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Probably42 News - July 2023
Welcome to our July Newsletter!
In our most recent newsletter in May we announced that our next discussion topic was going to be Monarchy - Developing it as an asset for the 21st century. Our discussions led to the conclusion that, on a pragmatic basis, the monarchy was on balance an asset to the UK and we came up with some ideas for enhancing the value further. We often send input to politicians but for the first time we felt these were worthy of sending to the Private Secretaries of Charles and William. Unlike missives to politicians we found that it is not possible to send an email to them, only paper mail is acceptable, which was disappointing in this day and age.
However, in preparing our input, one of our colleagues decided to put our covering letter into ChatGPT and ask it to rewrite it in the style of a monarch for a bit of fun. To give you a flavour of what it came up with these were the first few paragraphs, which we thought were impressive and amusing and worth sharing:
My Esteemed and Noble Recipient,
Pray, grant me forgiveness for the audacity of this missive, as it bears forth proposals intended to uphold and enhance the relevance and worth of the monarchy in service to our cherished populace and beloved realm.
The genesis of our propositions lies within the hallowed chambers of Probably42, an Ideas Factory birthed by the Knowledge, Skills and Experience Foundation—a noble endeavour by the retired denizens of our land. Comprised of ordinary yet accomplished individuals, their backgrounds encompass a tapestry of triumphs in business, science, technology, arts, media, and education, both within the private and public spheres.
Each passing moon, they engage in research and discourse upon weighty subjects and opportune moments of our age. Their focus ever lies upon balanced debate, unveiling practical concepts to propel our nation forward, ideas that veer from the familiar path and transcend the bounds of conventional wisdom.
………………………………..
We didn’t send it in this form though!
Recent Discussions
Our other discussion since the last newsletter was a revisit to the Housing Crisis given the turmoil being created by rapidly rising interest rates. Our output is at Housing - Tackling the Root Causes.
Forthcoming Discussions
Prompted by the start of parties positioning themselves for the next election and starting to think about their manifestos, we decided it was time to revisit the topic of Party Manifestos. Our agenda for the topic can be seen at Topic for July 2023 - Party Manifestos.
You may also find the 2 pager of interest that we produced last time around back in 2019: Party Manifestos which focused on how they might be improved.
Prompted by this discussion we’ve just updated our Manifesto for Society in the AI Future. We’d love to know your views on it, especially how it might be improved. Your views, positive or negative, are always gratefully received! You can simply reply to this email.
Government Information that may interest you
As usual we highlight more examples of information on Parliament activity and outputs which may interest you:
- The recently announced trade deal with the Trans-Pacific partnership CPTPP: agreement summary - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) , CPTPP: impact assessment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
- This year’s Government NHS mandate, which will help the NHS deliver for patients NHS mandate 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- The Government’s plan for how they'll drive regeneration and housing delivery to create high-quality homes and thriving places Homes England strategic plan 2023 to 2028 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
Why not join a Group?
If you’d like to join one of the Probably42 discussion groups held via videoconferencing, just email in response to this newsletter and we’ll send you more details. We very much want a diversity of viewpoints, so you can be sure your views will be welcomed. Remember it’s about relaxed discussion and having an enjoyable time, with hopefully some useful ideas identified.
We also want to encourage face-to-face real world discussion groups, as feeders into the main online discussions. If you’d like to find out more about the one in Berkshire, or if you’d like to see one start in your area, just email in response to this newsletter and we’ll send you details.
Feedback
We always welcome any feedback, thoughts, ideas or questions about Probably42. Simply reply to this newsletter and you’ll receive a personal reply.
All the best
Tony