Progress annual conference 2008

The progressive challenge: where next for New Labour?
29 November 2008
10:00 to 17:45

A packed Conference Hall listens to Peter Mandelson

Peter Mandelson

Stella Creasy and Peter Kellner listen to Hazel Blears

Keynote speakers:

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister

Rt Hon James Purnell MP, Secretary of State for Work & Pensions

Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change

with a special appearance by Rt Hon Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform

Full agenda

09:00
Registration and refreshments

SESSION ONE
10:00
Open & welcome

10:05
Morning keynote address
• Rt Hon James Purnell MP, Secretary of State for Work & Pensions
• Chaired by Stephen Twigg, Chair, Progress


SESSION TWO
11:15
Policy seminars

1) Public services: how do we put citizens in control?
• Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office
• Nita Clarke, Director, IPA
• Robert Hill, Consultant, and former No 10 policy adviser
• Rt Hon Alan Milburn MP, former Secretary of State for Health, and Chair, Progress Policy Group on Public Service Reform
• David Walker, Editor, Guardian Public (chair)

2) Welfare reform: a route to greater social justice?
• David Coats, Associate Director, Policy, The Work Foundation; and Member, Progress Policy Group on Welfare Reform
• Kate Green, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group
• Rt Hon Tony McNulty MP, Minister of State, Department for Work & Pensions
• James Plaskitt MP, Chair, Progress Policy Group on Welfare Reform
• Carey Oppenheim, Co-Director, ippr (chair)

3) Foreign policy: can Britain promote democracy and human rights abroad?
• Karen Pollock, Co-Chair, Progress Policy Group on Progressive Internationalism
• Rt Hon Caroline Flint MP, Minister of State for Europe
• Rt Hon Peter Hain MP
• Roger Liddle, Vice Chair, Policy Network
• Tom Porteous, London Director, Human Rights Watch
• Stephen Twigg, Chair, Progress (chair)

4) Crime & justice: how do we empower our communities?
• Will Higham, member of Vauxhall CLP, formerly of the Prison Reform Trust
•Cllr Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Council, Chair, Progress Policy Group on Crime & Justice
• Lucie Russell, Director, SmartJustice
• Fran Sainsbury, former civil servant, creator of the Prison Learning Network
• Emily Thornberry MP (chair)

5) Immigration: how do we change the terms of the debate?
• Meg Hillier MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Identity
• Philippe Legrain, Visiting Fellow, LSE
• Fiona Mactaggart MP
• Claude Moraes MEP, Chair, Progress Policy Group on Immigration
• Trevor Phillips, Chair, Equality & Human Rights Commission
• Rokhsana Fiaz, Director, Change Institute (chair)

12:30
Lunch - a sandwich lunch will be provided for all pre-booked delegates

13:00
Martin Kettle in conversation with Rt Hon Lord Mandelson

SESSION THREE
13:45
Afternoon keynote address
• Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change
• Chaired by Lorna Fitzsimons, Patron of Progress


SESSION FOUR
14:45
Political seminars

1) The road to number 10: how might Cameron win?
• Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government
• Peter Kellner, President, YouGov
• Steven King, Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange
• Tim Montgomerie, Editor, ConservativeHome
• Stella Creasy, PPC for Walthamstow (chair)

2) The new electoral landscape: how will the next election will be won or lost?
• Lewis Baston, Director of Research, Electoral Reform Society
• Bobby Duffy, Deputy Managing Director, Public Affairs, Ipsos MORI
• Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Minister of State for the Olympics
• Martin Kettle, The Guardian
• Pat McFadden MP, Minister of State for Employment Relations & Postal Policy
• Chris Leslie, Vice Chair, Progress (chair)

3) Obama vs McCain: the lessons for the left
• Bill Barnard, Chair, Democrats Abroad UK
• Richard Helgason, former Chair, New York Democratic Leadership Council
• Rt Hon David Lammy MP, Minister of State, Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills
• Catherine Mayer, Time Magazine
• Dr Niall Palmer, Brunel University
• Howard Dawber, PPC for Bexleyheath & Crayford (chair)

4) None of the above: who’s to blame for political apathy?
• Chris Bryant MP, Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
• Derek Draper, commentator and former adviser to Rt Hon Peter Mandelson
• Simon Fanshawe, writer and broadcaster
• Rt Hon Denis MacShane MP
• Dr Rupa Huq, Kingston University (chair)



SESSION FIVE
16:30
Closing plenary session

The end of ideology: what's the left for?
• Brendan Barber, General Secretary, TUC
• Martin Bright, New Statesman
• Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government
• Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP
• Dr Tristram Hunt, University of London
• Steve Richards, The Independent (chair)

