Our Past, Our Future, Our Aspirations for Equality

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them and that a new dawn has broken, political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not that our society should want to pursue the values and beliefs of sharing equality. We need to pursue the values of equality; the values that help families find jobs at a decent wage, care that can be afforded and a retirement that is dignified.

We should indeed make this a reality. If not, progress will end. Those of you who manage the public's finance will be held to account and to spend these finances wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business with dignity and respect. Only then can we restore the vital trust between people and government.

Now is the question before us whether that equality is a force for good or ill? Its power is to generate co-operation and competition for us as people and communities, but this tension has reminded us that without a watchful eye, people in society can spin out of control and also that society cannot prosper long when it favours only a “them’’ and ‘’ us’’ culture. The success of equality will depend not just on Government, but on all of us in society; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart. Not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

The source of my confidence is the knowledge that Equality calls on us to shape our destiny. It does so with good relationships amongst people within our society.

What do you think?

Does it matter?