PluggedIn – Cynicism and Localism
Author: Alex Thomson in the MJ |
I have worked both in Government as a civil servant and in politics so I’m no stranger to cynicism.
But precisely because I have that direct experience, I’m always annoyed when sneering commentators make sweeping statements about the motives of politicians.
Often I hear or read a version of “well of course I know that a less centralised country is a desirable goal but it’s never going to make it into the manifestos, after all who would vote for that?” Look at what happened with mayors, they say – as if that encapsulates all that localism is and could be.
There are two big things wrong with this. Firstly, the grating presumption that politicians make decisions only and always with the ballot box in mind, whereas my experience is that the majority of Parliamentarians are in politics for the right reasons and are driven by the desire to do what they can to improve the lives of citizens.
But even more annoying is the casual dismissal of the appeal of localism. Local government has a long record of being significantly more trusted than Parliament, and of having much higher approval ratings. Ah, but the knockers say, that’s the situation now, changing the balance of power would be dangerous.
That theory was tested in a recent survey conducted by Anglia Ruskin University of more than 400 Labour councillors in the 156 most marginal constituencies.
When asked about giving councils genuine financial autonomy from Whitehall – and explicitly reminded that while this would ‘give councillors greater freedom to grow their own localities’, it would also “risk certain authorities underperforming’ – there was overwhelming support with 82% in favour and just 10% against. That looks like a pretty powerful rejection of the postcode lottery scaremongers to me.
Again the siren voices intrude to suggest that ‘well they would say that, they’re councillors’. But when asked what the impact of such a pledge would be at the ballot box, the councillors’ view by a six to one margin was that such devolution would be a positive electoral asset. So not just a good thing, but a vote winner as well.
It would seem then that localism and local government aren’t as unpopular as some might make out. Maybe, just maybe, there really is a growing realisation in the corridors of power that decentralisation is an essential part of a sustainable future for public services – and something to talk about too.