New thinking for a new Britain

Newsnight's Paul Mason painted a compelling picture of what's wrong and what needs to change. In his two programmes, he asks what's wrong, and what the answers are for a new Britain.

"To me, it seems that we are lacking a vision of where to go next...I'm travelling west to Wales in search of answers...beyond this last outpost of [Port Talbot's] heavy industry, you begin to get a sense of what a post-indsutrial era might involve. I've come to West Wales to meet a group of business people with a radical new idea of how to do things"

A summary of Paul Mason's two programmes is here on his blog; Monday's programme is on itunes here, and Tuesday's here.

My thoughts?

1. The answers are already out there
2. We need to start asking better questions about what's wrong
3. A step change in collaboration between organisations and sectors will be key
4. Community and localised responses are essential
5. It's time to start building the plan to make this happen

As a good friend, Patsy Gannon wrote: "what was most telling was the stark contrast between you guys and the overweight lardy politicians bickering,talking over each other and scoring points. If ever there was an illustration that something needs to change, this was it"