Publications

Future Shock, authored by Matthew Sowemimo examines the powerful forces of political opposition that a Labour or Labour led government could face after the next General Election as it grapples with slow growth, the legacy of austerity and tensions over the European Union. The paper warns that Ed Miliband in Downing Street could be overwhelmed by political opposition from both the Left and the Right and go down to a heavy election defeat in 2020 unless it puts in place a strategy now to prepare for power. It goes on to argue that Labour has to foster a powerful social movement to drive through its economic reforms and that Ed Miliband has to win a clear electoral mandate for redistributing wealth to people on low and middle incomes.

This briefing is designed to help activists respond to the Government's systematic attack on our social security system and provide guidance on how to re-frame the debate. While it includes concrete facts and figures, it also suggests ways to change the narrative, tell personal stories and have meaningful conversations about social security.

In this publication we invited Compass members and politicians to identify the issues that they felt the left find it hard to address. This set of essays confront the challenging issues of gender inequality, immigration, equality and empowerment, political apathy, environmental limits and social security.

Plan B + 1 (released a year on from the original Plan B document) maps out the UK's continued economic stagnation, arguing that the Government’s Plan A has failed on its own terms because two and a half years after the Coalition took office, its central self-appointed aim of closing the “structural deficit” is further away than when it first came to power. This is because austerity is leading to stagnation which in turn makes the deficit worse.

The document also systematically debunks reasons given by the Government and its allies for lower than expected growth and spells out why the latest measures, “Plan A Plus” are not enough.

Finally the document outlines what could be done to help the UK emerge from this economic malaise including green capital investment, tax and benefit reform to boost demand, progressive labour market reform, a greater role for industrial democracy and reform of banking and capital markets.

As wages and benefits fall in real terms the political conversation is turning more and more toxic, dominated by talk of scroungers and shirkers. Yet, who, in reality is holding Britain back? In this publication Shuvo Loha uses the data to show that it is the rich, powerful and well connected that are engaged in scrounging, shirking and striking on a massive scale.

SO, THINKING ABOUT SETTING UP A COMPASS GROUP?
Great! This is your chance to help shape the society you want to live in. By organising a Compass group you can become a part of the future of Compass and join in with creating a good society through events, debates, campaigns and feeding in to the future direction of Compass- and much more. People set up local Compass groups for a variety of reasons- but mainly because they want to make a positive contribution to their local area. Compass groups have a life of their own and are directed by the group itself with support from the office.  Compass groups provide the space to work together and build new local alliances to learn from each other and work together to make a Good Society a reality. To support you in setting up a Compass group, the Compass office, members and group organisers have created this simple guide on how to start and maintain a successful Compass group.

In 2009 Jon Cruddas and Andrea Nahles published a short pamphlet, Building the Good Society and with the support of
Compass and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation it has been debated across Europe. Three years later we are in the middle of an extraordinary economic crisis. It is no routine period of bust from which the economies of Europe will automatically return to boom. This is a systemic crisis of a form of capitalism that has broken free of society and democracy. Financialised capital has shaken off any responsibility not just to society but the wider productive economy. Europe is now paying the price in lost output, lost jobs and lost hope. This publication explores how we can emerge from this crisis.

The widespread public anger over the LIBOR scandal is fast shaping a climate where the FTT is becoming an ever more attractive option. This briefing makes the case for the FTT as a progressive tax that the financial sector can easily afford, it also dispels the myths conjured by the City to scare politicians a from pursuing this practical and popular measure. Now that leading financiers are starting to break ranks and endorse the FTT, surely it is time for the Labour Party to do the same.

Plan B for Youth is edited by Lisa Nandy MP and authored by young people. It begins by contextualising the political
and environmental crises facing youth today, a situation we argue is damaging both for young people and wider society.
We then move on to identify specific issues and policy recommendations in areas including employment, skills and education, women and housing. Finally, we look at examples of best practice from abroad. When reading this report it should be kept in mind that it is our contention that the economic, political and environmental crises facing young people are interlinked.

New Labour told us that 'this is a Conservative country'. It meant we could only win and govern from the centre-right. Such a view is hard to square against in this analysis by Jon Trickett in Compass' latest publication 'The Conservative Dilemma'. Jon dissects  the Tory voting block and not only finds it shrunken, but divided between the 'true blue Tories' and the swing voters therefore providing a space for Labour to be braver and bolder .

Our second installment in the 'Plan B' series tries to distill what it is that has made the German economic model so successful and what Britain can learn from it. It argues that the two vital factors that have enabled the Germany economic model two flourish are firstly, the German state knows that it inevitably has a vital role in determining the economic future of the country and does not shy away from this. Secondly, Germany has institutions and institutional arrangements which can embed and control capital to ensure it is harnessed to work in the interests of society. It briefly examines five key areas: local banking, employee empowerment, working hours, employee protection and industrial policy that are emblematic of this approach.

