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Moral Maze: Culture of Entitlement

Culture of Entitlement

30/11/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Moral Maze, Culture of Entitlement

David Aaronovitch and guests explore the moral implications of the public sector strike.

David Aaronovitch, Claire Fox, Clifford Longley, Anne McElvoy and Matthew Taylor explore the moral implications of the public sector strike.

They're calling it the biggest strike in a generation. Around 2 million public sector workers are expected to walk out on Wednesday, including teachers, health workers and immigration staff. More than 20,000 schools face closure, coastguard services will be restricted, benefits centres shut and emergency plans have been put in place at Heathrow to cope with the cues for passport control. The strike is in protest at plans to make workers contribute an extra 3% towards their pension and raise the retirement age to 67. The strike comes a day after what's being called "Black Tuesday" when the Chancellor George Osborne reveals just how bad our national economic prospects are. Of course no one wants to work longer and pay more towards their pension, but state sector pensions cost £32 billion a year - more than the police, prisons and courts combined. In times of such extreme economic peril and austerity is the duty of all us - not just the bankers - to ask what are we entitled to get from the state? The majority of public sector pensioners are less than £5,000; hardly excessive, but from the perspective of the 65% of workers in the private sector who have no pension at all Wednesday's strike might look like greed. For a long time we assumed that increasing people's sense of entitlement - to benefits, core public services, decent pensions - was a sign of moral progress but should we instead think the reverse? That we need to lower people's sense of entitlement and tackle the culture of dependency not just to make the economy more dynamic and services more affordable, but to strengthen the moral sinews of society? When Europe is looking to China to bail it out perhaps it's time to listen to the words of Jin Liqun, the chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund, who's blamed the Eurozone problems on the accumulated troubles of the worn out welfare society that, in his words, encourages sloth and indolence. 

Witnesses: Andrew Harrop - General Secretary, Fabian Society; Dominic Lawson -Columnist on The Independent - former editor of The Spectator and the Sunday Telegraph; Patrick Nolan -Chief Economist, Reform; Sarah Veale -Head of Equality and Employment Rights Department, TUC.

Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by David Aaronovitch with Claire Fox, Clifford Longley, Anne McElvoy and Matthew Taylor.

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