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David's Diary |
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A progressive alliance to decentralise British politics
15/12/2007
Next year I want the Conservative Party to be the leading voice in British politics for an exciting agenda of decentralisation and political reform. A key party of our political vision is to give people more opportunity and power over their lives, and a key aspect of our political approach - the move to a new, post-bureaucratic age - is the devolution of power from Westminster and Whitehall to local authorities, neighbourhoods and individuals.
This modern decentralisation agenda is key to achieving social and environmental progress in the twenty-first century. We will never win the fight to make British poverty history as long as we rely on top-down, centralised state mechanisms. We will only achieve our green objectives - whether improving the quality of life in our neighbourhoods or reducing carbon emissions - by empowering individuals and communities.
One particularly exciting aspect of this decentralisation agenda is that it is shared by other parties. Last year, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats worked together to pass the Sustainable Communities Bill, a measure which will see a major transfer of power from Westminster and Whitehall to local communities. This follows our success in working together to put pressure on the Government to introduce a Climate Change Bill. I believe the Green Party also shares our commitment to decentralise political power in Britain, and our commitment to social justice and environmental progress.
I’ve always believed that political parties, even though they may have serious disagreements over many aspects of policy, should work together in those areas where they agree. So I hope than in 2008 the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party will join us in putting pressure on the Government to decentralise power, and that together we can create a new progressive alliance to decentralise British politics.
Posted by tonymakara 15/12/2007 22:59:21
Subject: Consensus benefits us all
Consensus is a good thing for us all. Every political party is fundamentally well-intentioned its just that each party has its own perspective and for this reason consensus is not always possible. However when consensus is possible all parties should work together to achieve commonly held objectives. Let us hope that the coming years will herald an era of mutual co-operation between politicians of every ilk.
Posted by SmokelessCoal 15/12/2007 23:06:56
Subject:
"Last year, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats worked together"
Excuse my ignorance but is that not the same as a coalition?
Like, vote Conservative for Liberal policies.
Posted by JamesM 16/12/2007 13:40:27
Subject: So no nukes or airport expansion, then?
If the Tories want to be genuinely progressive, there's a lot more they need to work on. A wee score-card for you:
1. Climate change: 2/10 (appear to understand the issue now, but still committed to airport and road expansion, unwilling to take tough decisions to reduce emissions).
2. Decentralisation: 4/10 (centralised hard when last in power, some positive noises now but no real sign of change)
3. Tolerance: 6/10 (the leader appears genuinely to "get it" on anti-discrimination, but the four points are lost for the large swathes of the party that doesn't).
4. Economics: 2/10 (the unmodified free market, just dressed up a little: this undermines all the other social objectives)
5. Civil liberties: 7/10 (doing good work in opposition to ID cards, detention without trial, but still committed to prison-centric approach and prison-building, ironically still obsessed with drugs as a criminal issue)
That's just a starter for five, and it would churlish not to admit some small moves in a progressive direction, issues we could work with Tories on, but overall it's still a failing grade, I'm afraid.
James
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