South West Surrey Compass

South West Surrey Compass met on Saturday morning, November 5th, for a discussion centred on the work of the Housing Research and Action Group.  The Coordinator of this group, Stewart Edge, gave a comprehensive presentation on the work so far.  This is available in powerpoint format here.

An historic milestone for politics in Surrey on the evening of Wednesday 5th October, as over 200 people gathered to debate "Where now for progressive politics?".
There were excellent contributions from Caroline Lucas (Green Party), Howard Kaye (Labour Party), Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats) and Sue Goss (Compass Associate and author of "Open Tribe"). A brief, but really good debate from the floor and a lot of positive comments from members of the audience as they left, determined to continue the fight for the progressive left in the Tory heartlands.

South West Surrey Compass met on Saturday morning, 4th June, and discussed what many of those present were describing as the "democratic deficit", after a contribution from Neal Lawson, national Chair of Compass, where he described our present democratic structures as unsuited to the political landscape of the 21st century. Neal noted that, in 1951, the two main parties between them secured 97% of the vote; that was no longer the case and there is therefore no persuasive argument for the old 'first past the post' voting system, designed for when British politics was seen as a straight contest between Labour and Conservatives. He called for a progressive alliance for 2020, and a new kind of politics. Prior to the meeting, Neal was interviewed on Radio Woking. You can hear the interview in the last hour of the 'View From Here' from Sunday May 29th which can be accessed at https://www.mixcloud.com/radiowoking/the-view-from-here-with-sharon-29th-may-2016/

 South West Surrey Compass held its fourth meeting on Saturday 12th March. The main focus was on housing with one of our Research and Action Groups,  the Housing R&A Group, presenting information on impact of the Housing Bill and on planning issues.  The next full meeting is on 4th June - make a note in  your diary!

 Members of Surrey Compass attended the national Compass Annual Gathering in London and participated in engaging conversations and  activities.  Guest speakers included Zoe Williams from the Guardian and John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor.

South West Surrey Compass supporters on the anti-Trident March in London.

Despite filling Trafalgar Square on a cold February Saturday, with brilliant, heartfelt speeches from Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood, Caroline Lucas and Jeremy Corbyn, this event appeared not to merit a mention on the 10 o' clock news!

This shows how much we need to be championing the progressive cause on the ground and on-line!

“Competition and Chaos” was how David Adleman, Principal of Godalming College described the landscape in further education in the light of recent government policies. He described the impact of unfettered choice and the opening of free schools and academies with new sixth forms as “destabilising”, particularly when there are outstanding providers of post-16 education such as Godalming College able to meet the needs of students.

Speaking at the most recent meeting of our Surrey Compass Group on 5th December 2015, he condemned previous cuts in further education funding, which amount to a 30% cut in real terms since the Tory-led coalition government came into office in 2010. However, he welcomed the government’s recent decision not to implement the planned additional cuts to the further education budget. David criticised the government’s curriculum reform. “By focusing on so-called ‘facilitating subjects', the government was undervaluing subjects such as music, art, drama and dance”, he said. By moving towards A levels based on terminal examinations rather than modular courses, and moving back to students typically taking three rather than four subjects, the government was “turning the clock back”.

There was a discussion around the impact of the present government’s cuts and policies of curriculum and examination reform, as well as what could be done locally. The issue will be picked up by the Research and Action Group on Education. David’s contribution follows the previous meeting in Godalming this summer addressed by Jonathan Stewart, an education consultant, who alerted us to the dire impact of the further education cuts locally.

The meeting was also attended and addressed by Jacqui Howard, national organiser for Compass, who talked about the change in Compass from a group within the Labour Party to a much more broadly based progressive group which is now the home of many different shades of opinion on the progressive left of politics but which offers “a new kind of politics” – “a different way of doing politics”, with everyone’s opinion being valued. “How we do things is just as important as what we do”, she said