2013-05-23T16:44:46-04:00 Luke Bozier http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=luke-bozier Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Luke Bozier Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1304149 2012-02-27T11:36:10-05:00 2012-04-28T05:12:01-04:00

Luke Bozier http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-bozier/
Young people from deprived backgrounds in particular can benefit from aspiration. To be told when you are young that your beginning in life can't stop you dreaming of a successful future is powerful. So the government must find ways to open the eyes of young people to aspiration, who today live in difficult circumstances; on rough estates, with little money and in schools who don't care if they succeed or fail.

Here's an idea which I would like to see both Mayoral candidates get behind. Add a 1% 'discretionary tax' on to every restaurant, bar and pub bill in the capital, and use those funds for a range of cheap but effective aspiration-boosting projects for deprived youngsters. It wouldn't be obligatory, so proprietors would have to opt-in, but the social pressure to do so, as well as the desire to give something to the community would encourage many to sign up.

It would be discretionary, so a customer could refuse to pay it. But 1% on a restaurant bill of £50 would only come to 50p. If that 50p was going to a good cause, there's no reason to opt out of contributing such a tiny sum. This is how the San Francisco pays for its city-wide public health programme for low earners. It's both progressive and conservative, in that it channels money from those who have it to those who don't, and that it speaks to the conservative ethos of giving to the community.

Rough estimates by people who know far more about economics than I do suggest a 1% levy on all restaurant, bar and pub bills in the capital could raise over £100mn a year.

Where would the money go? I've a few ideas. You could spend some of it on a small enterprise fund for under-20s, giving out small chunks of money for good business ideas. You could spend some of it on a books fund, encouraging young people not exposed to literature a chance to immerse themselves in life-changing books. You could spend some of it on getting young people who have never left the confines of urban London out into the country for day-trips.

London is awash with money in a way which the rest of the country isn't. The divides between haves and have nots are also more pronounced here than elsewhere. There is poverty and difficulty, but there are is magnificent opportunity for young people from any background to build successful lives for themselves. The London Fund would channel some of that extra money in the capital's pockets into projects which could make a huge difference.

The best thing is, the 1% donors would hardly notice. And if they did, they could give themselves a nice pat on the back.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1288545 2012-02-21T01:00:00-05:00 2012-04-21T05:12:02-04:00

Luke Bozier http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-bozier/ materiel, with a no-fly zone and supporting air bombardment.

One foreign policy pamphlet gives this new intervention approach the moniker "liberal intervention 2.0". Instead of invasion, the new paradigm is to support and encourage grassroots movements inside the borders of countries whose regimes we seek to change. At an opportune moment, Western powers would utilise their unique military assets to ensure a swift, relatively happy ending.

That, in a nutshell, is Intervention 2.0. I hope the ministers and wonks at the FCO are paying attention.

Syria provides a test, opportunity and responsibility to try out this new spanner in the foreign policy toolbox. President Assad and his murderous machine can no longer claim sovereignty. The streets of one of the Middle East's most important nations are awash with innocent blood. Thousands of children, women and men have been murdered and brutalised, and the world has a responsibility to protect the remaining Syrian population.

Assad is shameless in his crackdown on those seeking participation and a voice. With the videos and photos of such brazen murder saturating Western TV screens, we are reaching the 'Mogadishu line' with Syria, where it will become harder to resist all kinds of intervention. This presents a choice: we can step up our game now, in support of the growing anti-Assad forces in the country, or we can let the situation deteriorate further.

Direct intervention is off the table, thanks to Russia and China's obstinate position at the UN. So countries like ours have to find ways to support the uprising, without directly engaging the Syrian military. Options include the covert supply of weapons, the promise of exile to senior figures willing to abandon Assad, training, strategic and tactical support to the armed resistance, and the de-recognition of the Ba'athist regime as the government of Syria.

The key to making Intervention 2.0 work is to create a boiling point, beyond which it becomes impossible for a regime to remain. That point will be reached by making the resistance strong enough to take on the Syrian military machine, and its masters in Damascus. It must be demonstrated that the Assad regime is dissolving; the 'defection' of one or two senior figures to the other side would provide the spark.

Tunisia is hosting a 'friends of Syria' summit this week, an ideal occasion for a former Syrian minister to speak out against Assad, but I won't be holding my breath.

Intervention 2.0 is liberal intervention for the connected age. Previously, oppressed people didn't have a voice or the tools needed to stand up, thanks to the Internet they now do. Nobody can deny that Syrians are being brutalised or that they seek freedom; they are telling us themselves. They are screaming it at us via YouTube, Twitter and Al-Jazeera. To topple the Syrian regime, we don't need dodgy dossiers, a Security Council resolution or an invasion.

We simply need to give the Syrian people the tools, support and encouragement they need to do the job themselves. Now is the time to step up to our responsibilities.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1273142 2012-02-13T10:43:21-05:00 2012-04-14T05:12:01-04:00

Luke Bozier http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-bozier/
We're taken by air over some of our cities, there is a shot of children going to school, a family sitting for breakfast, people looking through the jobs section of a newspaper. 'People are out of work and they're hurting. They're all wondering what they're going to do to make a comeback. We're all scared, because this isn't a game', continues Colin's narration.

He goes on to talk about how we've seen tough times before. How there have been times 'when the fog of division, discord, and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead', but that when those times passed, 'we all rallied around what was right. That's what we do. We find a way through tough times, and if we can't find a way, we make one'.

These aren't my first steps toward a Hollywood career, these are quotes taken from a half-time Super Bowl ad in America. Colin Firth was played by Clint Eastwood, in a flourish of optimism which went viral and is still being discussed. The ad was for a car company, but that's not apparent until the end, by which point you'd be forgiven for thinking that Clint was running for office.

Optimism is important in life, and we are lacking in it. We constantly hear gloom from politicians and the media, which filters down through all levels of society. We are in difficult economic times - people are struggling - but what good does it do to revel in that difficulty? Where is our entrepreneurial get-up-and-go? Where are our national figures describing the better days around the corner?

Why aren't British companies producing optimistic ads, showing us how they are forging a stronger economy and supporting people and communities?

People are bombarded each week with messages of 'lost generations' and a 'never-ending slump'. Little wonder there is no economic confidence. Our American cousins thrive on their optimistic spirit, the idea that better days are ahead. In the words of Clint Eastwood their 'country can't be knocked out with one punch'. Americans are embracing early signs of economic recovery; that confidence fuels a positive cycle.

Brits - including our political leaders - prefer to sit around moaning. Our best days are behind us, they say. 'Little Britain syndrome' has taken ahold throughout the nation. I tell you what will get rid of it: a dose of British optimism to snap us out of our funk. We need that half-time ad, reminding us that we too are a great country capable of digging ourselves out of a hole.

Your humble blogger would recommend 'Jerusalem' as the background music.]]>