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The issues of intergenerational inequality and asset inequality are closely linked in Britain today. Yet despite the fact that inequality more generally is increasingly recognised as a problem, neither of these factors receives the recognition it should in public debate.
If there is just one character trait that pupils should leave school accomplished in, it should be that embodied by a one Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Margaret Thatcher famously said she wanted Britain to become a “property-owning democracy”, an aspiration that has been echoed ever since by politicians of every persuasion. However, the dream of home-ownership is rapidly turning into a nightmare for millions of young people across the country, who face a growing struggle just to find adequate housing at a price that they can afford.
I am a chief executive of a small housing association that has a modest development programme, and we take the view that good design of new developments is very important. I am aware that there is a big tension between good design and producing lower cost ‘boxes’.
The UK has started to wake up to a new dimension of social justice. For decades the focus of many campaigners has been on fairness to today’s poor and disadvantaged, but it is now becoming clear that our government is handing out benefits today at the expense of our children and grandchildren.
The Chancellor’s autumn statement shows how much scrutiny parliament places on how money is spent, with relatively small changes to budgets generating either applause or outrage. But parliament has a habit of completely overlooking more fundamental questions about money, questions such as: who should be allowed to create it in the first place?
I recently asked a prominent mathematician who once ran a hedge fund, Doyne Farmer, whether seeking to make a riskless profit was ethical. I don’t think he understood the question. Mathematics has always been part of finance but with the re-introduction of derivatives markets in the 1970s and their growth in the nineties, ‘quants’, trained in engineering, physics and mathematics, came to dominate the ‘casino banking’ that is widely criticised.
I am happy to address this solemn session which brings together a significant representation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, representatives of member States, the Judges of the European Court of Human Rights as well as the members of the various institutions which make up the Council of Europe.
There is cross-party consensus that we need to improve the thermal efficiency of the UK’s homes. Not only will it help to bring down energy bills for hard pressed consumers, but will also reduce carbon emissions, and the number of deaths caused by cold amongst vulnerable people each winter.
The 2014 Employee Ownership Association Annual Conference in Nottingham was the largest yet. Around 500 delegates attended a day of seminars and keynotes to hear how their membership is successfully laying the foundations for a new economy based on the principle of employee engagement.
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