Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Labour MPs' celebration of the Chancellor's abolition of the 2-child welfare benefit cap in last week's Budget statement completely eclipsed the outstanding need for a comprehensive strategy to address the economic and familial stresses impacting children, adolescents and young adults: so much worse than a few decades ago. We focus on three specifics in this commentary: the continuing denial of Government to deliver Child Trust Fund money to low-income young adults unaware of their money; the punishing burden of the student loan system, and the instability and insecurity caused by a society which has lost its moral compass. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Is it the cacophony of everyday noise or the fact that 'a week is a long time in politics' which is driving long-term thinkers out of the centre ground? You know that the emperor has no clothes today when young people make that challenge. However, the major long-term issues of climate change, intense wealth differentials and geopolitical tensions are global, not just national — and we don't even have a democratic basis of global governance to tackle them. No wonder we can't see the wood for the trees. Background music: 'People Watching' by Sir Cubworth
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Unemployment is not just an economic scourge — it also substantially undermines mental well-being, as Tom Paxton described so vividly in his 1964 song, 'A Job of Work'. Universal Basic Income offers a very inadequate substitute, as voters in Hamburg have shown. Automation is however, an indisposable part of modern life — again, Tom Paxton warned of this sixty years ago. As we commented three weeks ago, the solution is for all to participate in tech giant wealth creation, bringing responsibility through participation in ownership. Background music: 'Taking in The Changes' by Everet Almond
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Universal publicly-funded welfare, including health care and education, has proved a very expensive Marxist experiment in western democracies. Far from resolving the challenge of eliminating poverty and disadvantage, it has loaded a huge debt burden on public finances which Rachel Reeves needs to address in the forthcoming UK Budget. But there is no point in loading still more income and capital taxes on the wealthy: they'll just leave the country in ever greater numbers, and economic growth — and tax revenue — will fall as a result. A much more practical solution is that people who can afford to pay for these services should do so, so that Government can focus financial support where it's most needed. Background music: 'The New Order' by Aaron Kenny
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This commentary takes stock of all things 'Share'. as at Autumn 2025 The Share Foundation has made substantial progress: it's enabled over 100,000 young people to claim nearly £¼ billion of Child Trust Funds, and the relatively modest £200 central government grant for opening Junior ISAs for young people in care is enabling substantial local contributions to be raised, accompanied by significant reductions in welfare benefit costs as a result of reduced NEET rates. Meanwhile, Share Alliance's quest for a more egalitarian form of capitalism is steadily building momentum. This is particularly so with research into the potential issuance of equity shares in return for tech businesses which are harvesting our data and creativity while significantly reducing employment opportunities, particularly for young people. Background music: 'Hopeful Freedom' by Asher Fulero
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
General Data Protection Regulation was introduced in 2016, but it's already past its sell-by date. With 56% of UK web browsers choosing to accept all cookies, there's plenty of data available for harvesting by tech businesses, while that and creativity is throughly exploited by AI. Meanwhile, employment opportunities for young people are steadily reducing, while data protection restrictions are cited by government as one of the reasons for not automatically releasing HMRC-allocated mature Child Trust Funds. We need a new approach, prioritising people. Background music: 'Digital Solitude' by Silent Partner
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(Prince) Andrew is not alone in undergoing a seismic fall from grace which has been amplified by a prolonged absence of remorse and contrition: politicians, senior business people and church leaders have all walked this path. Personal failure is an endemic part of humanity, but we need to accept when things have gone wrong and search for reconcilation. Not easy, but the alternative is escalation resulting in an even heavier fall from grace. Background music: 'Metamorphosis' Quincas Moreira Image source: Wikipedia
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Politicians of all parties seem to think that we can both cut immigration and achieve significantly higher economic growth, notwithstanding the fact that there would be no population growth from which it would come: artificial growth from short-term policies such as public sector 'investment' stimulation is not the answer. After 75 years during which the world's human population has quadrupled, an increasing number of countries are facing this challenge. We now need more focus on GDP per capita, less public spending and debt, and more focus on inter-generational rebalancing. Background music: 'Something Is Wrong' by Sir Cubworth
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Conscience has challenged humanity for millenia: so much so that its entry on Wikipedia includes 22,000 words. However securing that moral yardstick is not easy, whether you are guided by faith or not. Meanwhile, what was personal has become societal, while technology and what appear to be victimless crimes promote amorality. The Christian faith has struggled with understanding the fluid nature of conscience, notwithstanding Jesus's clear illustration of its significance in St. John's Gospel. Will the Church of England's new Archbishop contribute guidance with understanding conscience — and, for that matter, explaining how to love our enemies? Background music: 'Lost In Prayer' by Doug Maxwell
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
We've all benefitted from a blend of guidance, reaction and experience in our journey through life, and most of all in those formative years of childhood and adolescence. However, as David Willetts wrote 15 years ago in 'The Pinch', the link between generations is getting ever more stretched. Experience should not have to bear the full weight of the absence of guidance and reaction as family structures weaken; if that is the case, we will have only ourselves to blame for anti-social breakdown. Background music: 'Everything Has a Beginning' by Joel Cummins
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