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Blair to Brown

Under the great British (unwritten) constitution, enshrining our Parliamentary democracy, the supremacy of the House of Commons over the Executive, balanced by the Lords, the judiciary, The Queen holding it all together, the Prime Minister- Primus inter Pares- First Among Equals is in theory no more than that – one of the 650 MPs who has found his way to the top of his particular party.

But the Blair to Brown handover, carefully choreographed as it is, feels more like a transfer of Presidential power, akin to that in the United States than a simple change of the Leader of the Labour Party. The hype surrounding it reflects how Mr Blair and Mr Brown see themselves – increasingly as Head rather than the Servant of the State, ruler of the people rather than Guardian of the people’s rights and freedoms.

The grandiose way in which Mr Blair hyped up what a challenge he was facing in last weekend’s Euro Summit, and the triumphalist way in which he claimed to have won the battle, was intentionally designed to conceal the fact that the treaty hands over yet more of our Sovereign powers to the EU, while avoiding a referendum which he would most certainly lose.

There was a time when your elected representatives in Westminster took decisions on almost every aspect of your lives, and then were properly held to account for it at the following General Election. The last ten years have seen that clarity of our constitutional arrangements progressively blurred by stealth. The increasingly Presidential style of Government, decreasing respect for an emasculated Parliament; erosion of powers in favour of the EU, ill thought-through Scottish and Welsh devolution leaving the people of England feeling sore; wreckage of the House of Lords, increasing power of the media at the expense of Parliament, Regionalisation and a host of minor changes has left what was once the greatest constitution in the world a pale shadow of its former self. Few people now understand how laws are made, who is making them, who is responsible for the very fundamental influences over their everyday lives. A good constitution should be a clear constitution. The people need to know who is doing what and why, and then they must have the right to object to it at the ballot box.

The hype will continue over the next few months as Mr Brown showers us with new initiatives in a brave attempt to distance himself from the last ten years, somehow or other expecting us to forget that he was the No2 in Mr Blair’s Administration, and therefore just as complicit as Blair in Iraq, the constitutional mess and an array of other catastrophes. The polls will doubtless swing in his favour, as the British people test the waters and flirt with Brownism. But by next Easter or so we will have realised that things are worse than ever. I predict a six month honeymoon for Mr Brown, after which Labour’s popularity will once again slump. (In which case watch out for a snap General Election.)

Mr Brown’s ten Budgets have been characterised by an upbeat budget speech with all of the bad news – the annual £5 billion raid on pensions for example – being hidden in the small print, and not really discovered for some days afterwards. His premiership will be the same. His spin will be harder to spot than Mr Blair’s. It will be more insidious for all that. So whatever happens over the next few weeks- and I have no doubt that it will be dramatic and glamorous – all I would say is don’t be fooled by what you see. Watch out for the small print!

David Cameron in Chippenham

It was an honour and a privilege to welcome to North Wiltshire the man who will – I, and many like me, hope – be the next Prime Minister in possibly less than 12 months time. David Cameron had lunch at Bowood, toured Chippenham College, met students and held a press conference and then attended and addressed a Conservative Party Reception at Hartham Park, near Corsham.

Everywhere he went he exhibited the same caring informality coupled with the steely determination for which he is becoming well known. He is ready to take on some elements of the Conservative Party as well as Labour and the Lib Dems in a truly statesmanlike show of leadership. He deftly handled questions on Unitary Authorities, reconfirming the Party’s opposition to any restructuring of local Government; on the BNP, decrying a Councillor’s recent election to Corsham Town Council, but chiding us for failing to contest the seat; on special schools, bemoaning this week’s closure of Burton Hill House in Malmesbury, and on a host of other topics.

I was grateful for his enthusiastic re-endorsement of my own candidacy for the North Wiltshire seat at the next General Election, and for his kind words about my two consecutive questions to the Prime Minister over the last two weeks. I had, as avid readers will recall, twisted Mr Blair’s tail over the award of the Supreme Chieftainship for Peace to him by the people of Sierra Leone, and whether he felt that the people of Iraq would want to do something similar!  It is increasingly my view that we should just pull out of Iraq with no further delay, and no further loss of life. The Mayor and Royal British Legion in Wootton Bassett were once again on parade on Friday to pay their respects to dead servicemen whose bodies were repatriated via RAF Lyneham. It is happening all too frequently these days.

