The prognosisi on Brown's premiership seems well laid-out here. In the light of which the following would be the truly worthwhile (except for the road pricing one, imho).
However, the main point of the article is to say what a good idea nuke power is and how we need to fast track the planning process. I have to say that part of me agrees, but part of me suspects that not doing anything will really concentrate minds in about 7 years and all of a sudden we'll have domestic power generation solutions being sold to us rapidly and developing very rapidly. The real argument for government planning here is to protect the weak and financially challenged. You can bet pricing and gadget-selling will respond.
The author concludes thus in favour of his preferred policy of nuking our power supply:
Actually, that's always the case: the central problem of democratic politics is just this: that some decisions will always hurt someone. Parents know this. The problem systemically is to allow enough time so that the benefits of good but not-so-pop decisions can become clear and to build in supports for long-term planning that aren't going to be derailed by short-term vote-winning without losing democratic accountability.
PS The first few comments are really good, too
Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | Brown's defining moment
Technorati Tags: Brown, UK, policy, Labour
Brown could take a few quick tricks merely by undoing some of his predecessor's most unpopular policies - Iraq, ID cards, road pricing, though the last seems as deserving of support as nuclear power stations. He may come up with some new answers about pensions and saving. Nothing would play better with swing voters, though not of course with Labour's huge payroll vote, than to reverse Alan Johnson's disgraceful surrender to the public-service unions on early retirement.
However, the main point of the article is to say what a good idea nuke power is and how we need to fast track the planning process. I have to say that part of me agrees, but part of me suspects that not doing anything will really concentrate minds in about 7 years and all of a sudden we'll have domestic power generation solutions being sold to us rapidly and developing very rapidly. The real argument for government planning here is to protect the weak and financially challenged. You can bet pricing and gadget-selling will respond.
The author concludes thus in favour of his preferred policy of nuking our power supply:
I suspect that Gordon Brown will enjoy being prime minister much less than he thinks he will, because the right decisions will also be his most politically thankless ones.
Actually, that's always the case: the central problem of democratic politics is just this: that some decisions will always hurt someone. Parents know this. The problem systemically is to allow enough time so that the benefits of good but not-so-pop decisions can become clear and to build in supports for long-term planning that aren't going to be derailed by short-term vote-winning without losing democratic accountability.
PS The first few comments are really good, too
Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | Brown's defining moment
Technorati Tags: Brown, UK, policy, Labour
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