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# Progressive future is beyond Parliament
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/progressive-future-is-beyond-parliament/
- Published: 2008-12-02T19:12:05.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:42:23.000Z
- Author: Tom Griffin
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:49

**Tom Griffin (London,** [**OK**](https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom)**)**: Last night saw the last in the [Comment is free](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree?ref=opendemocracy.net)/[Soundings](http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/soundings/contents.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) [series of debates](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/series/whoownstheprogressivefuture?ref=opendemocracy.net) on Who Owns the Progressive Future? Guy Aitchison [sums up](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/02/1?ref=opendemocracy.net) over at CIF:

*Debates like this rarely provide definitive answers. At best they can throw up new possibilities and explore alternatives. One lesson I took from them is that if there is any hope for the future it is not to be found in parliament but in the countervailing forces to what has been called the "*[*neoliberal state*](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/email/britain-s-neo-liberal-state)*" – a theme explored by conservative theologian Philip Blond in the* [*first debate*](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/07/conservatives.economics?ref=opendemocracy.net) *and echoed by Jeremy Gilbert in the* [*second*](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/04/labour-recession?ref=opendemocracy.net)*, this time from a radical perspective.*