Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for 10 years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Professor Bernard Crick writing to The Guardian letters page today:
Strangely, Gordon Brown set out clearly a new theme and potentially popular direction for Labour in his Fabian Society speech of 2006: "People and communities should now take power from the state and that means ... a reinvention of the way we govern: the active citizen, the empowered community, open enabling government." This implied, he said, a new constitutional settlement, taking citizenship seriously, rebuilding civil society, working for integration of minorities, and to be internationalist at all times. In other words, a radical decentralisation of power.
Does this have to be just good rhetoric and thoughtful mere words? He could use his office to transform politics by diminishing the centralised state and enhancing and trusting local government. Despite the craziness of trying to micro-manage a country of 50 million (England) from the centre, both major parties are nervous of local government because they are scared of the tabloid press forever trumpeting one local folly of the other side as if it were typical. We used to believe and teach that local government was the school of democracy. I once remarked to a secretary of state for education that if we could no longer speak and mean socialism, we might at least speak and mean democracy.
Bernard Crick
Edinburgh
A distrustful and insecure government could be even more reluctant today to devolve power to Conservative and Liberal Democrat controlled local authorities than it was even a week ago. A bold and forward thinking government, however, would commit itself to a greater devolution of powers to local level. For far too long we have run away from returning this responsibility to local authorities in case a 'Derek Hatton' springs up somewhere else, or the Daily Mail starts its demented squawking about 'Winterval' or 'Ba, Ba, White Sheep'.
The centralisation of power in England from local government to Westminster has been continuing unabated for decades and the Brown administration has an opportunity to reverse the trend. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has shown that people can be trusted if they are empowered. Neither Thatcher nor Blair had any time for local government, and as the powers and responsibilities have ebbed away from elected local government to nationally funded quangos it is little surprise that people question why they should vote in local elections.
Last Thursday, trying to get out the vote in the pouring rain, a woman on the doorstep said, "Why should I bother? The Council don't do anything anyway." I gave her my standard answer about the schools, and the roads, and the bins and the streetlights, before she jumped in with... "So, what are you telling me, if I don't go out and vote... we'll have no streetlights?" And she has a point. Local Government these days is not so much an instrument of local democracy as it is an administrative arm of central government.
So, when are we going to get that 'radical decentralisation of power' that Professor Crick describes?
I am a strong believer of devolution and as Brown seems to be of the same school of thought as John Smith I would hope that we should see it emerging at some point. However, I think that Brown has too many other problems at the moment ot worry about devolution.
Unitary councils are a step in the right direction though.
Decentralisation and Labour are like chalk and cheese Bob. Labour government thinks it knows best so it is not going to give local authorities power to deliver on local issues. The number of quangos since 1997 has grown like bindweed. No accountability of course, just the local imposition arm of central government without the need to go 12 rounds with elected councillors. At least we agree on the need to give real power to local representatives.
Yes, remind me Tony, whose 'central Government' was it who scrapped the democratically elected GLC and the Metropolitan County Councils, I can't quite remember.
The reality is that Conservative and Labour Governments have been centralising power for decades, and I accept that. Not you though, you have to try to make some cheap party political point out of it. What is it with you Tories? Have you had your critical nerves taken out by your leadership or are you just frightened you might have to wait even longer pulling faces on the sidelines?
May 7, 2008 10:43 AM | permalink
You're never going to get decentralisation under Brown. Ever.