Liberal Vision

Tim Farron would get my vote..

…If I could vote that is!

With Vince stepping down from the job as deputy leader of the Lib Dems, no sooner are we out of one election, we find ourselves facing another. This one however really only concerns 57 individuals. Which is a blessing in many ways – as I think many of us are “electioned-out”. 

I am a bit disappointed that only two MPs have come forward so far…. Though I understand that several of the obvious choices (Norman Lamb is the obvious name that comes to mind)may feel that their roles in Government prevent them from stepping forward… But I, for one, am very pleased that Tim Farron has put his name forward.

He has proved himself to be an excellent MP, impressive campaigner, a great team player and all round nice guy (with seemingly impossible levels of energy!). I am sure that we dont see exactly eye to eye on some areas of policy- but there is no doubting his outright abilities.

Back on June 14th 2009, Liberal Vision asked the question “Is Tim Farron the Lib Dems best campaigner”. Yes we certainly thought he was. Mark Littlewood wrote on this very blog….. 

“Tim Farron may not be a household name yet, but keep a close eye on the 39 year old MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale. Having ended nearly a century of Tory dominance at the last General Election with a majority of less than 500,  you’d expect his seat to be categorised as “ultra-marginal”. And no doubt Tim Farron is wisely treating it as such.

But some of the psephological info emerging from the Lake District is so amazing that computer programs would probably reject it as being too ridiculous. …..

……If Tim Farron converts Westmorland into being a rock-solid seat at the General Election, watch his national profile soar in the next Parliament.”

 

Well – he certainly delivered on his own constituency – in spades, and I think has the necessary attitude and drive for the job . I also think he deserves to take the next step in his own political career. So, for what it’s worth I hope he gets the job. Good luck Tim.

Tags: Deputy leadership, Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron

Headline-chasing ‘soft jobs’ scheme should not be missed

One Labour scheme suspended by the new Government has been the “Future Jobs Fund” (FJF). Aptly named given it was specifically designed to spend public money on temporary‘socially useful’ jobs in the public sector today, to give the appearance of action, not create sustainable employment. The future jobs in question then were those of Labour ministers. They and the usual suspects are dismayed.

Happily for the unemployed, on that latter point it failed. Labour’s record on youth unemployment is just as bad as their Conservative predecessors, even towards the end of the last boom after a sustained period of job creation in the real economy. 

The proposed cost of the FJF was £1bn, and it was a scheme based on a entirely unconvincing piece of spin that the Government could ‘guarantee’ a job to those out of work for long time. Local Councils and third sector organisations, for example Lincolnshire Dance and the Big Issue, could bid for the services of the long-term unemployed, and receive payments of up to £6,500 for doing so, provided the work was ‘additional’, would benefit local communities, and had some vague unverifiable connection to long-term employment prospects… which if with the same organisations… would require continued subsidy from those paying taxes in the real economy.

Where the FJF certainly created work was for Council and regional communications teams in Labour heartlands who were able to create expensive mini-sites and blogs to talk about what they were doing temporarily for small numbers of the youth unemployed. Peterborough usefully currently have two FJF vacancies for Careers Advisers… how appropriate…

What is most unforgivably awful about this scheme though is much of what is bad about it mirrors the known worst aspects of the previous New Deal schemes where the long-term unemployed were endlessly recycled through the same training and community chain gangs without developing real skills real employers really want. Most of those ‘helped’ by the New Deal would have found work anyway. Something highlighted by Reform’s Welfare isn’t Working report, back in 2007.

What worked best about the New Deal, was where it linked up the unemployed with relevant real work opportunities. An entirely subsidised job that couldn’t exist without the scheme, however ‘socially useful’, is not that.

There is though a superficial appeal in schemes that pay employers of any stripe to take on the unemployed. If  for example unemployment really does cost £8,000 per person a year or more, that appears to be saving money.

But what this tends to do is get the government to either subsidise jobs employers would pay for anyhow (therefore costing more). Or create perverse incentives, like the FJF, for employers to manufacture jobs they can’t otherwise justify purely to get the incentive. Further where the job is real, making it only available to the long-term unemployed may mean it is denied to the recently unemployed or new entrants.

With the FJF and New Deal then the unemployed and the money slosh about, with much wasted on administration and promotion.

Welfare to work,  decentralisation of budgets, reducing poverty traps, and smaller incentives for agencies to place recruits like recruitment consultants, are welcome proposed changes to the system.

