Be bold in manifesto, Labour told. Yes. Think BIG.

Think BIG. This BIG.
(photo from Telegraph)

Thinktanks from across Labour and beyond urge party leader to 'shape up' and dare to devolve power to people

Labour is told to consider all these:

Neal Lawson, chairman of the thinktank Compass, said Labour needed to "shape up [and] be bolder and more radical" with its policies, especially by devolving more power to people.

Yes. Devolve more economic power to people. Pay everyone a basic income guarantee (BIG), also known as the unconditional basic income (UBI) or the citizen dividend.

In the letter, published in the Guardian, 19 leading figures from groups including the Fabian Society, Compass, Policy Network and Progress express unease at the prospect of Miliband failing to secure a mandate for the kind of change they believe Britain needs. It has been signed by thinktanks from the party's left and right, as well as other progressives, and was drafted before the publication of weekend polls showing the Tories making ground after George Osborne's budget.

In the letter's authors argue that Britain needs "transformative" change. They say: "If Labour plays the next election safe and hopes to win on the basis of Tory unpopularity, it will not have earned a mandate for such change."

Yes, the voters want transformative change. Forget everything else, we just want our basic income guarantee. 

But it warns that the party "must take into the election a vision of a much more equal and sustainable society and the support of a wider movement if these formidable challenges are to be met".

Yes. A much more equal society is one with a basic income guarantee. It is sustainable based on citizen dividend.  

They say: "National government has a continuing strategic role to play but the days of politicians doing things 'to people' are over. The era of building the capacity and platforms for people to 'do things for themselves, together' is now upon us."

The thinktanks instead suggest state institutions have to "give away power and resources to our nations regions, cities, localities and where possible directly to people".

Yes, the last point is the most important -- directly to people. Give power and resources directly to people. Start a basic income guarantee.

Think BIG. Win BIG.