The blogosphere carries a lot of (always) disapproving allusions to an organisation called 'Common Purpose'.
It seems to be simply gigantic. 'Forty-five offices across the UK. Since 1989, more than 60,000 people have been involved in Common Purpose and over 17,000 leaders have completed one or more programmes.' That's from the website of the Said Business School (Oxford University) who seem to be right behind it..
But I am mystified. As well as being a member of various international business committees, I have been managing director of a company, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of a major national business federation, a regular client of Business Link and a member of a real heavyweight training organisation for industrial leadership called The Industrial Society, which became The Work Foundation... Will Hutton's beat. I have worked in and with both academia and multinational commercial companies in the UK and around the world. With all those connections, and if they have been around for almost twenty years, how have I never, ever come across Common Purpose?
Well, I have an open mind, and it might well be my vast ignorance (no-one can be everywhere and know everything) so I went looking for them.
Having found their website I am no wiser. Its thousands of words tell me more or less nothing. It's wall to wall motherhood and citizenship-favoured apple-pie, written in MBA-speak. (As a friend put it the other day, MBA = Master of Bugger All. But let's move on.)
It looks like some sort of open university for 'leadership' though wtf they mean by that I have not yet worked out. The names of their courses are distinctly odd. Most normal leadership course blurb says straightforward things like 'the course lasts three days' but CP courses 'require a commitment of three days'.
Here's a description of one of the -- extremely expensive -- CP courses:
Participants will:
-- understand how their city works - the role of different sectors, the levers of power, the drivers of future change
-- build a network of relationships with senior leaders and key figures locally
-- practice leading in different contexts
-- become more adept at spotting opportunities and threats
-- build their capacity to lead change.
Then there is this:
In every democracy, there is an invisible, open space. It lies between the citizen and the state. [...] Our aim is to fill this space with as many people as possible. [...] The Chatham House Rule, which is used throughout the world to aid free discussion, is respected on all programmes.
This is the Chatham House Rule, by the way
"When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed."
No wonder I am having a problem with opacity.
There is an air of determination and, yes, well, mysterious purpose, about CP. It makes me uncomfortable especially since I have no clue what they are actually offering. It reminds me of Bagwash, or the Moonies. Scientology. Whoa! It's not them, is it? Maybe it's just me but there is also a kind of Nazi whiff about it:
Common Purpose programmes help people to lead beyond their authority and produce change beyond their direct circle of control.
Hm. This page actually scares me in its vagueness coupled with steely determination.
I have established that their founder and UK boss is ex-Prescott's office, Labour Party, etc. Vodafone and the FT are on board. Their 'sponsors' (see below... way below) seem to be a motley bunch, including prisons (huh?), local branches of big firms (very big firms) but not their HQs for the most part, and local authorities. Some of the interviewees CP presents on its website are real live top bananas, like Lord Simon, ex-BP boss. Hm - impressive. Then there is someone calling himself the Rector of London University of the Arts. Oh, that's a lot of art colleges bolted together. Well, OK, then.
Some of the blogs on my blogroll view CP as an arm of the EU, and say it's putting its goons in positions of influence right up to the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet, against the day Britain is abolished. OK... Some blogs which are very definitely not on my blogroll are conspiracy lunatics who say CP is run by the Illuminati (oh, please) or the Masons (oh, for... ) I simply cannot bear conspiracy theorists. They make me run a mile.
But back to my first question - how have I missed CP?
The answer, according to some websites whose correspondents I would recommend locking up for their own safety, is that there is a - you guessed - a massive conspiracy to keep CP in low profile, and to keep it right out of MSM if possible. There is not one UK national newspaper mentioned in the press list on the CP website. And yet the FT backs them. And why have I never seen an article about Common Purpose in any of my newspapers?
All very interesting. I suppose.
__________________________
This is the list of CP's UK sponsors.
