The True Levellers

In the UK, it's hard to get away from talk of "levelling up" at the moment. Why, there's even a Secretary of State for what is a key element of current government policy.

I found this analysis by Sophia Parker looking at what the current levelling up plans could learn from the true levellers fascinating and I wanted to find out more. The 17th century, proto-communist, True Levellers AKA Diggers stood against land use being restricted to the fortunate few. They occupied some fields that had been privatised by enclosures and dug them over, pulling down hedges and filling in ditches, to plant crops. Below is a quote from the True Levellers Standard, written by one of the movement's leaders, Gerrard Winstanley in 1649.

The Earth (which was made to be a common treasury of relief for all, both beasts and man) was hedged into enclosures & is bought and sold and kept in the hands of a few

They argued for local democracy and common ownership of the wealth of the land in the belief that when access to resources is unequal, democratic power would be captured by those with wealth. There are many lessons that can be learned from them if we're to truly level up in the 21st.

Clearly, I agree in the core aim of the government's Levelling Up plan which is to spread "opportunity and prosperity to all parts of the UK" but the flaw in the concept is that it seems to imply endless resources for everyone to increase their material wealth. Clearly untrue. And, it focuses on places, rather than the people that live in the places. People living in poverty in London are ignored, yet London has the highest rates of child poverty of any English region, with 37% living in relative poverty after housing costs are taken into account. The New Economics Foundation calls for some quite different approaches in their paper, Closing the Divide and there's a range of other analyses of the levelling up white paper summarised here.

The other day, inspired by recent news, I was looking at a sad and neglected folder in my computer called Ukraine by Train which has all the information about the itinerary Clare and I were going to follow overland by train and bus to Ukraine and Moldova in Spring 2020, after all the hard work of standing in the General Election the previous December.

I really hope we can dust it off and make it over there one day.

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

Colin Kaepernick has produced Colin in Black and White available on Netflix with accompanying educational resources to download.

A fantastic set of links and resources from the DEI Coalition is here

The NHS Race and Health observatory released its review into race inequality across healthcare, calling for urgent and radical reform.

Day of the Week 📆

Someone's edited their black cat, Lizzy, into films and the results are wonderful.

Happy Valentine's Day #BlackCatsRule 😻

What am I reading? 📚

If I can't go to Ukraine, I'm reading about it instead in The Border - A Journey Around Russia. Thank you for the recommendation, Katia de Gregorio

What am I watching? 👀

I'm enjoying Inventing Anna, based on the true story of Anna Delvey/Sorokin, a wannabe socialite and hustler. Only in New York, and all that.

What am I listening to?👂

I've been driving up and down the M40 a bit recently. You can't beat a bit of soft rock on Steve Wright in the afternoon for a road trip.

Joy-giving things 😍

Look at the little baby ant-eater!

Have a lovely weekend and thank you for reading

Lucy

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing progressive ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world.

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ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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