Take the welfare state. Nick says that it is ‘distorted by the sheer scale of centralised control and micro management’. Where’s the evidence? The system of benefits in this country is based on the same entitlement for every citizen. So being unemployed in Somerset gives you the same benefits as being unemployed in Stornoway. That is not about centralisation. It is about rights. What is wrong with those rights?
Nick will ‘clear the statute book of pointless offences’. Good, if that will mean no ID cards. But, will it mean that wholesale reform of unnecessary and undemocratic state interference in the affairs of trade unions? Place your bets now! Meanwhile he will ‘pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to deal with this once and for all.’ The first stage should be a police investigation into the Ashcroft funding of the Tories. But will it? The inevitable main target of the reforms will be to limit union donations to the Labour party effectively individualising union affiliation to Labour with a requirement to opt in rather than opt out.
Then there’s the promise about more control over ‘the schools and hospitals that you use.’ That means more foundation hospitals trusts that are accountable to no one, accompanied by the creation of ‘independent state schools’ in middle class enclaves, decreasing the overall education budget for the community.
What was that demand before the election Dave, Oh sorry Nick? Proportional representation was the buzz word? How did we end up here, attempting to usher in a half decade of Tory dictatorship?
