25/07/2011

If there is one idea on which David Cameron has staked the reputation of his government it is the Big Society, and he has stressed the role he believes faith groups have to play in it. Their reaction has, however, been mixed with the Archbishop of Canterbury describing it as a "stale slogan" in danger of being seen as an opportunistic cover for spending cuts. So what is the Big Society, and are its values consistent with religious values? Ernie is joined by Phillip Blond, Director of the Think Tank Respublica and widely credited as being the originator of the government's Big Society idea, Maleiha Malik, Professor in Law at King's College, London: and Antony Lerman, former founding director of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research.