Share Sounds. from Thought for the Week related to Politics

'Stop the boats' calls the UK Prime Minister, but there's no linking of his short-term strategy to the big global issues which are driving migration: conflict, poverty and climate change. That's why the Archbishop of Canterbury called for a new approach in the House of Lords last Wednesday, seeking to tackle the causes rather than just the symptoms, and calling for a long-term perspective to address these challenges. This episode contains his full speech in parliament. Background music: 'Freedom' by Dan Lebowitz

Democracy is a great blessing, but it has a major Achilles Heel — it is not good at coping with all the long-term issues which are growing in number and importance. Trying to address long- and short-term issues together without specific definition will always handicap the former. That's why Princess Anne focused correctly on this challenge in her interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation — but monarchy can do little more than draw attention to the problem, which needs constitutional and political resolution. We propose a way forward out of this dilemma, suggesting how the United Kingdom can set a course for the democracies of the world to follow. Background music: 'Saving the World' by Aaron Kenny Image source: BBC Research, based on National Archives Federal Reserve Economic Data

As we progress through the pomp and splendour of the Coronation over the next few days, many will be asking themselves ‘what is the relevance of the monarchy in today's world?’. Will King Charles reign forward, spending the majority of his time travelling the world and building one human family in which discord can become a thing of the past? Or will he just rein back here in the United Kingdom, allowing parochial pressures for contraction to eclipse this wider opportunity? Background Music: 'World's Sunrise' by Jimena Contreras; image by Mark Tantrum - https://gg.govt.nz/image-galleries/official-portraits, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia

The big ticket item this week is the House of Commons Privileges Committee, which is holding a televised evidence hearing with Boris Johnson on Wednesday 22nd March. Select Committees do an important job holding Government to account, and the most powerful is the Public Accounts Committee which oversees the delivery efficiency and effectiveness of Government programmes. They're able to draw on objective analysis provided by the National Audit Office whose latest investigation, published last week, is into the huge Child Trust Fund programme. Background music: 'People Watching' by Sir Cubworth

“Give your grace abundantly to our European Union Leaders, that they may lead with wisdom and insight”, prayed Archbishop John Sentamu in early 2019. But it only became possible to knock sense into Brexit negotiations with the EU once Boris, armed with his very direct slogan ‘Get Brexit Done’ and with his impressive parliamentary majority following the December 2019 general election, took the EU bull by the horns. We all knew then it couldn't be the end of the story and, sure enough, we now have the Windsor Framework: but let's give credit where credit's due. Background music: 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' - Cooper Cannell

Putin's two-hour monologue in Moscow last week sought to justify his assault on Ukraine with a raft of dogma, including a presumption of divine male headship — hardly the basis for economic and social justice for all. Elitist theories, whether based on gender, race or nationality, have no place in an egalitarian, peaceful world: it is men, not women, who start wars and fill the prisons. Likewise, Churches should not allow themselves to be drawn into defending masculinity in the nature of God. Background music: 'A Fool's Theme' by Brian Bolger Also: view https://www.shareradio.co.uk/media/8106/love-and-the-individual.pdf

Just as Nicola Sturgeon steps out of Scottish politics and Rishi Sunak struggles with the Brexit Protocol for Northern Ireland, my attention was drawn to some world-leading legislation passed by the Welsh Government in 2015: 'The Well-being of Future Generations Act'. Recognising the degree to which modern society impacts the future so much more than any of the generations which have preceded us, this Act is of constitutional significance — requiring public bodies to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change. No wonder that it is attracting interest from countries across the world, offering a huge opportunity to make a long-lasting, positive change for future generations. Background music: Celtic Impulse by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The earthquake disaster in Turkey shows yet again how little we learn from the past, and the limited attention we give to planning for the future. Constitutional principles could do much to help - but are we making best use of them? Meanwhile insurers tend to refer to natural disasters as 'Acts of God', but such a description doesn't align with with the Christian understanding that the nature of God is love. In March 2020 we recorded 'Love at the Cutting Edge' seeking to provide an answer, and it's included as the second part of this commentary. Background music: 'Elegy' by Wayne Jones; and to accompany 'Love at the Cutting Edge', Gorecki's Symphony No. 3, first movement as performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1995.

The huge take-up of ChatGPT over recent weeks has brought the challenge of Artificial Intelligence into sharp relief. As the Chief Executive of its creator, OpenAI, said in one of his blogs, 'Artificial Intelligence will bring unimaginable wealth but, unless something changes, most of us will get none of it. We need a radical solution'. Conventional wisdom sees Universal Basic Income as the way through this dilemma, but this will only bring us more state intermediation and human subservience. We can put forward a better solution, by enabling all to share in the wealth that technology brings and to play their part in its future governance. Background music: 'Digital Solitude' by Silent Partner

New Year resolutions are in the air, and both Sunak and Starmer set out theirs in speeches on 4th and 5th January respectively. Much of the media reporting was drowned out by Harry's book and associated interviews, and headline objectives such as halving inflation and restoring growth were somewhat 'motherhood and apple pie'. But dig deeper (there are links to the full texts in the webpage commentary) and there are some gems to be found, although they still merit some close scrutiny. However George Bush's 1988 quote seems to encapsulate their performance: 'What's wrong with being a boring kind of guy?' Background music: 'Resolution' by Wayne Jones