My remarks to the Big Tent Ideas Fest 2017, at Twyford, Berkshire.
Renewing the grassroots of mainstream politics: lessons from the pioneers of social, economic and cultural renewal
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Ten years on from the Great Financial Crash, millions feel no further forward. Because they’re not. We’re mired in the worst squeeze on living standards since the days of Dickens. And now this crippling, seemingly endless malaise, has provoked the worst crisis of cooperation for a generation; we are divided between rich and poor, between young and old, and now with our closest neighbours with the vote for Brexit.

Here’s my comment piece in The Times Red Box about charging Britain's Daesh fighters: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/time-to-charge-britains-isis-fighters-with-genocide-fwlhzvxnw

The events in Burma have shocked lots of us in Birmingham - so this week 157 MPs came together in Parliament behind a letter to Boris Johnson, coordinated by Rushanara Ali MP, demanding pressure on the Burmese government to stop the violence and start the humanitarian relief. You can find the letter here.

One way to think about today's 'crisis of the West' is to look at the economic growth rates in economically and politically 'free' versus 'unfree' nations. If you believe that economic and political freedom are linked (as I do), you would assume that free countries grow faster. For much of the post-war era that has indeed been true. But no longer.

Our community is one of the poorest in Britain and over the summer I am updating my research into the causes of poverty and low income.

I am looking for people to interview who have a household income of £13,000 a year or less.

The telephone interview will be strictly confidential and will be undertaken by my senior researcher Erik Cummins. It will take about 30-45 minutes.