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Fairness is meaningless

Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, David Cameron said: “It's time for a new conversation about what fairness really means.” That conversation is already well under way. The Today program on Radio 4 had a week-long discussion. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has produced a report called ‘How Fair is Britain?’, and concluded that the answer is “not very.” And it is virtually impossible to hear a conversation or read an article about current political hot topics - such as cuts in Child Benefit, under-achievement at school by poor children, increases in university tuition fees or the rising retirement age - without the discussion coming round to whether or not the situation is fair.

All political parties have adopted the word: the Conservatives’ favourite phrase is currently “tough but fair,” while Gordon Brown described New Labour’s goal as “fairness” - not equality - as long ago as 1999.

But given that people from across the political spectrum, and on both sides of the debate on cuts, fees, and taxation, are all now deeming their beliefs “fair,” does the word have any meaning anymore? And did it ever have any real practical or political significance? Is fairness a crucial concept which will allow the country to move forwards out of our current economic difficulties, or is it a distraction from the issues and questions that really matter?