Publications

This report outlines our own alternative proposals to the government's plan to part-privatise Royal Mail and the Post Office, we set out a positive vision for a modern post service that remains in public hands. This report has two sections. In the first we examine why privatisation is the wrong answer to the problems Royal Mail and Post Office Counters face; in the second we set out a range of governance, investment and industrial relations reforms that could form the basis of a new model for Royal Mail that avoids privatisation but enables the modernisation of the service in terms of investment and improved industrial relations.

The book tells a fascinating story of how by strengthening democracy, involving workers and citizens we can transform public services. The book truly kicks privatisation into touch!

A FULL RANGE DOSSIER: WE'RE TARGETING TAX AVOIDANCE WITH A DOCUMENT FULL OF FACTS! Compass takes personal tax avoidance very seriously indeed! Although the vast majority of people who pay their taxes are honest, those who avoid their taxes, often very wealthy individuals, are picking the pockets of law-abiding taxpayers. In 2008-09 the TUC estimates that tax avoiders effectively stole an estimated £13 billion from public funds, that's why we are determined that the government should close in on them! This dossier outlines all the facts and figures.

Ten years ago Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder produced their declaration of the European third way. To mark this anniversary Compass and its counterparts in the SPD in Germany have published a new declaration. It offers an alternative project to build a post- crisis social Europe, and forms the start of a debate across the European centre-left.

This document is intended to review some of the findings and conclusions of the Hooper Report on the provision of the universal postal service and, in particular, the validity of those conclusions and the quality of the evidence provided for them. The purpose of this report is to highlight those areas where we believe further evidence or analysis is required before it would be responsible to adopt the report's recommendations.

The Windfall Tax Campaign Toolkit has been specifically designed to encourage grassroots local action in support of a windfall tax on energy and oil companies. The toolkit is an essential step by step campaigning guide.

This pamphlet continues our work on reforming the public services. Through case studies and examples this project explores the increasingly popular term "Co-production". It sees co-production as a deeply practical method for improving services. It is about the recognition of mutual interests, co-operation and participation and has the strong moral purpose of building communities and social networks based on the practice of "what works". We would like to thank UNISON for their continued support and advice.

The following report outlines the main work and progress of Compass from March 2007 through to August 2008. For legal requirements we're required to file an annual report each year for the Compass financial year which runs from
March-March, for the benefit of members we've included an update up to August 2008 when this report was written.

Is the Future Conservative? brings together critical analysis of New Conservative thinking by writers from the left and right - including Neal Lawson, Jon CruddasMP, Oliver Letwin MP, Tony Juniper, John Harris and Phillip Blond. It is time for the left to take on the New Conservatism, politically, culturally, and philosophically.

The report calls on the Government to take seriously the democratisation of the places in which we work. If they don't then the gap between our power as consumers and citizens, compared to the sterility of our voice and influence at work will become a chasm.

Furthermore the report argues that people are becoming more autonomous, they want to self-manage their lives and are throwing off the shackles of deference. But power cannot be switched off when they clock on: people have a right to influence how their workplace is run. The report was supported by Prospect and Connect.

The pamphlet makes the case against the bureaucratic and market state and for a democratic state. In this way it attempts to turn the demoralisation of the NHS into a process of remoralisation. With the 60th anniversary of the NHS, the Darzi Review, the possibility of a Constitution of the NHS and the renewed interest of the Conservatives, Compass, through this pamphlet, wants to spark a political debate about the future of this most cherished institution. The pamphlet was kindly and generously supported by UNISON.

Challenging the standard view that pressure from migrants for better services is leading to a deterioration of standards, this report argues that the increased resources and greater diversity of experience which migrants bring with them, can contribute to the drive for a modern, more responsive, progressive direction for public policy. The report calls on the public, professionals and policy makers to assist in reframing the immigration debate. Copies are available for £5 each from the Compass office. This publication has been sent to all Compass members for free.

The report outlines the political positions of Boris Johnson in detail and notes: ‘Boris Johnson is by far the most right wing candidate ever to be presented by a major party for Mayor of London. This reality gives a tremendous opportunity to expose the real politics of the Tory Party not only in London, in the elections for Mayor and the London Assembly, but also nationally in the run up to the general election. This publication is available in electronic format only.

This is the third and final volume in our Programme for Renewal. Democracy & the Public Realm looks at the democratic processes and structures that uphold the good society and provide the legitimacy and accountability for managing the economy in everyone’s interests. Copies are available for £5 each from the Compass office. This publication has been sent to all Compass members for free.

Our report examines the government’s progress on equality across a range of social policy areas. Assessing New Labour’s record on equality after ten years in government’. The report shows enduring and even growing inequalities in key policy areas including health, wealth, workers, housing, children, education, gender, race, gay rights and democracy. This publication is available in electronic format only.

This is the second volume in our Programme for Renewal. A New Political Economy explores the economics of The Good Society. This report sets out, for the first time, a comprehensive route map for the centre-left to manage the forces of global capitalism in the interests of society. Copies are available for £10 each from the Compass office. This publication has been sent to all Compass members for free.

