What if we win office, but nothing changes? What if, instead of running a new government, triumphant Tory ministers discover that the machinery of government runs them? Making sure that does not happen requires a strategy. Opposition may be a time for tactics, but how we fare in office will hinge on having a robust, coherent plan. We must have a strategy to make government properly accountable to parliament, and parliament to the people.
The MPs’ expenses scandal has turned many people against democracy. ‘If this is how those scoundrels behave,’ runs the argument, ‘MPs can’t be trusted with anything.’ It is almost as if being elected to public office now serves as a disqualification for being put in charge of anything.
From interest rates to the NHS, there is constant pressure to hand responsibility for public policy from those we elect over to unelected ‘experts’. Already siren voices beckon a future administration further in this direction.
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