Reflecting on the maiden speeches of Eric
Heffer in 1964 and Peter Kilfoyle in 1991,
you can’t help but be struck by the continuity
and permanency of the issues of unemployment,
lack of investment and industrial decline.
Radical new solutions are needed to tackle
social problems that have persisted for generations.
The fourth industrial revolution – the onset
of artificial intelligence, robotics, cobotics,
3D printing and biotechnology – in the context
of global finance and multinationalism,
poses great challenges but also great
opportunities.
It will require bold economic planning and
the political will to make it work
for the whole of society.
That’s why this House must now start to consider
ideas like the universal basic, citizen’s income.
We are the sixth richest economy on the planet
and it’s time to stop making excuses for
the kind of human indignity and poverty I
see all too often in my own city.