The following report outlines the main work and progress of Compass from March 2010 through to early October 2011. For legal requirements we’re required to file an annual report for the financial yearwhich runs from March-March, for the benefit of members we’ve included an update to October 2011 when this report was written.

Plan B is our vision of an alternative political economy. It includes short term emergency measures like reversing public spending cuts to get the economy moving again, directing quantitative easing to a Green New Deal and creating a British Investment Bank to leverage investment in low carbon sectors such as housing, transport and renewable energy.

Plan B is also about laying the economic foundations for the good society. It has an emphasis on the ‘core economy’ of families and outlines policies for a rebalancing of time spent working and ‘living’. It also argues that we should be moving beyond viewing ‘GDP’ as the sole measure of economic success.

This publication starts with the fundamental question, what is education for? It tries to answer that question with a values based approach to education underpinned by the belief that everyone can be educated and that those who have least should get more resources and focus. It also recognises the importance of educating for togetherness not for social separation; and the need for a broad, creative curriculum that develops knowledge and skill, and nurtures innovation.

Our new report, jointly produced with Birmingham based think tank, the Human City Institute is based on 250 interviews with tenants on a social housing estate in the Midlands. The research combined with existing literature shines a light on the growing personal debt crisis and questions the government's economic strategy of increasing levels of private debt as a means to reduce the public deficit. The report also highlights the huge and growing problem of reliance on high cost credit. Short and long term policy recommendations are put forward to help avoid this emerging crisis.

The articles in the book discuss questions raised by the proposition that reds and greens should co-operate, as part of a new pluralistic politics. Some of the articles tackle difficult questions such as economic growth, the influence of consumerism on the labour movement, and the limitations of anti-cuts campaigns. Others explore possible common ground, around ideas about equality, values, and international trade. There are also articles providing a feminist angle on red-green dialogue, and an account of the experience of red-green co-operation and coalitions in other countries, such as Germany.

Three years on from the full outbreak of the banking crisis, a unique range of leading figures from academia, finance, politics, the law, consumer and civil society groups gathered at the Good Banking Summit to try to answer the question, 'What would a good banking system look like?' This report is based on these discussions.

This publication analyses how we reached where we are and how to break out of the impasse. It outlines a compelling vision where each individual can aspire to fulfil their potential. Our thinking is informed by the marriage of the ideals of liberty, equality and solidarity but fused with a 21st-century concern for the environment and the legacy we leave to future generations.

Drawing on the experiences from the highly successful End Legal Loan Sharking campaign in Norwich, Compass activist Matthew Fulton produced this toolkit. It contains everything you need to launch your own local campaign.

This document argues that the old levers of the state don’t work anything like they once did. Power, by which we mean the ability to change the world – not just to be in office, cannot be won on the basis of 40% of the vote – but has to be negotiated again and again in civil society, the media and the economy.

This is a world that chimes with AV. The good society will be built through negotiations and alliance building, as difficult as it is the alternative vote offers the chance to make change happen.

'A realignment of the mind’is based upon a sell out lecture delivered by Professor David Marquand on the 10 February 2011.

Professor Marquand argues that the contemporary crisis of capitalism is so profound that we have to draw upon all ideological currents and political traditions if we are to forge a new political settlement. He ends by calling for the formation of a new progressive movement to help bring about the fundamental change now required.

The publication also contains positive responses from the leader of the Labour Party, Rt. Hon Ed Miliband, leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas MP, Dr Evan Harris and Professor Francesca Klug of the LSE.

This publication argues that the banking sector remains too big, too free and too risky and the government has yet to undertake the necessary reforms to ensure we avoid another Banking collapse. It advocates a string of policies alongside the central necessary reform which is a separation of the retail and investment functions of the banks.

The days in which people across the political spectrum within Labour explored the possibility of an alliance with the Liberal Democrats seem far away. However the wider political and electoral context makes it is essential for Labour to build broad social and electoral alliances in order for us to realise our objectives. This publication argues that the Labour Party must learn and prepare for the next hung parliament.

This mini tool-kit contains a draft letter, draft motion and draft press releases to use to lobby local councils. This should empower activists to take the End Legal Loan Sharking campaign to a local level. All local campaigners and councillors should feel free to adapt the text and motion for their own local circumstances and experiences.

This report outlines the main work and progress of Compass from March 2009 through to early October 2010. For legal requirements we are required to file an annual report for the financial year, which runs from March to March. For the benefit of members we have included an update to October this year when this report was written.

On the eve of an historic Labour Party conference we are delighted to publish today a 10 point charter for party renewal that we believe if implemented could represent a new covenant between the party leadership and the wider membership and rebuild the basis for mutual respect and greater trust.

This report argues that this government's cuts agenda is running a £100 billion bet on growing while they cuts the state which is based on "no reputable economic theory". Chancellor George Osborne argues that the state is the problem, that we must deal with the deficit immediately, that if the state is cut back the private sector will flourish and that cuts can be progressive. The report contests each of these with economic facts and provides an alternative model.

