12 November 2004
Britain must become an asset-owning democracy to improve the country's social mobility, Labour's chief election strategist Alan Milburn said this week.
Speaking at an Institute for Public Policy Research conference, Milburn said the past decade had seen a growing interest in the role of assets for extending opportunities in society.
He said: 'Wider asset ownership could open up a new front in the battle for more equal life chances. Giving more people an economic stake in society can be a new weapon in Labour's arsenal, as we seek to tackle poverty and unlock aspiration.'
In his first major speech since his return to the Cabinet, Milburn said: 'Owning assets creates a buffer in times of crisis. People act differently if they own assets. It gives them a real stake in the future.'
Milburn told the conference on November 9 that genuine upward mobility in the workplace would be achieved only if the closed shop mentality was abandoned.
He told delegates: 'We need to build on the success of new adult skills programmes, modern apprenticeships and employers' training pilots. This will ensure that there is as much emphasis in our third term on vocational education and skills training as we put in our first two terms on academic education and schools standards. A world of ever-faster change makes lifelong learning a necessity, not a luxury.'
With Prime Minister Tony Blair due to set out the government's plans for child care on November 11, Milburn said Labour's plans for universal child care 'are as ambitious for our time as the Clem Atlee government's plan for universal education was for his'.
PFnov2004
