Bubble dwelling idiots

Bubble dwelling idiots

They are doing it again. Radical reform! In todays Times Nick Herbert and John Healey (who they?) prattle on about reforming Whitehall (again). And yes, there is even the obligatory reference to Sir Humphrey. In their superior wisdom they opine that:

For the first time since the Second World War, all three major parties have current or recent experience of government. All are anticipating a competitive general election. There is now an opportunity to find common ground on change.

To seize this opportunity, we are today launching a new project, GovernUp, backed by senior politicians of all parties, former civil servants, Whitehall advisers and business leaders. GovernUp will offer solutions to all three party leaders before the next election and aim to build a cross-party consensus on the changes required. The recent introduction of extended ministerial offices, which allow ministers to bring in outside talent to strengthen their teams, demonstrates the potential for new thinking.

Note that they wish to consult politicians, civil servants, advisors and "business leaders".  But what about us voters? And there's your problem.  Inside the Westminster Bubble, our opinions are not even on their radar.  It does not even occur to them to ask us.

"We believe the time has therefore come to take a fresh look at how government is organised, to reassess the balance between central and local power and to consider more radical options to improve the skills and accountability of Whitehall."

Tripe! These men do not know the meaning of the word "radical" and certainly have little idea what "accountability" means. Leaving aside that all large bureaucracies are unreformable without breaking them up, the main reason for the persistent dysfunction of government is the complete absence of democracy and civic participation.  That is because the public know that their vote is worthless - and they don't get a say in how things are run. The structure of the state forbids it.

We are living in what David Aaronovich calls today in the Times (in reference to Russia), a "pseudocracy - a political system that has the formal appearance of a democracy, but in which the substance of democracy is gradually eroded until the vote itself is almost the only thing left." And elections, for all they are worth, are simply a opinion polls.  Aaronovich needs to pay attention closer to home.

We have a solution though. We have written a "new template" for government that you should see.  It's called The Harrogate Agenda. Read it.