Where now? A letter to Gordon Brown

A new Prime Minister has been installed in No.10. What challenges lie ahead for Mr Brown and what should the direction of his government be?

I think any present day government, Labour or Conservative, has a duty to preserve and encourage traditional civil values, but also to take a strong leadership role in the issues of the day, such as the environment or affordable housing.

For the last 10 years, New Labour has got the mood right, in so far as it seeks to match strong economic performance, based on free-market capitalism, with a progressive committment to public service investment and reform. I think this is both sensible, and what the majority of people want.

This investment, in our education systems in particular, is to be welcomed, and recognised as an area government can be a force for good in, facilitating and encouraging the British economy for years to come.

Perhaps the areas Mr Brown needs to address, however, are the political hot-potatoes, those difficult modern issues that often seem to divide the liberal and the conservative; we need much more public detabe on Britain's membership of the European Union, immigration policy, and our welfare system.

Europe is important as it determines issues of sovereignity and accountability. We need much more genuine and open discussion on the virtues and vices of the EU, and a considered re-appraisal of British involvement. I can entirely understand the desirability and fundmental need of something like the EU, and it no doubt has been a force for greater unity and conflict prevention. Yet we need to ask whether we need to pursue a policy of 'ever increasing integration' (or words to that effect), whether such a matter is actually desirable, politically and economically speaking, given that some member states are compelled to subsidise protectionist practices (CAP) that run against the spirit of the free-market, and are of no use to the non-protectionsist economies. I would love to hear these issues raised more by our politicians and press.

Never before have we seen so many nationalities on these shores, people from all corners of the globe. Part of the reason for our relatively unique situation is the general historical tolerance Britain has shown these people. I think Britons has benefited, not just economically, but also in becoming more tolerant and kinder towards other cultures and ways of life. New Labour's general ambivalence over immigration has not helped us to clafiy issues and develop strong policies. Our national committment to institutions such as the rule of law, fair play, and value-cohesion dictate that we must have a stronger, more robust system of immigration law, where illegal entries are returned (after fair trials), limits and quotas are set on economic migrants, and citizenship applications require more than nominal qualifications. These all help to ensure social cohestion and balance - to allow those born here to have the first right to work here, and to ensure that the values of the British polity are retained, and that those wishing to stay genuinely respect traditional liberal values.

It has been revealed after 10 years of the New Labour government that Gordon Brown's system of welfare and benefits actually works to the detriment of stable relationships. In a no doubt compassionate move to support single parents, the welfare system has actually developed so to penalise couples for sticking together, entitling two parents to less, in what has to be one of the most obviously regressive policies of the last 10 years. Anyone can see that this, again, must be another area up for discussion. At least the Conservatives are starting to highlight some of these national policical flaws, and I have every faith in the modern Labour Party to be open-minded enough to engage in these difficult questions.

I am not an expert on any of the above, but it seems to me that they are areas left out of public discussions in recent years, possibly because the Tories, not unwisely, are keen to move over onto the Green agenda and attempt to revise their generally uncaring image. If the country is to be stable, prosperous, and self-reliant, we must have serious discussions on the difficult questions. We must not ignore them, or feel that political correctness has written them off the agenda, for we may find unintended consequences in decades to come.