Meeting held on Wednesday 15th January 2025
10 people were present. Four gave their apologies.
Our attention was drawn to an article my Anthony Seldon relating to the Prime Minister and the problems he faces. After some discussion of this, it was suggested that there are much more important things we should be concerned about than Starmer. In particular, Israel (referred to as a ‘rogue state’) was about to sign a ‘peace agreement’, but this made no reference to the future of Gaza, how it is to be ruled, rebuilt and restored.
Another important issue was the environmental crisis. Such disasters are taken advantage of by the right wing, with Trump even blaming Democrats in California for the fires there. Social media exaggerate misinformation and outright lies, which build a basis for ‘alternative facts’, which are then used to titivate (and thus increase) their audiences. In this climate, trust in sources of news are undermined, with the main sources of news becoming the social media rather than mainstream newspapers etc. Even the BBC is no longer trusted (by both the political right and left) as being reliable, or else it is ignored altogether (by the young in particular). So where are we to find reliable sources of news? And what is ‘news’ anyway?
UK is fortunate in being relatively stable and secure. But assumptions about progress based upon a continually expanding economy are being shown to be unsustainable. Labour looks for growth, but it is growth based upon the old economic assumptions which, arguably, have contributed to the problems of inequality that we face. How can a new economic model be built, which is based upon the collaboration required if we are to solve the climate crisis, rather than the competition of the market place? In the meantime public services are in crisis and more finance is need to begin to restore them.
The younger generation have none of the benefits that most of us assumed when we were young, with housing impossibly expensive, jobs scarce and low paid, etc. In this context there is rising distrust of the democratic processes that have failed us. Totalitarianism (or ‘strong government’) offered by the right wing looks increasingly attractive to many. The case for a more civilised and sustainable economy and politics needs to be made. Is the Labour leadership making such a case?
In this context there is rising anger amongst the less privileged (now the majority?) while the ultra wealthy appear to be divided between those (like Musk) whose interest appear to be purely selfish and some others who have been saying that they should be taxed more. Why is it that the Labour Party seems so averse to taxing the wealthy? Is it because to do so is so very complicated? Or are the interests of the Labour Party and the wealthy aligned?
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 19th February.