Anthony Barnett (London, OK): For the first time I can remember a leading politician holding one of the highest offices of state has cut through the guff and grasped the determining issue for the arguments over identity, community and democratic reform in Britain, without which participation and citizens juries are so much hot air. David Milliband, writing in today's Telegraph, puts it perfectly, "Solidarity is founded on shared values and interests, whether a belief in individual human dignity or a common determination to tackle climate change or promote free trade. But shared interests and shared values are not enough to unite us. They need to be embodied in shared projects and shared institutions... Institutions matter. And outward-looking, open, engaged institutions have life and vitality. That is what we need".
Alas, he was not (yet) talking about Britain. He was not (yet) talking about the need to reform our own institutions, the voting system, the House of Lords, quangoland, speakers conferences and all the closed, twisted arcania of the UK's current institutional cobweb so as to open them up and ensure they are engaged with life and vitality.
He was talking about the EU and the decisive geo-political need to bring in Turkey as a member. He is spot on there as well. But as they say, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for gander. (A point I have been waiting years to make to the Foreign Office.)
When Britain's leaders lecture us on how, if we are to deliver talk about values we must give them institutional form, then one day they will feel the need to look into the mirror. But when?
