Blair speech to Policy Network conference: Speech details

Blair speech to Policy Network conference: Speech details; Tony Blair MP (Prime Minister) speech SOT - The European social model is a sort of metaphor for the challenge the left faces. Its underlying values - solidarity, social justice, fairness, equality - are everything we believe in. As it was being created, trade unions were fighting for workers rights against sometimes abusive employers; the class system was rigidly demarcated; mass production was the order of the day. The lines between services, manufacturing and public sector were neatly arranged. Businessmen and I emphasise the "men" wore suits. There was "big" business and "small" businesses. The European social model was about "protecting" people often against change forced on them unfairly. Today we live in a different era. The values are as relevant as ever. The time in which they require application has changed beyond recognition. Today's economies do not function by mass production. Goods and services are customised. Technology and globalisation mean constant adapting and adjusting. Flexibility is key. People will change jobs frequently. Small businesses can become medium or large; big businesses can disappear; and at alarming rates. Liberalisation is regarded in some parts of the left as a dirty word. Yet "liberalised" is precisely how most people lead their lives. That doesn't make those lives free from injustice or difficulty. Far from it. But it does mean they need a different type of solidarity to help and support them. Today the European social model has to be less about traditional forms of protection and more about modern forms of empowerment. People want more control, more power over their own lives but in a world in which they know they can't stop the forces outside their control changing that world constantly. This means that education is the single most important element of a modern social model. An active welfare state that is not about benefits but ab...
Blair speech to Policy Network conference: Speech details; Tony Blair MP (Prime Minister) speech SOT - The European social model is a sort of metaphor for the challenge the left faces. Its underlying values - solidarity, social justice, fairness, equality - are everything we believe in. As it was being created, trade unions were fighting for workers rights against sometimes abusive employers; the class system was rigidly demarcated; mass production was the order of the day. The lines between services, manufacturing and public sector were neatly arranged. Businessmen and I emphasise the "men" wore suits. There was "big" business and "small" businesses. The European social model was about "protecting" people often against change forced on them unfairly. Today we live in a different era. The values are as relevant as ever. The time in which they require application has changed beyond recognition. Today's economies do not function by mass production. Goods and services are customised. Technology and globalisation mean constant adapting and adjusting. Flexibility is key. People will change jobs frequently. Small businesses can become medium or large; big businesses can disappear; and at alarming rates. Liberalisation is regarded in some parts of the left as a dirty word. Yet "liberalised" is precisely how most people lead their lives. That doesn't make those lives free from injustice or difficulty. Far from it. But it does mean they need a different type of solidarity to help and support them. Today the European social model has to be less about traditional forms of protection and more about modern forms of empowerment. People want more control, more power over their own lives but in a world in which they know they can't stop the forces outside their control changing that world constantly. This means that education is the single most important element of a modern social model. An active welfare state that is not about benefits but ab...
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Editorial #:
688958568
Collection:
ITN
Date created:
18 January, 2007
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Rights-ready
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Not released. More information
Clip length:
00:08:36:12
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576 25i
Source:
ITN
Object name:
r18010705_4116.mov