Funny to think that empowering ordinary citizens was once a rallying cry of the left

17 April 2010

Toby Young suffers from Status Anxiety

Now at this point critics of Cameron’s big idea complain that it will only be middle-class people who become involved in running public services. ‘I can see cliques of middle-class parents getting into this — social exclusion yet again for the working class,’ wrote Linda Heaven-Woolley, a retired head teacher, on Left Foot Forward.

Yet if middle-class people are incapable of transcending their own narrow self-interest, isn’t Gordon Brown, a self-confessed member of the middle class, unfit to run the country? It’s a rubbish argument. When it comes to education, the Conservatives aren’t proposing to allow free schools to just admit middle-class children. They will be bound by the School Admissions Code, just like every other taypayer-funded school.

The same will be true of other public services taken over by citizen activists, whether job centres, post offices or refuse collection. The majority of the people doing the legwork will be middle class, but that doesn’t mean that working-class people won’t have access to these services. The idea is to run them more efficiently than the state — to offer the taxpayer better value for money — not to make them more exclusive. And they will still have to operate within a legal framework guaranteeing equal treatment for all. No one’s proposing that the state should ‘wither away’ completely.

Will enough people be willing to come forward for Cameron’s vision to become a reality? I think they will. Let’s not forget that taking over a role normally performed by the state is a lot more stimulating than helping deliver Meals on Wheels once a month. About half the people on my 12-person steering committee don’t have children — they’re intellectually captivated by the challenge of trying to start a school. To be honest, that’s as big a part of my motivation as wanting a good school for my own children.

It’s funny. I used to be a cynic myself, complaining about the fact that the country was going to the dogs. But then I tore myself away from the telly and decided to do something about it. I’ve become Jackie Ashley and she’s become me. I just hope she enjoys carping from the sidelines as much as I enjoy being an activist.