The FJF scheme may return in some form. But if it does it needs to be simpler, targeted on real employment opportunities, and tailored to the individual needs of the person it is designed to help not a generic target designed for headlines.

Has the coalition ruined my Thursday nights?

Did tonight show us the future of UK television political coverage? I sincerely hope not.

First I watched Question Time. No Government minister on the programme..because, the BBC say, Downing Street said it would put up a minister but only if the Labour spokesperson was a serving Labour MP not Alistair Campbell… The BBC told the Government to sod off and it was up to them who they invited onto the show. First signs of BBC/government tensions? It was frankly silly of the Government to big up Campbell like that…but even sillier of the BBC to choose Alistair Campbell in the first place.

The guests were in fact all FORMER SOMETHINGs…. Alistair Campbell (former Labour spin doctor) looking very smug, Piers Morgan (former newspaper editor – and a big Labour supporter), Max Hastings (another former newspaper editor), Susan Kramer (former Lib Dem MP), and John Redwood (former cabinet minister)….Even if some of them have columns,books, or entertainment TV shows on the go these days.

Being brutally honest who cares what a load of former somethings think… It was dull,dull,dull especially when Campbell droned on like a broken record about why Blair took us into Iraq (yawn). The highlight, frankly, was when Susan Kramer described Ming Campbell as the John Redwood of the Lib Dems..(I doubt she meant it to come out quite the way it did).

It is early days of course – so let’s hope they sort out their spat with NO10 and find some panellists who are somewhat more relevant to the issues at hand or at least have something  to say.

I am now watching Andrew Neal’s THIS WEEK as I write. This too has gone a tad off- piste and is NOT working. Although I have always thought Diane Abbott a tad mad, there is undoubtedly a chemistry between the sharp-as-knife Michael Portillo and his giggling sidekick.

Diane Abbott has been replaced by Hazel Blears because, as Abbott is running in the Labour leadership election, the BBC was concerned her continued appearance as a pundit would breach its editorial independence guidelines. (Though rumour has it that Ms Abbott will feature on next week’s Question Time??).

Hazel Blears is deemed a suitable replacement. She is, let’s remember, one of the worst  home flippers there is..which begs the question that of all the MPs to choose to replace Abbott …why her? What can she possibly bring to the piece other than as an expert on tax avoidance?

Hazel Blears and David Davis (their replacements) are pale immitations of the real thing and just too painful to watch –  Ms Blears squeaking and wriggling her way through the show whilst David Davis (Portillo’s replacement) manouvers himself  tight into the corner, as far away from her as he possibly can on such a small piece of furniture. David Davis is not doing a bad job actually- but even he can’t carry the feeble efforts of the mighty midget. I have had to switch off.

I now live in hope that Ms Abbott can return to This Week’s love seat once she fails to get 33 Labour MPs to nominate her for the Leadership election – I never thought I would be writing that particular line ! (Dont even mention Ms Abbott and London Mayoral elections)

When the coaltion was finally agreed , I did wonder whether this would see the end of three-way politics on TV, with the Lib Dems squeezed out of the debate entirely …I never thought it would result in yawn TV. Perhaps the BBC have just been caught on the hop.. and it will get better (it surely can’t get worse) or may be the most radical and exciting government in decades really does make for crap TV. Has the coalition really ruined my Thursday nights? I hope not.

Tags: Alistair Campbell, Andrew Neal, BBC, John Redwood, Piers Morgan, Question Time, Susan Kramer, This Week

Quangos-a-go-go

So the coalition have settled in, and our very own David Laws has got his chainsaw out. Well, NO actually, it’s a scalpel we are told. 

(I am hoping that like most good gory video games he’ll reach level 5 and swap that “scalpel” for something that’s more appropriate for the task – like a chainsaw gun at the very least, but anyway…)

Wielding his trusty “scalpel”, Laws is stating that  the government will find £600million from Quangos. That’s really not very much when you consider what we spend on them. According to the (previous) government’s own figures, “in 2008/09, total expenditure by Executive NDPBs (Non Departmental Government bodies),   was around £46.5bn. Of this, around £38.4bn was funded directly by Government”. And that’s excluding charities and pressure groups that get direct Government money (e.g. ASH that gets direct funding from the Health Department).

