angry about the way Britain is now?

    The fact that too many children, in a rich developed democracy, cannot read properly. It’s an extraordinary failure."

    And you don't consider that the fact that this was caused by a socialised, state-run education system (see E G West for details) is a reason to embrace the alternative?
  • saintemillion
    Was it your 'Left' ideals that drove you to become an investment banker?
  • PhilipWalker
    "Inevitably, a liberal republic requires very many small changes rather than one large change."

    Well, there's a pretty large change which would be required to become any sort of republic.
  • Chris
    Where are the big ideas? These contributions all contain the same dull platitudes about opportunity that even David Cameron would claim to agree with. Has politics really become this boring?

    What about Britain's future in Europe or the nature of our relationship with the US? What about the need for reform of our barely democratic political system that gives a govenment an absolute majority with just 35% of the vote with no elected second chamber to restrain them? How about defending the historic Human Rights Act agains the Tories who will abolish it and new Labour who want to neuter it? How about a clear repudiation of Blair's database/surveillance state and a determination to atone for the sin of the Iraq war? Last time I checked politics was full of interesting, controversial ideas and issues like that.
  • Chris - I like that you are contributing the big ideas. I agree that there are many meaty issues that really need to be addressed. But I wouldn't necessarily dismiss the contributions here as mere platitudes. It is crucial that we get back to raw principles and reconnect with the emotional reasons for being left not right. It is only once we know WHY we are left (the 'platitudes' and principles) that we can think more carefully about HOW we want to be left (what we want to do, what policies and ideas need to be overturned or enacted).

    Can I encourage you to join the debate and submit your answers to the questions asked? We want voices from as many people as possible and you have some very substantial suggestions about where the left needs to go next
  • michael_green
    ....continuing further.

    Choosing in a consumer market is based on first come first serve. Those who are slow to choose, will end up choosing from a smaller selection, have no choice at all or have nothing to choose from.

    So a school market would see all the good schools chosen first, leaving a poor selection of schools later.

    And people might not want to choose from what's on offer to choose from.

    And some schools would be so expensive, that even a 90% voucher would not make it affordable for low income families. And poor families in rich areas would be priced out of the market by their rich neighbours.
  • michael_green
    Continuing from my above post, vouchers and budget's in public services would not empower citizens.

    A school should be more than just a one off choice. Parents and student's should have the chance to shape the school to their needs over the duration that they use it. This could be done through a co-operative system. Such schools are widespread in Spain and Sweden, and give people voice (as well as choice).

    However, private property does empower citizens, but not in the realm of public services.

    The Child Trust Fund, is a good way to empower children from poor backgrounds, teaching them to save, and capitalizing them when they turn 18, in the same way inheritance capitalizes the middle class children.

    Housing credit may be another way to empower citizens.

    Increasing child tax credit, working tax credit and the minimum wage will go a long way to empowering all citizens.

    Of course, reducing unemployment and using industrial activism to grow the number of well paying jobs will also help citizens achieve their aspirations and empower them.

    But public services must remain free at the point of need, and built on universal entitlements and systems of redress and opportunities for choice, co-op ownership and co-production where necessary, in order to empower every citizen.
  • michael_green
    A society where all are powerful citizens can only be created through co-operation, democracy and universal standards and entitlements,which requires a significant degree of centralized democracy.

    Simply decentralizing is not a way to create powerful citizens. Only a centralized state can guarantee universal rights in entitlements... e.g. labour rights, civil liberties, public service entitlements.

    And finally, a school is only as good as it is effective in helping students achieve their potential in the labour market and civil society. Giving parent's choice as an end in itself, will not give way to universal standards of GCSE pass rate and student's achieving their potential and being liberated from domination by capitalism.
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