David Cameron’s attack on the “enemies of enterprise”, his version of the “forces of
conservatism” shows that he and those around him are still following the Blairite script, at least in terms of rhetoric. But the coalition still needs to decide what it means to be a
“friend of enterprise”. There are many in the libertarian ranks of the Conservative Party who believe the state has no business interfering in such matters.
The architects of the Big Society remain confused about whether it is possible to encourage a bottom-up approach with a top-down message, or, to put it another way, decentralisation by government diktat. The Big Society, something which I support in principle, is fast collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. If the ridicule continues, there is a risk that those organisations in the private and voluntary sector which are essential to making this work will no longer wish to associate themselves with the idea.
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