ELECTION 2005

[Stanley]

ELECTION 2005

2 May 2005

Well, they have all had their say and we have been exposed to the usual barrage of half truths, insults to our intelligence and in some cases downright lies. Par for the course I suppose in these days of total media rule. The question that occurs to me is whether the campaigning process has shed any light on the issues. It could be said that the emergence after two years of the Attorney General’s thought processes on the decision to invade Iraq was a good thing but did it actually help anyone make up their minds who to vote for? You can all think of your own examples.
I’ll admit to a bit of a wobble about three weeks ago when I actually considered voting Liberal but common sense prevailed. I shall vote on principle as I have in every election since I first got the vote and Labour still cuts it for me. There were two major factors in this decision; first was personal loyalty to our MP Gordon Prentice who has always voted on conscience and what he believed were the best interests of his constituents. Second was basic socialist principles, even though it is very hard to clearly distinguish this most valuable of political assets in some of the leading figures in the Labour party.
I’m struggling now as I consider all the things I would like to say about the last eight years. My problem is that I have seen too many governments, read too much history and thought too much about the changes I have seen in the last fifty years. I can remember the government of 1945 and the sense of excitement I had at nine years old when I realised what was happening. The major event of course was the founding of the National Health Service based on socialist principle and the work of that most excellent Liberal, William Beveridge. Looking back, I realise now that apart from the benefits we got in health care, the most important effect of this was that it proved that change was possible, the sky didn’t fall and if such a fundamental break-out from establishment thinking could be made to work, anything was possible. I still believe this to be true but have realised that the processes are so slow I shan’t see them happen in my lifetime. What do I see as the most important change we have yet to make? Like all great ideas it is so simple in concept but so difficult in execution, it is redistribution of wealth and opportunity without damaging the economic base of reward coupled to ability. End of the SCG manifesto.
If I had to choose one area in which the management of the government of any country could be improved it would be to strive for competence. Narrowing this down even further it would be an iron rule which stated that before any executive action the question should be asked ‘Is this the best thing to do’. No effort should be spared to avoid partiality and embrace logic and sound principle. I can hear you all laughing and saying ‘But that’s what is done now and look where it has got us’.
Just one example on a global level, was it the ‘best thing to do’, was it logical and principled to force Mesopotamia into a mould which best suited ‘The Great Powers’ at the beginning of the 20th century? Look at the chain of events which stemmed from that arrogant action based on self-interest. Who trained and supported Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, to name but two, and sowed the seeds of repression and conflict? Apply the same thinking to any part of the world where boundaries and ethnic divisions were ignored for the greater good of the ‘Great Powers’ and you have identified today’s worst global hot spots.
At national level and in the more recent past, was it the right thing to do to rush through privatisation of the railways in the dying moments of a Tory administration? Could it have been done better?
At government level, was it the right thing to do for the 1997 Labour administration to try to run the country as a political campaign once a massive majority had been won? Was it right to believe that the same tools of spin, control and drawing in of power to the centre were the only way to preserve that majority? Was it right to pursue change by setting targets and imposing more and more levels of regulation in health, education and public services? Was it right to erode power at local government level and at the same time devolve ‘responsibilities’ to them? (In other words, slash their budgets by making them finance government edicts without matching central funding.)
On a personal level, above all, was it right to attempt to emulate a presidential system of government without the necessary checks and balances of a written constitution? Are unelected advisers and sofa government any substitute for Parliament and Cabinet responsibility? My problem with this is that by doing so too much power devolves into the hands of the leader and the style and substance of government becomes a reflection of that leader’s personal qualities. If those qualities are arrogance, inordinate self-belief and a miserable lack of understanding of the history and lives of the populace you have a recipe for disaster.
The only thing that will save us from electoral disaster is the weakness of the Tory Party and ironically this is a product of the fact that they suffered from the same institutional flaws under Thatcher. This destroyed them as a credible opposition and it will be a long time before they find their way back to the true path. The Liberals show signs of assuming their mantle but they will only become fit to govern when they have passed through at least two terms as a main opposition party. Perhaps the most crucial factor in how this country is governed in the mid 21st century will be whether they can achieve this before the Tories get their act together again.
Where does my beloved Labour Party stand in all this? It all depends on how the Liberals shape up in this election. If they can make a breakthrough and gain enough seats to deprive Labour of an overall majority there is a chance that Labour will re-focus and adjust their mode of government. If they do not they will not be able to guarantee a fourth term and whoever leads them will be in for a rough ride.
Alright, this is a very personal view and is no doubt flawed and open to argument but it is at least based on history. Thursday’s poll is the most important I have seen in my lifetime regardless of party allegiance. It will set the map of party politics for most of the rest of this century and it’s going to be a rough ride. Great changes are stirring world wide. The hegemony of the West based on cheap energy is crumbling as I write. China, India and Africa are boiling with long repressed energy. Climate change and competition for scarce resources are looming on the horizon. My belief is that in the end, common interest and technology will prevail if given a chance. My fear is that simple lack of competence and principle could be the catalysts of our own destruction. I shall not be here to see it but my descendants will and I wish them the very best.

2 May 2005