Compass home

Are you a Labour Party member? If you are you can help us ensure that curbing legal loan sharking remains a top priority for the Labour Party.

To download the text of our recommended contemporary issue click here
To read guidelines for submitting contemporary issues click here

In September 1940 the Battle of Britain was at its height in the skies above southern England. Aircrew who had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe joined the RAF with many others from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and all parts of what was then the British Empire, In India ordinary people collected much needed funds to finance the building of Spitfires to join the battle. Polish pilots in particular distinguished themselves, losing more lives proportionate to their numbers than any single other nationality in the Battle. United for freedom, against fascism. Philosophy Football have produced a commemorative shirt to honour the Polish contribution. Available from www.philosophyfootball.com we have 5 to be won in our September competition.

This nation is a nation of tradition. Institutions can trace their ancestry through the history of this great nation. One of the greatest in many people's eyes is that of the Monarchy. William the Conqueror in 1066 became the earliest undisputed monarch of the UK and in doing so began a long tradition that, except for a small period between 1649 and 1660, has remained intact thereafter. According to an ipsos MORI poll conducted in 2006 72% of Britons still favour a monarchy and only 18% favour a republic.

Housing Policy died around the mid-1990s. It died a slow silent death. What was once an important ministerial portfolio was subsumed into urban regeneration agendas and programmes to tackle anti-social behaviour. In the last month, with the mild furore over the cutting of housing benefit, we have witnessed the death rattles of housing policy.

Over the weekend, Compass released the results of their YouGov poll which found that 7 in 10 people supported a lending rate cap on the total cost of all forms of consumer credit.

The showing of extremely strong support for an end to excessive profiteering by legal loan sharks and payday loan companies was widely covered by the media, including BBC News and Sky News and radio stations across Britain.

The first by Michael Prior "Cards on the Table" discusses the future of the Left, the Green Party and why he left Labour 15 years ago. The second is by Chris Handy and Kevin Gulliver "Mutualism Rising". It highlights the rise and rise of the mutual model and looks specifically at its potential role in social housing.

A new poll has found overwhelming public support for stricter limits on the cost of consumer credit. The poll, commissioned by Compass and Trident Reach from YouGov, found that 68% of respondents thought the government should introduce a lending rate cap to cover all forms of consumer credit, including unsecured credit.

There is a new test in town for measuring the social justness quotient of the policy solutions preached most dogmatically by New Labour over the past decade: Have they been continued by a Coalition government that seems with every new announcement to be seeking either to outflank Thatcher or test the credulity of the nation?

Compass has annouced two upcoming events in London this August and October. Everyone is invited to attend for interesting evenings of topical debate on the labour leadership contest, the future of the Left in Britain and the new political landscape that has emerged since the 2010 election.

There are many who argue that the buy-to-let market offers a much needed public service and helps society cope with the current housing crisis, but what service is actually being offered to people seeking a home from this quarter?