In Socialism is Democracy Neal Lawson argues that any renewal of Labour as a party of real power must be predicated on the alignment of socialism and democracy. Socialism, which all five leadership candidates have confessed an adherence to, can only be the collective capacity to change our world.

This pamphlet, written by Richard Grayson, looks at the history of the Liberal Democrats and discusses honestly what this means both for the Lib-Dems and for wider progressive left politics. A shortened version appeared in the New Statesman.

New Politics: Tactical Voting and how the left should deal with the governing coalition looks at the role tactical voting played in the outcome of the 2010 general election. The document also reaffirms the importance of a centre left pluralist political strategy to defeat the newly aligned centre-right governing coalition.

This pamphlet returns to the examination of Cameron's Conservative Party. It aims to analyse further the contradictions of ‘Compassionate Conservatism' that were noticeable from the beginning, and to explain why the progressive elements of this tentative movement are being sidelined. It tells the story of a Conservative Party that flirted with a progressive vision but was ultimately unable to shake off its neo-liberal economic orthodoxy and its antipathy to the state. At the crucial moment of flux, during the biggest economic crisis of a generation, it sadly turned back to a more orthodox neo-liberal political economy.

This short and accessible manifesto outlines policies on which Labour could win a fourth term with a greater purpose.

These twelve policy ideas would help change the terms of debate in British politics. Furthermore, polling shows are supported by the majority of the British people.

The Future of Social Democracy is written by Dr Jon Cruddas MP and published in association with Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Labour Party. The publication is based on two lectures Jon delivered in September 2009. A viable political alternative to market capitalism will require creative open thinking, new kinds of alliances and inventive forms of political organisation. Jon's lectures invite us to look once again at Labour's traditions and to collectively debate how we might renew and develop them.

Published on the same day that state-owned bank RBS reports large losses coupled with plans for excessive bonuses, this paper is written at the same time as the economic benefits of an overly dominant financial system are being questioned. In the paper we demand six policy proposals; if introduced in the right way they would significantly transfer risk from the state and taxpayers back on to the financial institutions. These policies would give greater taxpayer value, help tackle egregiously high pay and re-balance the economy away from the over-dominance of the financial services.

This report on the effect of advertising is being published to spark a long overdue debate about an industry that in recent years has changed dramatically, and ask whether regulation needs to catch up.  This report was produced with the support of the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation.

This publication looks beyond Copenhagen in addressing the global environment crisis. With 13% of nations producing 40% of all carbon emissions, the deals proposed by the US and Europe do not go far enough. Although change must be activated collectively, this report calls for essential moves from government, including investment in renewable energy, and for fiscal stimulus for carbon trading.

This latest Compass report puts forward a comprehensive analysis of the UK Tax system and offers a straight forward set of proposals which would start to make it fairer. The report entitled In Place of Cuts: Tax reform to build a fairer society was written by George Irvin, Dave Byrne, Richard Murphy, Howard Reed and Sally Ruane. We would like to thank UNISON for their support on this project.

This campaign toolkit is specifically designed to empower activists to lobby local councils to ensure they play their part in tackling excessive pay. The toolkit asks that councils set the moral lead by making sure council procurement contracts do not exacerbate pay inequalitites in our society. It contains a model letter, motion and model press releases.

The following report outlines the main work and progress of Compass from March 2008 through to early September 2009. For legal requirements we're required to file an annual report for the financial yearwhich runs fromMarch-March, for the benefit of members we've included an update to September 2009 when this report was written.

Published on the first day of Labour conference 2009, this report argues that the current Labour Government could well be the very last and argues only a referendum on the electoral system can save Labour now. The report further reveals what could be the worse Conservative Government in living memory.

Published a year on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers this publication argues very little has been learned. The system of compensation that helped cause the crisis has not gone away and rescuing the financial system without real reform has not protected us from a future crisis. This publication outlines the arguments for a High Pay Commission to instigate a public investigation into the effects of excessive pay on our economy and society.

New report by Rebecca Hickman, entitled "In pursuit of egalitarianism: and why social mobility cannot get us there" offers a compelling vision of the good society and a strong critique of the incoherent concept of "social mobility". A riposte to Alan Milburn's recent work on social mobility and to New Labour's continuing confusion of aspiration with acquisition, the report highlights how large inequalities harm us all and corrode the social fabric.

This report discusses the current state of the pharmaceutical industry - particularly in relation to the UK. It draws on a large body of evidence to highlight the key issues in the pharmaceutical industry - looking specifically at rates of innovation, clinical trials, and its relationship with the medical profession. It goes on to call for an improved regulatory structure to ensure that the industry delivers the drugs we need at prices which we can afford.

This latest Compass publication written by Toby Lloyd and published with the kind support of UNISON's General Political Fund, the TUC and Shelter is an essential overview of the current state of housing in the UK. As well as presenting a clear and comprehensive picture of how and why the housing system has failed us, the report provides an easily approachable discussion of the measures needed to get out of this mess and create an equitable, sustainable housing system that delivers the quality homes we all need at fair prices.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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)

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.

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 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.