‘The "Attlee Universality" refers to the universal welfare state established by the Labour government led by Clement Attlee in post-war Britain, characterised by universal access to benefits, healthcare, and other social services, aiming for a more egalitarian society.’
Google AI definition of Attlee Universality
The combination of a serious fall in domestic economic growth plus the prospect of huge reductions in world trade as a result of American tariffs will present a major challenge for Rachel Reeves when she presents her Spring Statement on Wednesday. It is not expected to be a long speech but, if she is to give a substantive response to the OBR’s (Office for Budget Responsibility’s) forecast for public finances, it will be necessary to signal a clear shift from the universal provision or publicly-funded services towards targeted support for those most in need.
I'm sure that when Clement Attlee introduced universality in his pursuit of a more egalitarian society, as in the quote from Google AI, he genuinely thought that the concept would work for those most in need.
It has not.
Its failure has not only escalated public debt to horrifying levels, but it has also led to a much worse cycle of deprivation over the past fifty years, with young people confronted by huge challenges for establishing a successful adult life.
It's not that the rich aren't paying enough. The problem is that both they, and the affluent middle, are being given too much in the way of publicly-funded services for free. Furthermore, the culture of a ‘Benefits Society’ has been one of the central causes for so many people being out of work.
In a sense, we are fortunate to have a Labour Government with a significant majority in order to tackle the need for a change in the political mindset about universality.
The Conservatives really struggle with this issue, since so much of their electoral base comprises relatively wealthy old people who, they think, consider it their entitlement to draw down on publicly-funded services such as the NHS and social care. Rather than tackle this issue, it was Rishi Sunak and his colleagues who chose to freeze tax thresholds until 2028 in order to push huge numbers of ordinary working people into higher tax brackets. This is one of the reasons why people feel that higher salaries are failing to deliver relief from economic stress, as This is Money commented on 1st March 2025.
It would be interesting to see how people would vote if they were presented with a direct choice as to whether they would prefer to have to endure these much higher tax rates (also known as stealth taxes), or to be responsible for paying for their use of health, social care and education.
We must not, however, lose sight of Attlee’s wish to see a more egalitarian society. There is an alternative approach based on egalitarian capitalism rather than this failed ‘egalitarian socialism’, and this has been our focus at Share Alliance, The Share Foundation and Share Radio over the past decade. It’s a radically different agenda from anything available in today's politics — not simply looking at a move away from universality, but also aiming to install a long-term approach for inter-generational rebalancing and a refreshingly different way to democratise wealth generated by the tech revolution: ‘Stock for Data’.
If Rachel Reeves and her colleagues explore how these initiatives could help to resolve the public sector's financial straitjacket, they might be pleasantly surprised. Firstly, for inter-generational rebalancing, The Share Foundation is offering to establish a new philanthropic partnership which would enable all young people in the United Kingdom from low-income backgrounds to benefit from financial resources and incentivised life-skills learning in order to help them prepare for adulthood. If the Government is willing to provide the necessary regulation and logistics, thus acting as the catalyst for change, a philanthropic advisory group will be formed to provide the necessary confidence in fund-raising.
Philanthropic partnership with Government is central to moving us forward, and its funders will have no hesitation in working on a targeted basis to help those most in need.
‘Stock for Data’ is a radically different approach to cope with the continual shift from human labour to automation. There's been much focus in the media on the huge numbers of people who are out of work, and there's no doubt that the United Kingdom is one of the laggards in seeing workforce recovery after the pandemic. But the use of automation to replace skilled labour is a continuing feature of business which will not go away; meanwhile the Chancellor's increase in Employers’ National Insurance has done much to accelerate this move.
There is much comment about Universal Basic Income as a potential solution for this, but it would substantially escalate the already serious crisis in public finances. Share Alliance’s research work into ‘Stock for Data’ is at an early stage, but it has to be preferable to find a way for people to participate in tech wealth creation rather than struggling with yet more welfare subservience.
Ours is a very different world from that faced by the post-war Labour Government of Clement Attlee. In the decades running up to the Second World War, the Church had played the major role in providing health and social care services; but in its weakened state, Archbishop Temple welcomed the Government’s resolve for state involvement. Whether he understood the degree to which universality would take precedence over targeting those in real need is difficult to tell but now, with interest on our National Debt now exceeding even the Defence Budget and with the public finances on their knees, it is surely time to turn from egalitarian socialism to egalitarian capitalism.
Gavin Oldham OBE
Share Radio