Minster for Pensions Reform Mike O'Brien will give a Fabian Progressive Manifesto lecture in which he will discuss how society can adapt to the new challenges posed by an ageing population. The lecture will outline how action from old and young can shed outdated stereotypes and change mindsets about retirement and the process of growing old.

The discussion addressed whether meritocracy could ever be achieved and if not, whether candidates for jobs or university places could be fairly judged. Should we go back back to Young's original definition of meritocracy for enlightenment?

In the latest Fabian Review, Louise Bamfield argues that cycling offers such great benefits to both the cyclist and wider society that children should be given a voucher from government to buy a bike as a way of dramatically improving preventive public health.

Giving every 10-year-old a free bike would complement wider cycling strategy and encourage schools in invest in cycle training as well as having various health benefits. 

New jobs, not more laws, are the key to better employment policy, says business secretary John Hutton. Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said that the "end of the era" of major new employment regulation was here, and that new strategies were needed to increase fairness at work whilst maintaining labour market flexibility.