I’ve been saturated with politics recently. I’ve seen two of the ‘big beasts’ of recent political history speak – Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown, along with some truly fascinating presentations from comedian economists and futurists! I love having my world view challenged; learning about the big themes of history and having the chance to look at the horizon to see what might be coming.

Of course much of this is ‘deep thought’ – it helps not one bit in the day to day struggle to grow and run a charity for young people. Learning about how driverless cars will need ethics or how blockchain could mean we no longer need companies (or charities for that matter) in order to organise ourselves are radical thoughts but they don’t help with the young person needing a home or the next funding bid. But the thoughts will sit deeply in my head and help inform the decisions I make. And amidst these swirling thoughts a few things are crystallising and taking shape in my mind.

The first is not new but is worth highlighting I think. That is the fragmentation of our national and international conversation. Social media, traditional media and the splintering of our conversations into a thousand different bubbles is serving only to exacerbate our differences. We’ve all seen fake news and spurious claims about the future shape the direction of our countries in the last few years. But this is only the extension of the ‘group think’ that David McWilliams, the comedian economist described in the speech I watched a few weeks ago. He described confident children that fit into our education system are successful; they are told they are great which means they carry on thriving; they then go to the same ‘top’ universities where they learn the same things about how the economy works then go on to get jobs in the same firms where huge bonuses confirm their ‘masters of the universe’ status and the hubris becomes unstoppable. This narrow world view creates buildings and companies that Grayson Perry describes in his exhibition in the Arnolfini as creating nothing more than glorified ‘bachelor pads’. This group think means credit default swaps seem like reasonable trades and so the bubble grows. Until it hits reality! But unfortunately when the bubble bursts the same people decide on the solutions to their own problems. The result has kept many people in the country poor.

And let’s not fool ourselves that this ‘group think’ is an exclusive preserve of the right or capitalism. Union group think brought the country to its knees in the 70s. Group think brought Kids Company to collapse only a couple of years ago.

Nick Clegg talked about how social media has accelerated this process dramatically - reinforcing the bubble and making disrespect for the ‘other’ acceptable in a way it wasn’t a few years ago. This gives us less time to spot the problems before they happen and a narrower range of views to provide solutions.

So what are the solutions to these problems that seem to be on an unstoppable march riding on the back of technological ‘progress’.

Gordon Brown talked eloquently about the the need not only for technical solutions (fiscal stimulus and the like) but also the need for ethics. As a nation we don’t talk about ethics or morality much any more. For me, true ethics are not about your political beliefs, but how you treat others (especially when they are not looking). It means respecting others even if you fundamentally disagree with them. It means a tolerance for different world views and experience. It means standing up for what you believe in even if it means going against the crowd.
This might be, as Nick Clegg talked about, MPs saying what they really think. He estimated 90% of MPs think Brexit is a bad idea but are afraid to be seen to stand up for what they think. It might be bankers agreeing that complex and ultimately useless financial instruments that simply make money should not be traded but instead trade in ‘useful’ loans that help business to grow, create jobs and move our societies forward.

I would add to this need for ethics an argument for diversity. Diversity is the antithesis of group think. Having people from different backgrounds creating new ideas and challenging old ones is a recipe for more creative thinking and avoiding the cul de sacs of thought that lead us as individuals, companies and countries into dangerous waters.

We have a great tradition in the UK for fairness, tolerance and embracing the unusual but I fear we are beginning to forget that. I want to see our leaders remind us what great qualities they are and how Britain thrived on them and can create a great future based on them again.