Well, if they are not going to do drastic – can they at least do fun? After all there’s not going to be much to laugh about in the coming months (except England failing to reach the quarter finals of course).

Following on from the rip-roaring success of the TV Leaders debates, I rather like the idea of reviewing Quango’s publicly. I am thinking a hybrid Saturday night TV show along the lines of “Britain’s Got Talent” with a splash of retro “Noels House Party” thrown in. “Quangos-a-go-go” has a nice Saturday night feel to it.

The idea is that each week we are offered a selection of quango’s that are each given two minutes to present “their case”. If the judges panel – David Laws, George Osborne and Tessa Munt (got to have a gorgeous blond!) hit their “reject” button before the two minutes are up, a vat of custard is dropped on the quango-istas from a great height (the custard , not the vat) and they are sent duly packing.

If they survive the full two minutes, the TV audience gets to vote by phone for how much money they get. We keep being told that “we are all in this together” so why not involve the public in the decision? And we may just raise enough number from the phone calls to pay for some of them.

Which should we see up first on the show ? (ignoring the obvious ones like Regional Development agencies, BECTA, Standards Board for England etc)….

Sustainable Development Commission

Call it what you will, this is nothing more than a  Government sponsored campaign for increases in environmental policy. It is just madness to fund an organisation to lobby yourself. Definite custard bath time.

National Policing Improvement Agency

Supposedly created to remove layers of bureaucracy from policing. Ha! that worked. More seriously, any organisation that says its purpose in life is “to make a unique contribution to improving public safety” and then singularly fails to explain exactly HOW they are going to do it, deserves all the custard it can get. And when you read phrases like“ten year strategic framework“..”High potential development scheme“..”simplified competency framework” and “talent management“…You just know its time to put on your wellies.  They spend an eye-watering £535 million (mostly on spin by the looks). Definite custard bath.

National College for School Leadership

This was set up to improve the quality of head-teachers. If you want better head teachers, pay them more. The £105million it spends would go some way towards it. Worringly this particular group has quango-creep. It now calls itself  “The National College for Leadership of Schools and Childrens Services”. STOP right now! One thing that might just save it from the custard… On the front page of its website it says, rather endearingly.. “A New UK Government took office on 11 May (no shit!). As a result the content on this site may not reflect current government policy.” Hmm that might be why Laws/Osborne gang have already chopped £16million of its budget.

Commission for Rural Communities

This organisation grandly pronounces that its “statutory purpose is promote awareness of the social and economic needs of people living and working in rural communities“. The “rural community” may have needed its own commission under Labour – but surely the Tories love the countryside? Can’t see us needing this anymore.  And let not forget that they were the folks that appointed the”Rural Advocate” to to put the case for rural people . That’s just downright insulting to us country folks. Custard.

 Finally, and this is my favourite (and was not my spot – but came from a friend of a friend..)

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board

Firstly any quango with “development” in its title should go. Secondly, it likes to be known as the “AHDB” – That’s not a good sign when you WANT to sound like a menacing bug lurking in the corners of the local NHS hospital. But otherwise this sounds worthwhile enough. Until you realise that our money actually goes on nutty things like “The Potato Council” – whose most successful campaign in 2009 was National Chip Week (promoted by Keith Chegwin – did we really pay him money for this?). Apparently the campaign managed to increase the sale of frozen chips by 11%. (Best not tell the department of Health that). They also have a whole raft of mini websites www.lovepotatoes.co.uk, www.potatoesforcaterers.co.uk, www.potatoesforschools.org.uk www.lovechips.co.uk, www.potatoposters.co.uk. It’s a monster gone mad. Definite candidate for the custard bath.

I could go on,  but for now I will let Andy return to the more important stuff at hand…Unless of course you have your own favourite quango you would like to see in the custard bath. If so please leave us a comment.

Tags: Britain's got talent, David Laws, George Osborne, quangos, £600million cuts

David Laws heckled by old socialist for Lib-Con “bobtail army”

From Hansard. ‘The Minister’ is our very own David Laws.

“Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): Is the Minister aware that not a single member of the Cabinet has turned up to back him in this statement here today? They are all part of this rag-tag and bobtail army-not one of them is here. Can there be a more pathetic sight than this Liberal Democrat, who campaigned against cuts in 2010, now hammering the young and the old and putting people on the dole as a member of this rag-tag and bobtail Government? Get out!”

Tags: Bobtail army, David Laws, Dennis Skinner