Latest Edition Summer 2008
The Security Issue

For each edition we publish the Editor and Chair's columns online along with two articles hand picked by the Editor.

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If you would like to contribute to Anticipations click here. 

This edition's selected articles:

INTERVIEW: LIAM BYRNE This interview is also available as a Podcast
        Liam Byrne MP, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, took time out to speak to Alex Baker.

NATIONAL SECURITY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
The security threat has changed argues Charlie Edwards

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR, Alex Baker

Welcome to this, the Summer 2008 edition of Anticipations - the journal of the Young Fabians.

This edition we are looking at the issue of security - an issue which has gained recent prominence due to the House of Commons vote on pre-charge detention, and the spate of recent stabbings on the streets of London.

Security is as tangible as nation-state military defence, or as abstract as the confidence to walk down your street at night. And our contributions this edition mirror the many ways in which one could interpret the theme.

Our guest contributors in this edition are Peter Luff, Chair of the European Movement, and Charlie Edwards, Head of the Security programme at Demos. They write about the impact of the Irish ‘no’ vote in their recent referendum on European security, and the need for a new model of national security in the twenty-first century, respectively.

As is customary, I’d like to thank the guest contributors for their articles, especially given one of the others who was lined up to contribute - Liberty director Shami Chakrabati - was too busy rowing with Andy Burnham in order to share her thoughts on 42-days pre-charge detention. (Somehow, I imagine most of our more clued-up readers were probably already familiar with Shami’s line of argument).

We also managed to squeeze in an interview with the ever-busy Liam Byrne MP, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration at the Home Officer and HM Treasury, as well as Minister for the West Midlands and consituency MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill. He spoke to us about his work on the immigration brief, as well as his memories of being a founder-Editor of this very journal (proof, if proof be needed, that editing Anticipations is not a career-ending task).

Our interview with Liam is also the first of (hopefully) a very long series of podcasts. You can listen to the interview now by clicking here.

In fact, the website will be expanding its available content over the months to come, but already boasts features such as: an events map and calendar, a photo gallery, and a great deal more detail on Young Fabians events (as well as mug shots of your executive committee).

Our next edition will be the last from the current executive committee before you elect a new team in the autumn. The issue will be launched in advance of the 2008 Labour party conference. Because it will be a conference-special edition, our theme is about looking to the future of the Labour party and asking: “From values to victory - what sort of party does Labour need to be in order to win the next election?”

The issue, along with featuring contributions from Young Fabian members, will highlight the outcome of the work our policy commissions have been doing over the last year, in addition to the sessions we held with Ed Miliband MP, who will be instrumental in writing the manifesto for the next election.

If you would like to contribute to the next issue, then please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with your idea.

We are seeking a broad range of contributions, from those discussing the sort of narrative the party should adopt, to articles on electoral strategy or the issues on which it should campaign.

The deadline for submissions will be August 22nd in order to ensure we can deliver the journal to you before conference. You can find more guidance on contributing to Anticipations on the Anticipations pages at our website.

Of course, there is a danger in requesting articles over the summer - it is highly likely that, like most normal people, you will all be off on your summer holidays.

Still, writing an article for Anticipations is the perfect antidote those long stretches in Terminal 5 waiting for your flight to be cancelled. Or your luggage to turn up. Or both, assuming you’re really unlucky.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you to write for us, then you may be interested to know that Anticipations will be distributed to a wider audience at conference than is usual; so even more people can read your insights into the future of the Labour party.

Finally, we are looking to appoint a few official Young Fabian event photographers who can help us catalogue our speaker events, as well as take portrait shots of our interviewees for Anticipations.

So I would be interested to hear from you if you are a budding amateur photographer who fancies being an official Young Fabian event photographer.

If this sounds like you then drop me a line.

Have a great - and secure - summer.

A WORD FROM THE CHAIR, Mark Rusling 

Hello and welcome to the Summer issue of Anticipations, looking at security issues. I hope you have been able to attend one of our recent events – it has been a busy few months for the Young Fabians.

We have held seminars on the US election, on careers in politics and on the situation in Darfur. We have visited the Cabinet War Rooms and held a discussion with representatives of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences at the Chinese Embassy.

Also, just to prove that it’s not all work and no play, we held our new members’ reception, organised a joint social event with the Labour Staff Network and took to the river for our annual boat party. Thanks go to Bell Pottinger Public Affiars and FD-LLM for sponsoring those events.

In April we unveiled our new website – do take a moment to have a look at www.youngfabians.org.uk. Our Website Officer, Sam Strudwick, has done a great job in revamping our online presence, which we hope to use to engage more usefully with members, particularly those living outside London.

Our Schools Project is also progressing very well – James Green has written to every school in London to invite them to take part in Dawn Butler’s national youth consultation. Around 20 MPs have signed up to help the project, which aims to make politics more accessible and relevant to students.

July will see the Young Fabians in Birmingham for our summer school, hosted by Birmingham Hodge Hill MP and former Anticipations editor, Liam Byrne, and organised by Rebecca Rennison. We will be looking into Labour values and how these are relevant for the future. Also, now that the US Democratic primary is finally settled, don’t forget to sign up for the trip to visit Team Obama and to learn some useful lessons for our own battles over the next couple of years – email Adrian Prandle.  

Perhaps our most important work this year has surrounded the Labour manifesto process. Coordinated by David Chaplin, we have held meetings with MPs on international security, Europe, constitutional reform, children, alcohol and drugs and local government. Our two meetings with Ed Miliband MP have covered all aspects of the manifesto and have allowed members to highlight the areas of policy which they feel need to be covered in order to regain public support. We will be summarising the proposals from these meetings and presenting a paper to Ed in July. Ed thanked the Young Fabians for giving him the opportunity to hear these ideas and has asked to continue the dialogue in the future.

The tone of the manifesto will be extremely important – it must be marked by optimism and plans for the future, but remain grounded by a sense of the possible. Labour cannot allow itself to be painted as the ‘nasty’ party on issues such as immigration, detention of terrorist subjects and criminal justice. Voters rarely reward parties which try to scare them into the ballot box – just ask Michael Howard. Were you thinking what he was thinking? Thankfully not.

We must show that we understand voters’ legitimate concerns but that we are not a defeatist or negative party, and that we have solutions to these problems. We must also be more proactive in pointing out the inconsistencies in Conservative policy, where it exists at all. Why did David Cameron not pledge to repeal the government’s 42-day legislation until after David Davis’s resignation? Would a Cameron administration be a tax-lowering government? If so, why will they be sticking to Labour spending plans for two years?

And, of relevance to this issue of Anticipations, how would British security be served by a Tory Party which advocates a small state, is ambivalent about international institutions and cooperation and is downright hostile to European engagement?
A positive and forward-looking Labour strategy must be complemented by greater scrutiny of the Conservatives, starting with the new mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Labour must be ruthless in pointing out the shortcomings of his policies and reminding the public that this is a dry run for a Conservative government. The Young Fabians have played a role in developing a manifesto which will hopefully achieve this balance. If you would like to see a copy of our submission to Ed Miliband, please email me.

Finally, I would like to advertise the Gareth Butler History Trust, set up in memory of Gareth, who tragically died in February. Gareth was the husband of former Young Fabian Chair, Jessica Asato, and his Trust will fund lower income students to go on school history trips. For more information, or to donate, visit the Trust’s website at www.garethshistorytrust.blogspot.com, or join the related facebook group.

Have a great summer and, in the words of Bon Jovi, keep the faith! 

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