The Tories should heed Milburn's warnings
Peter Hoskin 10:50am
There's been a lot of garbage spoken about social mobility in the past few days - almost all of it from the government. But if Tories need reminding that Alan Milburn - the new social mobility czar - gets it, then they should read his interview with Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester in today's Times. Here's one particularly striking paragraph:
"Labour's arch-moderniser is not, however, going to limit himself to considering the number of internships at law firms. In his view, the key to social mobility is education, and he has radical plans for reforming the entire schools system. He backs the Tory proposal to allow companies, charities and parent groups to set up their own schools, but he says: 'The Conservatives haven't gone nearly far enough.'"
Now, I'm not saying that the Tories should tremble with fear at Milburn's political swagger. But they should certainly steel themselves for a renewed fight over public service reform. As Janet Daley wrote a few days ago, Milburn's commitment to reform now has a chance to seep across government. And while Michael Gove's thinking on education is certainly robust enough to face a little extra competition, can the same be said of Tory health policy? We shall see.
P.S. I liked this diplomatic response from Milburn: "When we ask whether he thinks that Mr Brown opposed anything Tony Blair backed, he replies carefully: 'One leader is always better than two.'" Indeed.
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Simon
January 17th, 2009 11:02am Report this commentMilburn's problem is that he has come back into the dying days of a discredited government.
To tackle the issues he claims to wish to challenge, he needs to take on many groups with political agendas of their own and huge number of vested interests. His party is funded by a good number of them.
He might have the desire but he won't have the support.
An incoming Tory government will have more chance of achieving change than Milburn will.
It is more noise from Labour with no hope of delivery.
Nigel Bradshaw
January 17th, 2009 11:09am Report this commentThis interview is not available on the Times website!
Forlornehope
January 17th, 2009 11:20am Report this commentIs this positioning for a leadership fight after an electoral hammering? Labour's only hope of a return to power will be to avoid a swing to the left; Milburn seems to be positioning himself to lead the NewLab faction.
John Moss
January 17th, 2009 11:27am Report this commentI recall Milburn and Charles Clark talking about voucher funding some years ago.
Having promoted this in the Conservative Party for ten years I thought it would be the death of Conservatives if they got away with it. Thankfully, the Party has now embraced this and we will imppliment it if elected.
Personally I doubt Labour can, as there is a natural limit to what the left will stomach and with the unions so much in charge of Labour now, I cannot believe they will let Milburn get anything like this past Brown and Balls.
Publius
January 17th, 2009 11:45am Report this commentMilburn will not be allowed to do what it takes. He is window dressing.
seb
January 17th, 2009 12:59pm Report this commentLoan guarantee schemes. Aid to businesses to encourage them to take on the long-term jobless. Now it's the 'Swedish' reforms to education which, like the first two polices, were stolen by Labour from the opposition. What's next? We shouldn't be surprised, though. We were warned long ago of the Labour tactic of stealing their opponents' policies.
What is the Tory policy on health? Good question. We'll know for sure when it crops up in a speech from a Labour minister telling us of his brand new idea and how the opposition planned to do nothing about health.
If Milburn was committed to reform, why has his commitment taken until 2009 to surface? Is this to do with the more important and entirely bogus commitment to reform of the Noddy/Big Ears style duumvirate that has been New Labour since the mid 90s?
Mike, Brighton
January 17th, 2009 1:01pm Report this commentHang on isn't Ed Balls the schools secretary? Ed is a statist and doesn't buy into anything that Milburn says. Ed isn't going to like this and is not a shrinking violet when it comes to poisonous briefing and political assaination...Why is no-one screaming Labour split?
William Blake's Ghost
January 17th, 2009 1:14pm Report this commentI don't think there should be much surprise at Milburn's comments and think that there are many points in the Conservative policy portfolio where in future they could go further.
However, to do so immediately, in many cases would be like trying to do a U-turn in a car at 70 miles an hour on a busy highway. Inevitably such a manouvre would result in a crash in almost all circumstances.
It is much better to slow the car down first and then when the opportunity exists turn the car and head off in the opposite direction gathering pace as progress is made.
Milburn's comments are aimed at encouraging rash expectations and promises in the short term (primarily from the excitable and unthinking media) in an effort to slow the country's move towards the Conservatives. As such Milburn's comments should be filled under 'Spin - of little relevance'.
That said of course there are Conservative policy briefs that leave a considerable amount to desire and as the author points out Health is one of them (A transparent promotion of nannying bureacracy), along with Democracy & Localism that seems mainly a promotion of self-serving Parliamentary power and the environmental brief that even now too often is little more than a transparent promotion of anti-competitive large corporate interests at the cost of the taxpayer and last but not least the EU (where Cameron and Hague seem to be dithering perpetually).
In these areas Cameron does seem to be being lead by the nose by Labour into areas where Conservatives really should not tread. There are good conservative alternative means of achieving the same goals. It is a shame that the party leadership seem intent on ignoring them.
Simon
January 17th, 2009 2:17pm Report this commentMilburn has no power or authority. He is just going to make noise.
Labour cannot afford to alienate their funding sources - the unions - with 3 elections to pay for.
Brown has blocked Milburn in the past. He will block him again in the future.
Perhaps Milburn thinks this is his platform for the inevitable leadership contest. He has never resonated with the wider public and does not have an identifiable powerbase in the party (other than the NorthEast Labour 'mafia')
Sound and fury, sound and fury.
John Page
January 17th, 2009 3:03pm Report this commentHas Milburn been licensed, or is he just enjoying himself on the basis that he doesn't have a cabinet job to lose?
JimBob
January 17th, 2009 3:07pm Report this commentWell Phil Woolas looks after the BNP/UKIP vote, now Mr. Milburn has been brought in for the Tory vote. No reform will actually happen of course, for as long as our supreme leader sticks around.
Cynical Voter
January 17th, 2009 4:54pm Report this commentAmey, Costain and HSBC Infrastructure Fund Management own the schools around here courtesy of BSF and PFI....not sure any Charities or Parents will be able to handle HSBC as offshore landlords
Maybe the notion of transferring public land to international banks to own schools cuts across the quaint notion of schools set up by parents !
jim
January 17th, 2009 6:14pm Report this commentThe government will be bankrupt in a month or two, then they will be paralysed. Labour will struggle to get salaries paid, so this plan is dead.
Athesius the Facilitator
January 17th, 2009 7:23pm Report this commentThe chattering classes of Westminster and Islington seem to think that Alan "the posh geordie" Milburn makes one speech and all of a sudden we get a flip flop in the poles. Do me a favour all political commentators, get in the real world. And anyway the only way to reduce the problems of social mobility is to bring back grammar schools. Anything else is just tinkering.
SEAN
January 17th, 2009 9:24pm Report this commentWho (outside the Westminster village) do you think is going to take Milburn seriously on this? He can say whatever he likes, whether he means it or not, but no one cares. It's the economy that dominates voters' minds. If voters want a change on current Labour education policy, they'll vote for another party. Who's Alan Milburn anyway to the ordinary voter? (Never heard of him, mate. What's he got to do with the price of bread?)- as they say in Northern Ireland.
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