The Commercialisation of Childhood report details the intensity and effects of advertising to children. It reveals an army of marketing experts and branding gurus spending billions every year to directly target children to sell products and groom them for a lifetime of consumerism. They are inventing ever more ingenious ways of infiltrating children’s worlds, subverting parents and families and exploiting children’s emotional vulnerabilities in the name of profit. The report argues that engulfed with images of how they should look and be and what they should own and eat, children struggle to keep up resulting in increasing rates of stress, depression and low–self esteem and all time high rates of health problems like obesity in children. Limited copies of the report are available from the Compass office, as well as in electronic format.

The book published by Lawrence and Wishart in association with Compass is a collection of fifteen essays by some of the leading centre-left thinkers in the UK, as well as perspectives from US and Australian writers. Including essays from Zygmunt Bauman, Colin Crouch, Andrew Gamble, Jonathan Freedland, Michael Walzer, Ruth Lister, Alan Finlayson, David Coats, Tom Bentley, Sue Goss, Neal Lawson, Hetan Shah, Gerry Hassan and many more. Subjects covered include the state of public sector reform, how we think about the public realm, the world of work, social justice, economic policy and neo-liberalism, Britishness and the British state, the idea of 'the official future', and a comparison and conversation about the state of the UK and American lefts. The book examines where New Labour has taken us, where we are, and what future directions and kind of politics are on offer for the centre-left. Published by L&W, the book is priced £16.99.

The Good Society considers the kind of society we want to live in. It argues that we are living in a social recession and puts forward an alternative politics based on wellbeing, care, equality and environmental sustainability. It is the first of three volumes in the Compass Programme for Renewal. Copies are currently available priced £10 each. You can also download The Good Society and comment on it online.

Written by deputy leadership candidate Jon Cruddas MP and journalist John Harris, Fit for purpose looks at some of the ideas needed to renew the Labour Party organisationally. It proposes reform of the national party, reform of local parties and concludes by looking at Labour’s culture and a vision for the future. The pamphlet has SOLD OUT. This publication has been sent to all Compass members for free.

Our latest discussion pamphlet written by Kevin B.Curran calls for an increased focus on what many unions are already doing – getting back into grass roots organising and explains ways in which this can be better resourced. In so doing it outlines a new role for the TUC as a central hub to help facilitate this organising focus. Copies are available for £5 each from the Compass office. This publication has been sent to all Compass members for free.

We're pleased to publish a major discussion paper on the political centre ground, written by Peter Kellner. In it Kellner argues 'this is a good time to think afresh about the way we do politics. The decline of the old ideologies has made many of the old Left-Right arguments redundant. A bold project to design a positive version of the Centre could fill the void'. This pamphlet is not available in print format, but available to download free of charge in electronic format.

Our new pamphlet written by Melissa Benn and Fiona Millar, provides an urgent, passionate and convincing account of what we need to do to make comprehensives work. It puts forward a strong argument that modern comprehensives are the right way to educate our children and that the obsession with choice, commercialisation and contestability is the wrong approach.

The pamphlet, written by Rebecca Willis and published in association with Compass, argues that we will only succeed in tackling climate change and increasing energy security if we take a step back and think again about the purpose of our energy system and the role of individuals within it. Grid 2.0: The next generation envisages a much more active role for individuals and communities – one in which the energy system is no longer remote and centralised, but embedded in our lives and homes. It argues that the government’s Energy Review must find ways to reach out and engage individuals in saving and generating power, if we are to meet energy needs and carbon goals. Copies are currently available priced £10 each.

Written by Robert Taylor, a former Scandinavian correspondent for the FT, ‘Sweden’s new social democratic model’ is published by Compass to demonstrate that it is still possible for the left to manage markets in the name of social good – not just seek to serve the interest of global capital. The pamphlet sets the agenda for the debate about an ‘Anglo-social’ model versus the presumed sclerotic European model. The Scandinavian model points to a genuine third way. The pamphlet contains a wealth of facts and figures about Swedish economic and social out performance and lists the key ingredients of their success. Writing about the pamphlet in The Guardian, Polly Toynbee said: “Robert Taylor's excellent Compass pamphlet - entitled Sweden's new social democratic model - offers proof that a better world is possible, explaining how economic success, pay equality and exceptional public services have all but abolished poverty, with universally high living standards". Limited stocks are available in hard copy for £5 inc. P&P.

Written by Compass Chair Neal Lawson, the pamphlet is based on focus groups of people who voted Labour for the first time in ’97. The research carried out by Opinion Leader Research provides an important insight into what voter’s expectations were of Labour when coming to power, what they think now, their views on democracy and the implications for a possible 3rd term. The findings are rather shocking in terms of the level of cynicism about Labour and politics that now exists. The pamphlet examines the issue of trust, it highlights the fact that Labour was elected on a wave of support for a different kind of politics and argues that if Labour wins a 3rd term, it need to ensure it delivers a new politics if it’s to restore trust in politicians and government. Only available to download in electronic format (HARD COPIES SOLD OUT)

The founding statement of Compass, signed by 20 leading figures on the democratic left. The central claim of statement was that the richness of human potential in today’s society requires both pluralism and egalitarianism to be embraced and combined in radical, distinctive ways by democratic left politics. If each person has equal worth, the limitations on their achievement and contribution must be systematically broken down. This requires public action and investment. But the uniqueness of this potential makes social diversity, openness and freedom equally important. The major implication of this position is that capitalism should be directed in ways that align it with human need, rather than managed as an unstoppable force. Only available to download in electronic format (HARD COPIES SOLD OUT)