In a speech to the Charity Commission tomorrow morning, Prime
Minister will set out the Government’s
determination to build a shared society based on the values of
citizenship, responsibility and fairness.
She will put her ambitious programme of social reform at the
heart of this effort and outline a significant change in how the
government will work – stepping up to play an active role in
tackling the ‘everyday injustices’ which has left many in our
society feeling overlooked.
The Prime Minister is expected to say:
“While the obvious injustices receive a lot of attention – with
the language of social justice and social mobility a staple of
most politicians today – the everyday injustices are too often
overlooked. If you’re from an ordinary working class family, life
is much harder than many people in Westminster realise. And at
the same time, all too often in the past people have felt locked
out of the political and social discourse in Britain. If they
voiced their concerns, their views were shut down. Decisions made
in faraway places didn’t always seem to be the right decisions
for them.
“That’s why I believe that - when we consider both the obvious
and the everyday injustices in unison - we see that the central
challenge of our times is to overcome division and bring our
country together. And that starts by building something that I
call the shared society.”
The Prime Minister will talk about the need to strengthen the
ties that bind society together by embracing the responsibilities
individuals have to one another.
She is expected to say:
“The shared society is one that doesn’t just value our individual
rights but focuses rather more on the responsibilities we have to
one another. It’s a society that respects the bonds that we share
as a union of people and nations.
“The bonds of family, community, citizenship, strong
institutions. And it’s a society that recognises the obligations
we have as citizens – obligations that make our society work.”
She will set out her belief that previous governments have
focused too narrowly on the very poorest, and outline a
fundamentally different approach – saying that we need to deliver
real social reform across every layer of society if we are to
build a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged
few. She will say that this approach will aid those who feel
their concerns and struggles have been ignored for too long:
“This means a government rooted not in the laissez-faire
liberalism that leaves people to get by on their own, but rather
in a new philosophy that means government stepping up – not just
in the traditional way of providing a welfare state to support
the most vulnerable, as vital as that will always be. But
actually in going further to help those who have been ignored by
government for too long because they don’t fall into the income
bracket that makes them qualify for welfare support.
“It means making a significant shift in the way that government
works in Britain. Because government and politicians have for
years talked the language of social justice – where we help the
very poorest – and social mobility – where we help the brightest
among the poor. But to deliver the change we need and build that
shared society, we must move beyond this agenda and deliver real
social reform across every layer of society so that those who
feel that the system is stacked against them – those just above
the threshold that attracts the government’s focus today yet
those who are by no means rich or well off – are also given the
help they need.
“Because people who are just managing, just getting by don’t need
a government that will get out of the way, they need a government
that will make the system work for them. An active government
that will work for them and allow them to share in the growing
prosperity of post-Brexit Britain.”
