EQUALITY IS ALL

I have just had to turn down an invitation, which I would happily have accepted, to speak to the Greater Manchester Fabian Society in November. It clashes with another commitment but I hope they will ask me back at some point as it is always good to engage with others - even if you're not always going to agree. Here in the north, we also don't have the plethora of meetings and discussions which people in London take for granted and are pretty blase about.
The Fabians may not be normal territory for the LRC but let's not forget 'twas they who organised the infamous debate on the Labour Leadership Election that never was and provided the only opportunity for John McDonnell and Michael Meacher to debate with Gordon Brown. As Brown was outflanked completely, he saw both of them off the very next day but that's history.
However, in recent days. John Denham has kicked up a storm with a speech he gave to the Fabian Society claiming Labour should ditch notions of egalitarianism and worry more about "those in the middle". Quite honestly, I was a bit astonished. Wasn't this the very same John Denham who at one point in 2007 was being touted as a possible "left" contender against Brown? . It also shows a bewildering lack of political nous, frankly, for such a senior politician not to be tuning in to the cultural zeitgeist in an economic climate which is very different from the prosperous days of 1997 and 2001.
I fundamentally disagree that people don't care about fairness and social justice and closing the gap between rich and poor. As unemployment rises, and will continue to, more and more will realise the illusions fostered by New Labour that everyone can prosper under capitalism and that it's OK to be "intensely relaxed" about the filthy rich are simply not so.
Young people, in particular, are seeking fairer ways of running the world and campaigning tirelessly on issues like global poverty, climate change and peace.
Denham got it wrong - which is why he has been lambasted by that doyenne of social democracy Roy Hattersley. I trust Denham's views are not representative of the Society as a whole. And I hope to be able to debate with them at some stage......after all I believe Tony Benn is also a member.