An oddity of the past decade is that millions of adults have actually lost rather than gained the opportunity to engage in lifelong learning. The destruction of what Jack Straw in 1991 called "one of the finest adult education services in the world" has not been a conscious aim of New Labour. However, it has occurred as a direct result of priorities established and decisions taken in the name of a "lifelong learning" strategy. While the funding for basic skills and for work-related learning has been vastly increased, the small public subsidy that for half a century maintained general adult education provision nationwide has either been removed altogether or severely cut back and constrained. In this article, the author says the assumption among policy makers that everything worth funding can be measured has put the future of general adult education in serious doubt. He suggests the need for a new thinking in which general adult education could be a part of this new thinking and, indeed, a valuable vehicle for spreading the sustainability concept around the population.