The Society’s wonderfully higgledy-piggledy headquarters at 11 Dartmouth Street also plays host to Left Foot Forward, which has taken the leftie blogosphere by storm. Katwala’s prolific, often nocturnal, musings on his Next Left blog helped boost the Fabians’ own online presence No doubt his output played a part in the Society’s membership hitting its all-time peak of 6,500.
But it was perhaps Ed Miliband who forewarned of the need for yet greater change when he seized the occasion of their winter conference to berate the sons and daughters of Sidney and Beatrice for their overweening interest in statism. The mild rebuke was received politely enough, but whoever next occupies the hotseat at Webb Towers will need to decide how far to adapt the penchant for statism in these decentralising, ‘big society’ times and, if so, take on the old predilections of the burgeoning membership. A Fabian Clause IV moment may loom for the ole statists’ new chief.
Meanwhile, a relative newbie, the three-year-old Institute for Government, recently saw its director Andrew Adonis make the long journey up to Birmingham to address a real oldie, the Lunar Society, whose heritage stretches back to the late 18th century and name derives from its tradition of meeting on full moons. In a flourish of modern credentials, the erstwhile body of brainiacs held its event at the appropriately named Thinktank science museum. Progress political weekend attendees will be familiar with the broad thrust of Adonis’ speech, ranging over the need for high-speed rail, more academies, and more elected mayors. All three would be a tonic to Brum, he argued. The city has lacked in civic leadership over decades and now lags behind rival Manchester, which for years has enjoyed intelligent working across its boroughs. Unsurprisingly, Adonis’ speech irked the Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Birmingham council into trying to prevent Lord A from appearing. In an effort to persuade the Lunarticks, as they are fondly known, Councillor Paul Tilsley uttered what may be his most enduring legacy to the city, the wise words that: ‘I will not allow the council to be used for political purposes’. If that’s what he’s been doing all these years, then perhaps the good lord had a point.
Intrigued by this array of tanks new, old and extant, your correspondent set to wondering which others may be waiting to be rediscovered, and so pootled over to the Bruges Group, whose holy bible is the speech delivered by Margaret Thatcher in said Belgian town (and worth a close reread for its surprising doses of pro-Europeanism and reference to Genghis Khan). Originally a Tory outfit, the Group spread its wings to embrace other parties – not a million miles from the journey Compass has now embarked upon. Not one for modesty, the tank claims it ‘has had a major effect on public opinion’ and ‘spearheads the intellectual battle against the notion of “ever-closer Union” in Europe and, above all, against British involvement in a single European state.’
The contents of its website are cunningly left undated, meaning it’s hard to tell exactly how active the Group has been of late, but its magni opera include Are the British a Servile People? and How Much Does the European Union Cost Britain? A lot, is presumably the answer, so there’s no need to read it. The latter publication was written by an MEP from the UK Independence party. Indeed, many of UKIP’s leading lights cut their teeth in the Group, whose own heritage stretches back to the late 1980s. Whether these modern-day descendants also come out on the full moon is unknown. But it’s all a vivid reminder of the unpredictability of the paths taken by the tanks, politicians and their fellow travellers, with future twists and turns leading to unexpected destinations years, decades or even centuries on.