I would be interested to hear readers' comments about the following two articles in the Guardian today. The first is a report about the government's initiatives for working in collaboration with the private and 'voluntary' sectors. That the word 'collaboration' might actually conceal an unequal power relationship is implied by Campbell Robb, head of policy at the National Council for Volunteer Organisations. As he points out, the 'government has a mixed record of actually delivering what it promises' in its relations with the voluntary and charitable sector. The second is a comment article by Simon Jenkins predicting the demise of public confidence in the state and the rise of philanthropy. 'The movement from voluntary to compulsory welfare began with a shift in moral imagination. I see no reason why that shift should not be reversed.' Is there a tension between the message of the first article and the sentiment of the second?