Where Now for European Social Democracy? - Policy Network

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DAVID BLUNKETT 77economic trends in mobility and behaviour to create a new kind ofthreat to the fabric of our community life. Left unchecked, the fearthis can create holds people back from co-operation and engenders asense of powerlessness among those who seek to regenerate theirneighbourhoods. It is in those neighbourhoods most affected by crime,those most in need of regeneration, where disillusionment is greatest,where politics is most likely to be rejected. In order to make economicregeneration and social enterprise work, in order to stimulate peopleto have the self-belief to ensure that self-help and self-determinationwork, we have to get the essentials right, we have to ensure thatpeople are safe and feel safe. Otherwise there is a risk that we willleave the field open to extremist political parties. In Britain, this is thefocus of the British National Party, who are already playing on people’sfears and insecurities in leaflet campaigns around the country – andplaying on those fears in a way that will encourage community tensionsand spill over into the language of mainstream right-wing politics andmedia. Across Europe, we need to appraise the scale of the challengeand, whilst showing courage in seeing off the racists, close down theareas of concern which touch the lives of those for whom moralappeals seem like empty rhetoric in the face of their own immediatecircumstance.That is why our government has put security and order at the heartof our progressive agenda, rather than grudgingly accepted itsimportance. We have increased police numbers to record levels andintroduced fundamental reforms to increase police effectiveness. Wehave developed new approaches to tackling street crime and guncrime, to drug treatment and reducing youth offending, and to theoperation of our courts. These are based on effective partnershipsbetween the police, community leaders, education authorities andyouth services, courts, and drug treatment services.The same approach is characterising our drive to tackle anti-socialbehaviour: working with parents to help them bring up children,including parenting contracts for those who do not fulfill theirresponsibilities; working with communities to increase the regulationof public spaces; introducing new and effective penalties for those whocommit petty crime; and new forms of intensive supervision for those
78WHERE NOW FOR EUROPEAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY?who pose a greater risk to the community. A good example of this isthe Community Safety Action Zone established in Bexley, where thelocal authority has actively involved the community in tackling crimeand anti-social behaviour. In the first two years of the scheme, not onlyhave levels of crime fallen (in some categories, like street robbery,by up to 85 per cent) – but also and almost as importantly, fear of crimehas fallen dramatically, making a real difference to people’s lives.When previously only 20 per cent of residents said they felt safe afterdark, that has risen to over 90 per cent. This shows us how freedomultimately comes from a virtuous circle of security, communityconfidence, strong civil society, and democratic government.What type of freedom are we trying to achieve?The challenge of citizenshipThis brings me to my second theme. In addressing the issues of liberty,security and justice, it is essential to consider what sort of freedom weare trying to achieve. My belief is that we need to strive for freedomin its widest form – not just freedom from interference, but freedomfor people to engage in providing solutions for themselves, theirfamilies and their communities. As the Ancient Greeks would have it,the freedom to contribute to the Polis.Quite simply, I am interested in freedom from external interference,physical protection, the protection of civil liberties, but I am alsointerested in the positive freedom to get involved in formal politics,and, importantly, in the development of civil society. These typesof freedom are, of course, complementary. Participation as activecitizens and engagement in the democratic process are crucial to thevery survival of a pluralistic, civilised, and free society.This is as true in the neighbourhood or county, in the region, ornation state, as it is on the international scene. That is why I havesought to build a commitment to civil society from the neighbourhoodupwards. As Education and Employment Secretary I was engaged indeveloping ‘active citizenship’ programmes. We introduced intoschools the opportunity to learn citizenship and democracy, andlinked that to opportunities to volunteer in the community. Across
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Where Now forEuropeanSocial Democra
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Published in 2004 by Policy Network
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AcknowledgementsThis collection of
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Notes on the ContributorsTony Blair
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PrefaceTONY BLAIRI welcome this pub
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What is a just society?For a radica
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