Miliband: 'Cameron's substance is nonsense'

JR

Although I don't think the Labour Government are in any way blameless I'd still agree with this criticism of Cameron.

Just to take one example, welfare reform and the social justice initiatives. Cameron advocates localism. Great. Except he also endorses David Freud's report on welfae reform which calls for big large scale regional monopoly contracts for contractors. The two are incompatable.

On the same sort of issue - Cameron says he wants to devolve power and services to a local level - where possible to charities and social enterprises. However he also wants accountability. Local contracting and funding is notoriously inefficient and open to corruption. Therefore this needs a lot of people to monitor and oversee contracts if you want that accountability. This also is a problem for his NHS plans. I understand all of this has been clearly recognised by Conservative HQ but they have no answer for it. They're not willing to devlove money to local areas/trusts without strong accountability, but they're not happy to have the significant buracracy needed to monitor more local funding.

If they don't square those circles they risk turning the country into a giant rotton boroughs problem across a range of public services paid for as ever by tax payers money.

cuffleyburgers

Good points JR, but but provided there is transparency, very clear mission statements and the possibility at a local level to boot the rascals out on a regular basis then the scale of the problem can be limited. This can be improved further by making sure a part of the cost be raised through local taxation. This will focus minds on value for money.

Fact is there is no perfect solution, and the present situation; a vast gerrymandered benefits mafia run for the benefit of civil service time servers and jobsworths with next to no budgetary control and next to no accountability is clearly one of the worst possible options.

We have to move towards a solution in which value for money local solutions are found for local conditions. The best of these will be adopted where appropriate by other areas. Whitehall is the last place we should expect genuine innovation or value for money.

Terry

Didn't Oliver Letwin provide a good riposte in the next edition? Can you link to that, as well.

Jock

For David Miliband or any other New Labour minister to refer to Cameron's ideas as being "a hopeless muddle of state action and individual duty" is ironic beyond parody.This from the Government who are slaves to the law of unintended consequences and who eg followed their drive to end the deferential society by setting up a respect agenda under a respect Tsar.

On a more serious note, I fear Miliband is under-estimating the extent to which the next election will be about people voting against Labour than voting for the Conservatives.

Labour has reached that point that all parties in governments reach where the electorate decide their time is up. This happens due to a toxic mix of past failures catching up (notwithstanding any successes) and the hubris which seemingly overtakes all parties who have been in power for a lengthy period.

It is possible for the oppostion to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - witness the Major/Kinnock contest - but it is much more likely to be an blunder by Cameron than lack of detailed policies two years out that would rescue Labour.

Pete Hoskin

Terry: link added above.