Fifth, saving the globe. When the President of Guyana announced before Christmas that his rainforest was for sale, a radical government would have immediately made a down-payment to begin a world-wide National Trust-like operation whereby individuals could make immediate contributions out of their own pockets to reward such nations. The prototype for this initiative, Cool Earth, is one of the new bodies which should allow civil society, not governments, to safeguard the planet.

Sixth, initiating a democratic blood transfusion. Democracy is at the heart of British society, but it is in urgent need of medical attention. Only 22 per cent of the electorate elected the current Government. Power needs to be moved back from the parties to the voters by instigating open primary elections in safe seats. Similarly, given the failure of the police to respond to public concerns, chief superintendents, who decide day to day policing strategy, should become electable. While such a strategy will not make good the obvious shortfall we have in policing manpower, it would ensure that existing resources were deployed most effectively. The local electorate would set the targets by which the chief superintendents would be judged.