- Government on behalf of all, not merely the supporters of whoever is in power. Restrictions on the power of privileged individuals, for example through planning regulations.
- As far as possible, equality of opportunity leading to active social mobility. Lack of exploitation of individuals and groups, whether through race, gender, or economic status.
- The state willing to take on big projects of value to all, and not leaving everything to individual responsibility: Joseph Bazalgette’s London sewers of the 1860s being a classic example.
- Strong social capital and civic life, such as NGOs actively working for the environment.
- Having good health care available to all, regardless of ability to pay.
- Having the main forms of communication under a regulatory framework that ensures reasonable balance. Internet access for all.
- Encouragement for individuals to express their creativity, through small-scale art, plays, poetry, writing, film-making and all sorts of performing.
- Compassion for those who find normal life challenging through physical or mental difficulties, expressed through support for families and individuals.
- Religion being a matter of personal faith, and playing a negligible role in government or education.
- In contrast to the assumptions underlying the recent Civilisations series, I put high art well down the list of attributes, relying as it often does on patronage and privilege.
Sir David Spiegelhalter – Statistician and Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk, University of Cambridge, UK