thetorydiary: Localism

Localism

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The public sector unions will fight to save national pay bargaining but Cameron must defeat them

In an article for this morning's Telegraph Michael Fallon MP sets out five ways to cut Gordon Brown's budget deficit. His ideas included (1) culling quangoes (starting with the Cabinet); (2) giving police commanders, head teachers, NHS executives command over their budgets so that they can shift resources to the frontline; (3) emulation of best private sector practice in cost-cutting and (4) sharing and out-sourcing of back-office functions. But his fifth recommendation stood out:

"We can no longer afford the distortions of national pay scales. They are long gone in the private sector. Paying a fireman the same in Doncaster as in Dorking, or a council planner the same in Merthyr as in Maidenhead, doesn't help – why should hard-pressed public sector budgets carry the huge difference in living costs? Labour talked about local pay but soon backed down in the face of union intransigence, thus holding back the ability of areas like the North East or Wales to make more of their available labour, cheaper housing and utility costs. How can businesses thrive when they have to compete against rigged labour markets, in which public agencies enjoy national pay scales, subsidised pensions, generous sickness pay and greater job protection? Why are local councils still sheltering behind national pay bargaining?"

Michael Fallon is absolutely right. The Conservatives must use this fiscal crisis to deliver positive change for the country. An end to national pay bargaining (MIchael Gove has already suggested it for new schools) would be one such gain... but the powerful public sector unions will hate it. The confrontations could be as significant as those that faced Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. But the gains to the hard-pressed taxpayer and to labour market flexibility will be worth it.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 08:45 in Localism, Strikes and unions, Tax and spending | Permalink | Comments (42)

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

David Cameron countenanced PR for Welsh local elections

The Conservative leader was reportedly willing to agree to proportional representation as part of a draft coalition agreement that Welsh Conservatives were seeking to thrash out in the aftermath of the last Cardiff Assembly elections. The Guardian's Andrew Sparrow quotes Vernon Bogdanor's record of what went on:

"There had been serious negotiations between the three non-Labour parties – Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – with a view to forming a "rainbow" coalition. But these negotiations foundered, in part because the Conservatives would not countenance the introduction of proportional representation for local government elections. The Welsh Conservatives were, apparently, prepared to consider this proposal, and David Cameron, the Conservative leader at Westminster, was prepared to allow them to do so, but the shadow cabinet would not hear of it."

Earlier in the week Douglas Carswell MP blogged arguments in favour of an Irish-style PR:

"“Party list” PR would mean that instead of 7 out of 10 MPs having safe seats, it’d be 9 out of 10. Politics would become one giant “A list”. Yet, if we were to have multi-member seats, as in Ireland, combined with open primaries, law makers who didn’t listen to local people would be one term candidates. We’d have citizen law-makers championing the local interest in Westminster - and fewer professional politicians defending Westminster to their constituents. Multi-member seats would retain the constituency link – and produce clear working majorities, not endless coalitions. It’d ensure more choice when deciding who gets to be your next MP. And more competition, not just when opening fetes and holding advice surgeries, but when vying to champion local opinion."

Still worth reading is William Norton's 'Only losers like PR'.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 13:00 in Constitution and democracy, Local government and local elections, Localism, Wales | Permalink | Comments (37)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

David Cameron promises to look at availability of "very cheap drink"

Joining police officers in Hull yesterday to learn more about drink-fuelled crime, the Tory leader promised "serious changes" to Britain's licensing laws and made this statement according to the BBC and the Pontefract and Castleford Express:

"We need to look at the unbelievable availability of very cheap drink, getting three litres of cider for £1.99, at all hours of day and night. We've got to do something about this and I'm exploring what we can do to deal with the drink that's fuelling so much of the crime in our country."

The Conservative-run Westminster council has successfully pursued voluntary agreements with local supermarkets to stop the stocking of cheap, super-strength alcoholic drinks. The Conservatives also want to give local residents more powers to stop through-the-night opening of pubs and clubs.

Iain Duncan Smith proposed a higher price for alcohol and a higher tax that could be used to pay for more treatments to addicts. Tory members rejected that idea in a ConHome poll despite evidence that the relative price of alcohol has declined markedly over recent years.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, the new Tory candidate for Totnes, identifies binge drinking as one of the top three issues she hopes to address as a Conservative MP. She favours a minimum price for alcohol.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 09:03 in Law and order, Localism | Permalink | Comments (147)

Friday, May 29, 2009

What democratic reforms should emerge from expenses-gate?

