My pet cause is aspiration. I have said time and again that I believe aspiration is a Gordian knot; it cuts across a range of social and economic issues. It doesn't solve all issues, and there are some people for whom aspiration won't help. But for many, a bit of encouragement to reach up can go a long way. The encouragement has to come in the form of material support as well as warm words though.
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.