Politics: change required

Today’s Guardian articles and speech by David Cameron are probably one of the most important statements he will make as Leader of the Opposition.

If he means it, if he’s elected, and if he achieves what he says he wants to, he will go down in history as a great reforming Prime Minister.  If he doesn’t… well, I don’t really want to get into that.

He has a number of factors working to his advantage at the moment. He is a lucky politician – never underestimate the advantage that can bring.  (See Gordon Brown for what happens if you’re not). He is able to sound reasonable, likeable and moderate on pretty much any subject.  He is not in government – which means he is able to explore ideas with greater ease, and indeed ditch them if need be – and he is not easily panicked by political turbulence or poll ratings.

But perhaps the two most important factors are these: he sniffs the political wind and is able to respond to it far quicker than most.  I say he; obviously there is a group of people within Parliament and CCHQ who do this with him.  However, he is the face of it.  And secondly, he uses his political and personal judgement to great effect.

I’ve lost count of the number of comments on politicalbetting I’ve read recently that say something along the lines of, “I’ve been out canvassing/talking to co-workers etc, and they think that while all politicians are at it, at least David Cameron gets that it’s a problem and is doing something about it.” 

There is currently a fundamental disconnect in how our institutions interact with people.  I get the impression that MPs’ behaviour over their expenses is linked to a rise in a culture that says, ‘I must take all I deserve,’ which I think has been encouraged by the ongoing reduction in the control people have over their own lives.  In other words – as the state increases its role, people no longer feel part of a community or a society, and instead see themselves much more as just an individual with no obligations to the wider world. And as a result, they just think of their rights and not their responsibilities.

Returning control to people makes institutions more accountable.  As I’ve argued time and again, governments don’t like ceding power – it makes them twitchy; it’s hard to implement and even harder to maintain.  But, like David Cameron, Douglas Carswell and Dan Hannan, I believe it’s the only answer.

Related posts:

1. Old politics: change required
2. Required Reading
3. Change them now