Jon Bright (London, OK): David Cameron made an important speech this morning on the structure of government in this country: he seems to really have the localism bit between the teeth, so to speak. He said:
I have described the 20th century as the 'bureaucratic age'. With huge advances in communications and travel, it became possible to concentrate power in the central state. Wise men in Whitehall had a monopoly of both information and capability - they knew the most about what was happening, and they had the most resources at their disposal to make things change. At the same time, our national culture emphasised conformity and knowing your place. There was a sense that top-down control was not only practical and efficient, but that it was also fair and moral...
...I believe that it's time to abandon that model once and for all. It is not fair and moral, just as it is not practical and efficient, for the state to control society. And I feel confident in saying that because the culture which justified the old way has changed. Society no longer emphasises conformity and knowing your place. Instead our culture reflects the extraordinary liberation, the huge growth in the horizon, which has taken place in the way we live.
We are living in what Cameron describes as a "post-bureaucratic age" - now, far from the state having a monopoly on information and capability, it is the individual, or local community, who is becoming increasingly informed and better able to make the decisions that affect them. He wants this fact to be reflected by our system of government.
The most significant of his many proposals is what he called the "democratisation of council tax" - large council tax rises must gain the approval of the local population via a referendum if they are to be brought in. Following on from the co-operatives he announced in Manchester last week, this has the tone and phrasing of a coherent "vision" for the country (a subtle mix of philosophy, rhetoric and policy proposals) - something Brown conspicuously failed to deliver at the Queen's speech. Is the old dying? Is this the new being born? Interesting stuff...