It's not often that The Daily Mail, Mirror and The Independent all agree but all three newspapers have the MPs' 'golden goodbye' story on their front pages.

The Mail notes that each MP will qualify for 'parachute' payments of up to £129,532 if they stand down at the next election rather than now.

I have already argued for voters to be given the power to recall MPs in between elections if, in their mind, their local representative forfeits the right to continue as an honourable member. There should be high thresholds for the triggering of a recall election (David Green has suggested signatures from 20% of local voters) but, if passed, it should mean that MPs' compensation is at least curtailed. What other democratic reforms would you like to emerge from this crisis? David Cameron set out his thinking on Tuesday.

Here are five ideas of my own to get the discussion going...

The power for MPs voters to be able to sack/ recall MPs mid-term;
A 20% reduction in the number of MPs;
A renegotiation of our relationship with Europe that will see key powers returned to Westminster;
A 5% annual reduction in taxpayer funding of political parties until it is completely eliminated;
A cap on donations to political parties of £10,000pa by 2015 to force parties to go to the people for their funds. At the same time small donations should become tax deductible.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 07:19 in Constitution and democracy, Localism, Parliamentarians' duties and remuneration | Permalink | Comments (53)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Daniel Hannan and Douglas Carswell wrote David Cameron's speech today on devolving power

Well, no, in fact they didn't.

But the South East England MEP and Harwich MP can rightly claim to have been ahead of the curve when it comes to proposals to devolve power to lower levels; indeed, the ideas and even some of the rhetoric employed by David Cameron in his speech this morning is remarkably similar to that of Messrs Hannan and Carswell.

Compare the following, for instance.

Here's an extract of what David Cameron said this morning:

"I believe the central objective of the new politics we need should be a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power: from the state to citizens; from the government to parliament; from Whitehall to communities; from the EU to Britain; from judges to the people; from bureaucracy to democracy. Through decentralisation, transparency and accountability we must take power from the elite and hand it to the man and woman in the street."

And here is an extract from The Plan: Twelve Months to renew Britain, the book written by Daniel Hannan and Douglas Carswell last autumn:

"We need a radical shift of power... to redistribute power back, from Brussels to Westminster, from Whitehall to town halls, from the state to the citizens... to disperse power among communities, through localism and through referendums".

It hasn't taken very long for many of the ideas they set out in that book to become mainstream party policy. Dare I mention here that they also proposed repeal of the European Communities Act 1972?

Jonathan Isaby

Posted at 21:16 in Constitution and democracy, Europe, Localism, Parliamentarians' duties and remuneration | Permalink | Comments (67)

Cameron makes big promises on devolving power to citizens

11.15am update: Read the full text of David Cameron's speech here on Conservatives.com

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10.45am update: Click here from 11am to see the live webcast of David Cameron's Q&A after the speech.

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In an article for The Guardian - We need a massive, radical redistribution of power - David Cameron sets out some next steps for Britain's constitution and democracy.

The rhetoric is terrific:

Most - perhaps all - of the specific ideas highlighted by David Cameron have been announced before, however. They include, according to The Guardian:

Possible ending the right of Downing Street to control the timing of general elections by the introduction of fixed-term parliaments.
MPs could be handed the crucial power of deciding the timetable of bills and more free votes at committee stage.
Reducing whips' powers by allowing MPs to choose the chairs and members of Commons select committees.
Text alerts for voters on the progress of parliamentary bills.
Publication of the expenses claims of all public servants earning more than £150,000.
Empowerment of local councils with "competence" - allowing them to reverse Whitehall decisions to close popular services, such as a local post office or a railway station, by giving them the power to raise money to keep them open.

James Forsyth at Coffee House is 'hugely encouraged' by the speech. Stephan Shakespeare of YouGov - writes for ConservativeHome today about his enthusiasm for the wider Cameron vision for a post-bureaucratic age. Given Team Cameron's controlling instincts on party management I remain eager to see more beef. I would have liked to have seen measures for voters to be able to recall voters mid-term, for example. On our relationship with Europe, in particular, the Conservative leadership is cautious. I am disappointed at today's Times report that we may be colluding with Labour to keep party many political donations secret. Perhaps we will get more in the speech that David Cameron is giving on this subject at 11am.

Tim Montgomerie

> WATCH: Sky News report ahead of David Cameron's speech

Posted at 07:45 in Constitution and democracy, Europe, Localism, Parliamentarians' duties and remuneration | Permalink | Comments (141)