Open Left at Labour Conference

1 September 2009

The coming year is a going to be a crucial one for the future of the Left: our response to the economic crash, our attitude to equality and our agenda for democratic and political reform are all being debated in the context of a looming general election.

Open Left is holding a fringe event on Sunday 27th September at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton to debate these issues (and many more) in the spirit of openness and plurality.

Joining us to take part in the discussion will be Roy Hattersley, James Purnell, Tessa Jowell, Jonathan Freedland and David Lammy – with Kristian Guru-Murthy from Channel 4 News in the chair. We hope as many of you as possible will be able to come and take part (it is being held outside of the police security zone).

Rather than starting with speeches from politicians, the event will be led by questions and topics submitted by you – the visitors and contributors to the Open Left website – and those attending in person. So please leave your thoughts on what should be debated either in the comments section of this post or e-mailed to me at graeme.cooke@demos.co.uk.

We will try to make sure that as many questions get addressed as possible and responses are posted on the site for those who cannot attend in person. So help us put the politicians on the spot and spark debate about the central questions to be addressed to renew the thinking and ideas of the Left.

Graeme Cooke, Head of Open Left

11 Comments

11 Responses to “Open Left at Labour Conference”

michael_green
September 3rd, 2009 @ 10:39 am

In what ways could user choice be implemented into the NHS in-order to drive up standards?
michael_green
September 3rd, 2009 @ 10:40 am

How have the Scandinavian nations managed to reduce child poverty to below 5%?
michael_green
September 3rd, 2009 @ 3:12 pm

What new progressive taxes can we introduce in order to provide revenue for reducing child poverty? Government is going to have to increase it's size to Scandinavian levels immediately if were serious about making any progress on cutting child poverty.
treborc
September 3rd, 2009 @ 4:52 pm

James Purnell to the left, yes and I think Mars have martians on.
derekontheleft
September 4th, 2009 @ 1:13 pm

What are the values that drive your policy choices and differentiate you from other parties?

Do you believe in individual freedom (unless there is societal harm, a la J S Mill Harm Principle?)
michael_green
September 5th, 2009 @ 9:25 am

What happens when a patient uses up their social care budget?

What happens when a patient uses up their healthcare budget?
mervynhyde
September 11th, 2009 @ 11:55 pm

If private companies are allowed to tender for public services why can't Local Government and public services seek contracts in the private sector,
michael_green
September 13th, 2009 @ 11:51 pm

Should the left be wary of individual choice in public services coming into conflict with equality of access and equality of outcomes?
michael_green
September 16th, 2009 @ 3:08 pm

Why does the British government spend less of national GDP on childcare than any of the EU15?
michael_green
September 23rd, 2009 @ 12:35 pm

How would Amartya Sen's equality of capability theory be applied to education, the NHS, sure start and training for the unemployed?
Josh_W
September 30th, 2009 @ 1:29 am

How do you insure that flexibility and responsiveness in government is not simply gobbled up by the currently powerful?