Cameron’s speech has shown new political battlelines for pro-establishment vs anti-establishment

Following David Cameron’s speech the verdict is… either a failure of David Cameron to explain or a failure of those listening to try and understand. Depending on who you are depends on your position.

I find it very interesting that we have a Tory talking about a fundamental change in relationship between state and citizen yet the Guardian has this to say:

A recent Ipsos Mori poll found that 55% of people had never even heard of the big society; 54% thought it was good in principle but wouldn’t work in practice. The big society is, and always has been, a dead duck… Cameron would be well advised to let the big society go – despite his best attempts to explain it, it just doesn’t chime with the times we are in. 

I’m afraid I could not disagree more. The way we are governed now is dated and is not working. A large bureaucratic system does not allow for people’s views to be taken seriously. It has resulted in lives being ruined or cut short (e.g. medicines due to NICE), lives are made harder by a denial of available support (JobCentre, Social Services, Mental Health Services), or hardship because of money they have to pay because of the way the system is set up, while there are clear cheaper alternative methods available (see Total Place thinking). It is a moral and ethical case that requires us to change the old system.

We will not longer be seen as customers of services but as partners of the government. We will be able to have a voice in the table of power. Changes will take place in real time in response to real life situations. We have the means and it is being tried all over the world right now (see some of my blog posts on Collaboration). It is an inevitability as it is a moral case. The Big Society is David Cameron’s attempt to go with this new movement of change.

The fact that David Cameron is on the right lines but has not hit the right note does not mean the idea is rubbish. He is on to something and some will defend the status quo but anyone interested in fairness and in liberty should start making it their business to understand what he is trying to say. It leaves a massive political gap for someone to come in and communicate this new message for these new times.

How about this: You own the government but you have little say in how it works and what you get back. I would like to change this so you have the power, you have the say, you make the decisions. We will support you, your ideas, and your creativity in making your community work for you. We will give you advisors, budgets, resources and power and you can make this country work as you want it to. Central government will be smaller, local government will be stronger, there will be less bureaucracy and so changes will happen quicker. We want government to be your partner.

I don’t call it the Big Society as this is too vague and some of what comes under the big society sounds too much like preaching to people about what they should or should not be doing with their time. I call the liberal idea of this new political settlement Collaborative Governance. It has nothing to do with cuts. It is a straight forward moral case that a new way of doing things will mean people’s lives will be better as a result.