Richard Olszewski Articles

There’s no shortage of new thinking going on about how to deliver
public services. And as we try to find ways forward after our defeats
in Crewe and Glasgow, there will be even more suggestions for policy
changes. Yet it seems that every time someone proposes new ways of
providing healthcare, education or welfare benefits, the cry goes up
that we’re betraying our principles or engaging in creeping
privatisation.

At long last, we have overcome the squeamishness about nuclear power
that led to the cop-out that was the 2003 energy white paper. Although
the building of new nuclear power stations was not ruled out, serious
discussion of options for the future was effectively silenced.
Thankfully we’ve moved on, if a little late in the day.

If the UK’s future energy needs are to be met on the basis of secure
supply, reduced dependence on imports and a reduction in CO2 emissions,
then nuclear has to be part of the solution. It is not being pushed, as
some environmentalists disingenuously claim, as the only means of
addressing these concerns but as part of a package of measures that all
have their part to play.

It’s stating the obvious that Labour has a real battle on its hands
to ensure that it is reelected, whenever that elusive election comes.
We need to be organised, campaigning and getting our message across.
But we also need to be developing new ideas.

We need to avoid the
comfort zone of thinking that just spending more money on public
services will see us through. If we do this, we will eventually fail
and be outflanked by the Tories. In any case, current economic
constraints are closing off the option of large increases in public
spending. So now, more than ever, we need to be examining how we reform
public services. The point of doing so isn’t simply to save money but
to provide better services for those who need them.