Comments

Posted by Owais Rajput on 29 November 2008, 11:40:12 AM

Black Asian Ethnic Minorities & Disadvantage groups Undergraduates & Postgraduates and Age 16-17 to age 18-24 our British Youths. UK higher educational institutes producing every year thousands of Britain’s Black Ethnic Minority & disadvantage group’s undergraduates and post-graduates. So far no such a plan seriously exists for jobs for BAME & disadvantage community in UK. Majority of BAME or disadvantage groups of UK end up after their graduation with Taxi driver or working in a restaurant or takeaway jobs. Government have no plan for jobs for those BAME & disadvantage groups undergraduates or post-graduates even no training or hands on experience according to their qualifications but organised criminals of UK do have recruiting plans for those BAME under-graduates and postgraduates and those organised criminals makes them futures gang leaders, suicide bombers and put them in much more criminal activities. UK Government have no serious plan for BAME under-graduates or post-graduates to provide them at least £: 25000.00 to £: 30000.00 per annum job, but organised criminals have plans of from £: 50000.00 to £: 150000.00 per annum work for those BAME graduates for first year of joining. Drugs, Teenage Sex, Identity Fraud, Money Laundering and other organised serious crimes and they all directly and indirectly affects our kids and families in UK as well as our country, our economy, health and our future growth prospects. Organised criminals targets our youths age 16-17 and then age 18 -24, which is also concern able issue and needs our attention on priority bases. Owais Rajput Progress University of Bradford Coordinator Partnership in Power Bradford West CLP MA International Politics & Security Studies (Special interests in National Security, International Terrorism & Global Security issues)

"UK PRE-BUDGET PLANS OUGHT TO HAVE CONSIDERED THE COUNTRY'S FUTURE POSITION & ROLE IN THE WORLD, AND HOW THE BBC CAN CONTRIBUTE!!" Whether budget & tax cuts or budget & tax increases- or a variation of these, the pre-budget spending report ought to have been oriented around explicitly understood objectives (& an articulated 'plan') for the United Kingdom's long term 'role in the world'. The invaluable BBC and its possible future purposes/levels & types of services fit into this formula... The UK govt buying UK domestic peace with drastic tax cuts & borrowed-money spending increases is a false equation: without an accompanying explicit national-economic-strategy- that deliniates tangible development objectives- it can only temporarily purchase time. The fundamentals of the UK's economy & industry need to be maintained & improved... Considering that London (& the City) is the defacto world capital of international finance & related industries, the UK govt & business leaders ought to be taking steps to ensure the country retains this position. One could be the establishment of a UK-based 24-hour business TV channel broadcasting from London & perhaps with satellite studios in other major world financial centre's such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, New York, Chicago, etc. What constructive sense is there in letting the USA continue to monopolize this important component of the world's economic system?? The BBC with its "BBC World News" 24-hour TV channel (available in most world regions) does do some very excellent business reporting- periodically- throughout the day. But this channel doesn't broadcast enough business-related news/programmes to compete with US-based companies' that offer 24-hour business-news/programmes channels. US-based companies like Bloomberg, CNBC, MSNBC (and others) with their 24-hour TV business channels ought to be challenged with a UK variant. In addition to (indirectly but) significantly advancing UK business interests, this could only benefit the world financial system generally. The effort and possible risks inherent in the creation of, say, a "'Financial Times' 24-hour business TV channel" would be substantially outweighed by the potential benefits accruing from the facilitation of such a project... Any public financing used to set up a UK-based 24-hour world business channel could be committed to be payed back after a set period of time. Stakes in a 24-hour UK-based world-business channel that the UK govt obtained on start-up could be relinquished after a few years once the channel was on its feet... The BBC with its demonstrated extensive business-issue reporting expertise & its first-rate production facilities could, perhaps, be brought in as a temporary partner with the Financial Times while a 24-hour Financial Times world-business TV channel was established & brought to profitability... The potential constructive uses and roles that the BBC can- albeit indirectly- carry out for the UK in its future roles in the world can not be overstated... The UK needs to continue 'looking outward' towards the world as it always has done throughout history... There is no denying that the BBC committing a major incursion into the UK's local-news media markets would have been folly and counterproductive from all perspectives... (as was recently proposed). The BBC- like the UK in business-issues & generally- can be most effective and successful if it continues to structure its objectives with the 'wider world & its issues' as a first priority... Without a pervasively avaialable-world-wide BBC- in TV, Radio, Internet & similar services- how can the United Kingdom retain its 'broad constructive visibility' on the world stage?? Roderick V. Louis, Vancouver, Canada, rlouis@patientempowermentsociety.com