A Social State for 2015
December 2012 marks the 70th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, significant not only for its content but also for its context. In the midst of World War II, with a budget deficit and national debt that makes today’s look negligible, the Report laid the basis for the radical reforms introduced by the Labour Government in 1945.
Today, insecurity haunts the nation once again. Mass unemployment; a desperate homes crisis; the slashing of public services; an education system and health service gradually privatised; welfare benefits for the disabled drastically cut; redundancies and closures occurring on a daily basis; and living standards stagnating, or at worst falling, for those lucky enough to retain a job.
But there is an alternative
If war-time Britain could summon up the energy and hope to build a better world in 1945, this generation certainly can too. Seventy years ago the Beveridge Report announced the pursuit of a new settlement, one that would dramatically change the structure of Britain for the better. With this in mind, what can Beveridge’s analysis of society teach us about the Giant Evils of today and how can we use this to chart an alternative course for a welfare state - or Social State - fit for a new settlement in 2015?
Class are beginning this new project to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Beveridge Report and will launch a series of papers and articles looking at various aspects of a Social State over the next six months.
Publications
- Tackling the housing crisis
- The Great British Rip Off
- Reconstruction after the Crisis: A Manifesto for Collective Bargaining
- Education, justice and democracy
- In Place of Fear
- Duty to care
- Financing the Social State
- The Case for Universalism
- Exposing the Myths of Welfare
- Abolishing Want in a Social State
- Tackling Squalor
- Achieving a Social State
Blogs
- Five ways to deal with a full blown Conservative Government
- To tackle the Great British Rip Off, we must end zero-hours contracts
- Our big challenge - Solidarity in the face of insecurity
- There are some things too important to be left to the market
- There is a feasible and popular alternative to austerity
- Households are being excluded from the benefits of growth
- The shackles are off Ed Miliband – but he can do more
- Momentum is moving in our direction - bold policies have popular support
- Instead of blaming ordinary people we should be explaining the reasons for falling living standards
- The Socialist Way
- Zero hours: full time work without a full time job
- No real economic change will be felt until income inequality is reduced
- How the Government is creating a climate of fear for migrants and ethnic minorities
- This latest attack will leave millions of working people priced out of the legal system
- The Spending Review: nasty politics not real economics
- In place of fear: It’s time to tackle alarming health inequalities
- The case for a Land Value Tax
- Involuntary idleness represents a massive waste of economic resources
- We need to challenge the myths that poison attempts at progressive change
- Why we need a political campaign to reinstate the NHS
- It’s time for new priorities to tackle want
- Investment in social housing - the best way out of today’s squalor
- Reviving the Beveridge vision of a Social State
- Stop pushing people into poverty and get serious about job creation
- Social State: Who are the real scroungers?
- Social State: The Most Important Part of the Welfare State: The NHS
- Social State: Austerity - An Exercise in Divide and Rule
- Social State: Exploding the scrounger myth
- Social State: The return of squalor
- Social State: Reclaiming Education for All
Events
- Class Conference 2013: Leading the Debate
- Labour Party Conference 2014: The Great British Rip Off
- Labour Party Conference 2014: What Britain Needs
- London - The Great British Rip-Off: How can we tackle the cost of living crisis?
- TUC Congress 2013: Reconstruction after the crisis: A Manifesto for Collective Bargaining
- TUC Congress 2013: Achieving a Social State
- Labour Party Conference 2013: Achieving a Social State
- A think tank for working people: Class Yorkshire Launch
- A think tank for working people: Class North West Launch
- GMB Congress 2013: Why is Class such an important GMB investment?
- Scottish Labour Party Conference 2013: Resisting cuts in welfare - the case for universalism
- Achieving a Social State
News and press releases
- Policy experts say housing must dominate Labour’s election manifesto
- We hear your views on the living standards crisis in advance of our regional tour of events
- Class at conference season: Submit your events for our Progressive Guide to Labour Party Conference
- Class launches new policy library resource for trade unions and researchers
- Class holds North West launch & commits to giving working people in the UK a strong political voice
- Health inequalities widen as rising mortality and falling life expectancy buck long-term trends
- It’s time for a political response to attacks on universal health care
- Class and Red Pepper launch first in a series of mythbusters: Exposing the myths of welfare
- Podcast now available - Achieving a Social State @ LSE
- Class and LSE Politics blog host lively debate on the Social State
- Class and Child Poverty Action Group call for new priorities to tackle poverty
- John Hendy QC joins the panel for the Achieving a Social State event
- The housing crisis – Time for a heavy dose of realism
- Zoe Williams paper launches new Class series – A Social State for 2015
- Re-defining Beveridge’s Giant Evils – Charting an Alternative Course for the Welfare State
