Source: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Topic: Social Entrepreneurship
Sort Desciption: 1 Politics and social entrepreneurship Transcript of a speech by Ed Miliband MP to the Skoll World Forum on social entrepreneurship 29 March 2007 Im delighted to be here and I want to start by ...
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Politics and social
entrepreneurship
Transcript of a speech by Ed Miliband
MP to the Skoll World Forum on social
entrepreneurship
29 March 2007
Im delighted to be here and I want to start by thanking Jeff Skoll for all the work
he does here at the centre and for this great event.
I just want to make three points.
First, about why I think the social enterprise and social entrepreneurship
movement is so important.
Second, about what government can do to help facilitate social innovation.
And, third, I want to make a point about politics and the role of politics.
Social entrepreneurship driving change
Ive been minister for the third sector for about 10 months and in a way the most
exciting people I meet are social entrepreneurs and people running social
enterprises.
Why is that? I think its for two reasons: one, because social enterprise is driving
a big change in the private sector to take ethical values into account. It is a drive
which goes beyond the immediate impact of the social enterprises themselves.
And, secondly, its driving a big change in the public sector, to be more focused
on users, in its delivery of public services.
I think those two changes will only grow over the coming years and I think they
are incredibly important.
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And for me, the first of these, the notion of profits and justice not being in conflict,
but growing hand in hand is a challenging concept. John [Elkington] mentioned
my background. My Dad, as John said, was an émigré from Belgium. He joined
the British Navy. He read Marx while, as he put it, not being a very successful
Petty Officer in the Navy, and he became a Marxist. For him - and these are the
values I grew up with - yes, you should be angry about injustice; yes, you
should do something to tackle it; but it was about the state and what the state
can do.
I suppose what social enterprise teaches me, and this is where the ...