34 (N) Signal Regiment (Volunteers), Middlesbrough
Age Concern, Milton Keynes
Airport Business Centre, Plymouth
Alan Edward Higgs Charity, Coventry
Alliance & Leicester, Leicester
Anguish's Educational Foundation, Norwich
Annabel's Cabaret & Disco, Plymouth
Associated British Ports, Grimsby
Avanti, Porth
Avecia Ltd, Billingham
AXA PPP Healthcare, Tunbridge Wells - Vale Road
Aylesford Newsprint Ltd, Aylesford
Badminton Association of England, Milton Keynes
BAE Systems, Brough
Barclays PLC, Cardiff Bay
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Barnsley - Town Hall
Biofuels Corporation Limited, Middlesbrough
Bletchley Park Trust, Milton Keynes
BP European Acetyls, Hull
Bradford & Bingley Group, Bingley
Bradford College, Bradford
Bradford Community Housing Trust Group Limited, Bradford
Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Bradford - City Hall
Bradford Trident, Bradford
Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Co Ltd, Hove
Brighton & Hove City Council, Hove Town Hall
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, Brighton - Sussex House
Brittany Ferries, Plymouth
BT plc, Canterbury - Becket House
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Halifax - Town Hall
Campbell Catering -, Limerick
Cardiff Magistrates Court, Cardiff
CEA@Islington, Offord Road
Cleveland Police, Middlesbrough - Ladgate Lane
DaimlerChrysler UK Ltd, Milton Keynes
Darlington Borough Council, Feethams
Dean Clough Ltd, Halifax
Department for Children, Schools and Families, Darlington
Diocese of Wakefield -, Dewsbury
Dublin Bus, Dublin
Education Bradford, Bradford
Education Client Team, Bradford
Education Leeds, Leeds
English Partnerships, Milton Keynes
Environment Agency Wales, Bangor
Eversheds, Cardiff
Excellence in Cities, Billingham
Extracare Charitable Trust, Milton Keynes
Goodwin Development Trust Ltd, The Octagon, Hull
Halton Borough Council, Runcorn
HANWaG, Hull
HMP & YOI Parc, Bridgend
HMP Askham Grange, York
HMP Holme House, Stockton-On-Tees
HMP Kirklevington Grange, Yarm
HMP Lewes, Lewes
HMP Stafford, Stafford
HMP YOI & RC Glen Parva, Wigston
Hothouse Centre for Ceramic Design, Stoke-on-Trent
HSBC Bank plc, Wrexham
Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce, Hull
Hull Citybuild, Hull
Hull Cityventure Limited, Hull
Humberside Police Authority, Hull
Humberside Police, Hull - Queens Gardens
Huntsman Tioxide, Grimsby
ITV Wales, Cardiff
JCP LLP, Swansea
Jupiter Group, Cardiff
Keighley College, Keighley
Kimberly-Clark Ltd, Barton-Upon-Humber
Kimberly-Clark Ltd, West Malling
Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall
Kirklees Metropolitan Council - Community Support Services, Brunswick Street - Batley
Kirklees Primary Care Trust, Batley
Komedia, Brighton
KPMG, Milton Keynes
Learning and Skills Council, Bradford - Yorkshire & The Humber
Leeds City Council, Civic Hall
Leeds Metropolitan University, Queen Square House
Maidendale Community Centre, Darlington
Marriott Tudor Park Hotel, Maidstone
Merseyside Police, HQ Canning Place
Merseytravel, Liverpool
Milton Keynes Partnership, Milton Keynes
Morrison Trust, Darlington
National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff
National Children's Centre, Huddersfield
National Glass Centre, Sunderland
Nike (UK) Ltd, Sunderland
North East Community Forest, Dunston
North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus, Grimsby
North Lincolnshire BME Networking Forum, Scunthorpe
North Tees Primary Care Trust, Stockton on Tees
North Yorkshire Police, Headquarters
Norwich City Council, City Hall
Park Lane College, Leeds
PD Ports PLC, Middlesbrough
Pertemps Group Plc -, Thorntree
Petrofac Training, Aberdeen
Preston Road Neighbourhood Development Company Ltd, Hull - Flinton Grove
PricewaterhouseCoopers, London - Embankment Place - Head Office
Resource Ltd, Cardiff
Rolls-Royce plc, Derby - PO Box 31
Shoosmiths Solicitors, Milton Keynes
Skipton Building Society, Skipton
Smith & Nephew Medical Ltd, Hull
South Norfolk District Council, Norwich - Swan Lane
Staffordshire University, Stafford
Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Stoke on Trent - Civic Centre
Stoke-on-Trent Theatres Limited, Stoke-On-Trent
TA Millard East Anglia Ltd, Norwich
Tees Valley Regeneration, Stockton on Tees
Territorial Army, Milton Keynes
Thames Valley Police, Milton Keynes - North Row
The Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, Brighton
The Everards Foundation, Leicester
The Lady Hind Trust, Norwich
The Media Centre, Huddersfield
The Open University, Milton Keynes
The Stables, Milton Keynes
The Studio, Hartlepool
The Wilton Centre -, Redcar
Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds
UK IPO, Newport
UNISYS Limited, Milton Keynes - Tongwell Street
University of Bradford, Bradford
University of Hull, Hull
University of Kent at Medway, Medway
University of Teesside, Middlesbrough
Vickery Holman Ltd, Plymouth
Viking FM & Magic 1161, Hull
Visteon, Swansea
Vodafone Group Plc, Dublin
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, Wakefield - County Hall
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, Wakefield - Town Hall
West Kent Housing Association, Sevenoaks
West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, Kirklees
West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, Stanningley
West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, Leeds
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
West Yorkshire Police, Bradford - Javelin Close
WISE (Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation), Hull
York Hospitals NHS Trust, York
Yorkshire Building Society, Bradford
Yorkshire Craft Centre, Bradford
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation, Wakefield
Yorkshire Water, Esholt Hall
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5 comments:
The tentacles of "common purpose" are everywhere.
