http://thisismytruth.org/2011/05/23/bring-on-a-new-age-of-co-operatives/
This political generation has a genuine chance to be different, to change the political and economic culture for many years to come. Just as the post war generation built the corporatist concensus and the Thatcherites made private sector adulation a holy grail, the current crop of politicos can equally make their mark.
Current political debate seems to be concerned with managing the slow, lingering death of Thatcherism with a Blairite tinge. The Tories are overly concerned with "rolling back the frontiers of the state", to quote William Hague in 1976. But rather than seeking to privatise the public services, we should be seeking to socialise business and build an economy that works for the good of society rather than a handful of individuals.
The co-operative movement is growing and a fanfare for that. Co-ops involve local people taking an interest in the economy of their local area. The ambition of large companies is that we simply see the total at the bottom of the receipt and not the damage that we do to our local area by filling their coffers. For the sake of 10p off a tin of chopped tomatoes, we often close our eyes to the unethical shopping, the anti-union tendencies and the enslavement of producers, suppliers and distributors. Better to pay the little bit extra to make sure that independent suppliers survive, making sure that we are not enthralled to one company for everything - a company who can then leave us in the lurch without notice or complaint. Caring about your customers, staff, environment and the local economy makes a huge difference, every little genuinely helping.
While governments create the impression of trusting local people to make economic decisions, we are still not trusted politically. Genuine local democracy does not exist and has not done since the introduction of rate-capping. Margaret Thatcher's beloved Poll Tax (officially and laughably known as the Community Charge) was meant to increase accountability, but simply led to a rehash of the Rate Support Grant. Council Tax has not moved the relationship between local and central government forward. David Cameron is proud of having told councils to freeze council tax. I think I'm more capable of knowing whether a rise in council tax is more necessary in this area than Cameron is. Let the council set the rate and let the voters decide whether they want it or not. If people want to re-elect their councils they will. If they want to kick them out, they will. Central government meddling in local affairs has reduced the role of local elections to an annual referendum on the performance of the occupants of Downing Street.
If we are to have a real localism agenda, we should be making our own political and economic decisions. Local banks setting interest rates for people in their area would be a start. Unemployment in the north is not a price worth paying for low inflation in the south, despite what Eddie George once said. Areas with low college staying on rates should be offering grants and tuition fees to their students, those suffering low economic growth could vary their business rates, while elderly care should be regulated by vigorous local inspections, rather than the current, misfiring reliance upon a centralised system which is overloaded and underfunded. And if you don't like what this costs? Vote against it. It's your democratic right.
From the large supermarkets who want you to buy one product to governments who want to give you Hobson's choice at the ballot box, it's time we started saying "no". There are plenty of politicians who cry "Nanny State" whenever we are given any health advice. Strange how they keep silent when their own paymasters interfere in our lives. If any political party is serious about decentralisation, the time to prove it is now.
This political generation has a genuine chance to be different, to change the political and economic culture for many years to come. Just as the post war generation built the corporatist concensus and the Thatcherites made private sector adulation a holy grail, the current crop of politicos can equally make their mark.
Current political debate seems to be concerned with managing the slow, lingering death of Thatcherism with a Blairite tinge. The Tories are overly concerned with "rolling back the frontiers of the state", to quote William Hague in 1976. But rather than seeking to privatise the public services, we should be seeking to socialise business and build an economy that works for the good of society rather than a handful of individuals.
The co-operative movement is growing and a fanfare for that. Co-ops involve local people taking an interest in the economy of their local area. The ambition of large companies is that we simply see the total at the bottom of the receipt and not the damage that we do to our local area by filling their coffers. For the sake of 10p off a tin of chopped tomatoes, we often close our eyes to the unethical shopping, the anti-union tendencies and the enslavement of producers, suppliers and distributors. Better to pay the little bit extra to make sure that independent suppliers survive, making sure that we are not enthralled to one company for everything - a company who can then leave us in the lurch without notice or complaint. Caring about your customers, staff, environment and the local economy makes a huge difference, every little genuinely helping.
While governments create the impression of trusting local people to make economic decisions, we are still not trusted politically. Genuine local democracy does not exist and has not done since the introduction of rate-capping. Margaret Thatcher's beloved Poll Tax (officially and laughably known as the Community Charge) was meant to increase accountability, but simply led to a rehash of the Rate Support Grant. Council Tax has not moved the relationship between local and central government forward. David Cameron is proud of having told councils to freeze council tax. I think I'm more capable of knowing whether a rise in council tax is more necessary in this area than Cameron is. Let the council set the rate and let the voters decide whether they want it or not. If people want to re-elect their councils they will. If they want to kick them out, they will. Central government meddling in local affairs has reduced the role of local elections to an annual referendum on the performance of the occupants of Downing Street.
If we are to have a real localism agenda, we should be making our own political and economic decisions. Local banks setting interest rates for people in their area would be a start. Unemployment in the north is not a price worth paying for low inflation in the south, despite what Eddie George once said. Areas with low college staying on rates should be offering grants and tuition fees to their students, those suffering low economic growth could vary their business rates, while elderly care should be regulated by vigorous local inspections, rather than the current, misfiring reliance upon a centralised system which is overloaded and underfunded. And if you don't like what this costs? Vote against it. It's your democratic right.
From the large supermarkets who want you to buy one product to governments who want to give you Hobson's choice at the ballot box, it's time we started saying "no". There are plenty of politicians who cry "Nanny State" whenever we are given any health advice. Strange how they keep silent when their own paymasters interfere in our lives. If any political party is serious about decentralisation, the time to prove it is now.
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