There are many issues you could raise about the EU's impact on politics and democracy. Before 1997, social exclusion was ignored', intones Labour's manifesto on page 29. The government's Social Exclusion Unit website describes social exclusion as 'a shorthand term for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems, such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown'. The breadth of this definition indicates that social exclusion does not refer to a specific social problem that people might face, but that it is a moral category, defined by politicians. It is not a problem that you're poor, apparently - it is how you behave as a consequence that is seen by the government as a problem.
Creativity can be dull 'The arts and sports are key to our quality of life.
They matter for their own sake', says page 22 of Labour's manifesto. How New Labour hopes to boost creativity, of all things, through setting government targets and political priorities, is anybody's guess. Nobody likes being a victim of crime. But paying homage to green concerns manages to make Labour's 'Ambitions for Britain' seem even lower. Environmentalism, in politics, seems rather too handy as a call for caution and restraint.