I had occasion to write to the "Standards Board" for England, an orginasation set up by Labour to oversee and ensure good practice and governance in local politics.
My complaint was, my local parish council (do gooders to a man),wanted the opinion of the village electorate on a local matter, forms were sent out,and duly returned.( a precept on local taxes was involved here)
The Crunch was,
A yes vote was to agree to pay the precept.
A no vote was not to agree to pay the precept.
Any forms not returned, then the Parish Council deemed that the householder must be "happy" to allocate the vote to the Parishcouncil,and let the Parish council vote for that household.
They had an agenda, they wanted a yes vote, and by stealing the vote of parishioners who did not express an opinion, they were assured of "a magnificent victory"
After months of writing back and forth, the head honcho wrote and said "there is no case to answer, i see no abuse of procedure"
I reminded him that if the government of the day opted to use the same tactics, they would be guaranteed power in perpetuity.
His last reply,after informing me the matter is closed, and will answer no more correspondence, was the agenda and tactics my Parish Council used was for the "Common Good" and "Common Purpose" rules applied!
Although, perhaps i was naive in hoping for any other outcome.
Their motto is "Ensuring confidence in local democracy"
I am now left with being a thorn in their side, attending every parish council meeting, and just making waves wherever i can!
Appalling. Do you mean this council is signed up to Common Purpose (Upper case)? I shall enquire further.
old and angry
This kind of thinking is becoming the norm (the common view if you will haha).
In Scotland there was a petition several years ago against the repeal of what was called Section 28. The petitition had one and a half million signatories. Wendy Alexander, now Labour leader in Scotland and sister of Douglas, stated at the time that this meant that 4.5 million Scots supported the repeal of the act.
We'll see more and more of this democratic collapse as time goes on. The same principle is now being applied to organ donations and the 'presumed consent'. It's a very dangerous road to be going down. The same argument can be used in all situations.
William Clark Article on CP
My work is an analysis of a group of organisations and factions who advise and influence government and who engage in deception. Together these groups covertly function as a conduit for spurious intellectual/political concepts (mostly fed in from the US), as business lobbyists and propagandists and engage in the quasi-embezzlement of public funds and the corruption of the process of democratic government. This is a hive of New Labour 'placemen', spooks, disgraced lobbyists, right-wing ideologues, pseudo-intellectuals, fake grass-roots organisations and MI6 and CIA agents directing an interlocking network of small unaccountable
"Demos has spawned all manner of parasitical children.
Take the example of Common Purpose (CP). This was started by Demos trustee Julia Middleton. It has been around for sometime but gained a great deal of funding with the advent of New Labour and its service towards business elites"
"CP creates the illusion that it is for ordinary people, but it is not only run by an elite, its projects cater exclusively for an elite: "the rising generation of decision makers" as they say in their web site. This also states that: "We are looking for applicants who are decision-makers in their city, towns or area", and that "participants are over 30 and already hold a position of considerable responsibility". They say their long-term aim is "educating the next generation of leaders in each city or town". On this basis it is a fraudulent organisation"
For some years I have watched as people who are unelected, and have little wisdom about life, have been placed in positions of the greatest influence. These people invariably sound authentic to the untutored ear but in actuality are changing the viewpoint of the people they are advising.
This has been happening for so long now that many decent people don't even comprehend that this is happening.
Successive governments, but especially New Labour, are relying more and more on "political advisers" or "experts" to tell them what to do and are ignoring their own MPs as well as the people who elected them.
I have watched as non-profit organisations have abounded, as more and more employers have begun to think that "qualifications" are more important than experience, as people who oppose views being expressed are either "bribed" by some sort of position/wage or are ridiculed/undermined and have their reputations ruined rather than allow honest opposition.
Whether or not this is due to Common Purpose I cannot say, but it has been happening for many years, and is probably beginning to coalesce into larger and larger organisations.
As for Common Purpose not being heard of - the Regional Assembly of the North East of England has kept a very low profile. It was said they were given very little funding for marketing. I was not aware of this quango's existence until AFTER the referendum given to the people of the North East which resulted in rejection of an elected assembly. What I and many other people didn't realise was that the word that mattered was "elected"; there was already an unelected assembly in place but it did not raise its head over the parapet until AFTER the vote. Even today there are still people who believed the vote was about having an assembly at all, instead of deciding how the assembly was to be formed. The idea of deciding whether or not to have an assembly had already been decided, quietly, by the politicians.
If this sort of situation can arise how easy it would be for all these surreptitious people to get together and form a group such as Common Purpose.
I would also ask, how is it that Common Purpose, a registered charity, get so much funding? And what training do they actually do? Its own website indicates it does train people, so what are they teaching them?
Be sceptical by all means, but do open your eyes and be prepared to consider if the unthinkable could be happening. It invariably is!
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