This week I pressed the Prime Minister on President Sarkozy’s claim that he and Mr Blair had stitched up some cosy deal over the EU Constitution – a remark which was vehemently denied by the Foreign Secretary. The Prime Minster, as always, dodged the question. But by the weekend it was indeed looking likely that he was attempting to commit his successor in office to some kind of a treaty which would achieve very many of the unacceptable proposals in the aborted EU Constitution while dropping that contentious name, and hoping to avoid a UK referendum on the subject. If so, it is quite outrageous to try to hood wink the  electorate in that way. We must have fewer, not more powers passed to Brussels, and whether its called a treaty or a constitution, that is quite plainly what they are trying to do.

I was glad that David Cameron reiterated during his visit that we would have none of it, and that we would demand a referendum on it, and find ways to repatriate not bodies but powers on our return to office.

Unitary Council Bid

North Wiltshire District Council will be deciding tonight (Thursday) whether or not to reverse their previous decision to support Wiltshire County Council’s bid to become a single-tier unitary authority. The arguments are delicately balanced.

Exponents of Unitarism argue convincingly that fewer layers of government, fewer politicians, fewer civil servants, fewer offices, less bureaucracy means better and cheaper Government, and in this case would  mean a reduction in the Council tax. (although their savings figures are hotly contested by the other side.) They argue for the historic county of Wiltshire as compared to the relative newcomers of the district councils. I agree with them there. Our historic County structure in England must be preserved at all costs, not least as a counter-balance to the regionalism which the current Government seem intent on. They argue that a strong Wilts County Council is the best possible antidote to an ever expanding Swindon, and that by strengthening the truly local town and district councils they would improve rather than diminish localism.

Those who would preserve the status quo structure of  district and county councils carrying out different functions – a view which is held by the other three Wiltshire district councils, the other three MPs, and indeed the Conservative Party centrally - argue amongst other things that district councillors are more “local” than county councillors could ever be; that the unitarists’ financial savings are more perceived than real, and that North Wilts District Council is more likely to see off Swindon Borough Council than the County.

Arguments about the structure of local government are almost as old as local government itself. I was glad to attend the annual civic service in England’s oldest Borough, Malmesbury, on Sunday. The Warden and Freemen, the “Old Corporation” were in attendance, their hold over the governance of Malmesbury having been removed 150 years ago. Earlier that day I was glad to look into Cricklade Leisure Centre’s Open Day, and  to see the outstanding success which the Town Council, together with a large group of local activists are making of running a profitable Leisure Centre which only a month or two ago the District Council were intent on closing down. A meeting about Corsham Station which I had called on Friday was attended amongst others by representatives of town, district and county councils who resolved to work together towards that great goal. And the Chain Gang from all levels were much in evidence at the RAF Lyneham Reception that evening.

So these arguments will wage hard and fast over the next few weeks until the Government announce at the end of the month whether or not they will allow the bid for unitary status to go ahead. I have taken no part in those discussions up to now, but I wholly respect the District Council’s right to reconsider their support for the venture. No doubt Prime Minister Brown will take due note of it. But more important than any of that – and it is a pretty abstruse and academic argument by anyone’s standard – must be our determination to preserve local accountability; truly local councillors fighting the corner for their constituents. Internal discussions about structures; constitutional wrangling of one sort or another; these things must take second place to the important work which councils do on all of our behalves. I will watch those discussions, and I will support whatever conclusion is reached, so long as that conclusion is designed purely for the good of the people whom we serve, and never, but never for the good of those who are taking that decision!

Events

“Events, dear boy,Events,” was Harold Macmillan’s answer to a question about the greatest political influence. We’ve had our fair share of them this week. Mr Blair jets around the world on his vainglorious farewell tour, picking up his “Paramount Chieftainship” in Sierra Leone on the way. I have question 12 in PMQs next Wednesday, and may well quiz him on it if I am called. He will doubtless call in to Washington sometime soon to pick up his Congressional Medal. I wonder what sort of gong he would get from the people of Iraq? Meanwhile my friend Graham Brady has courageously and conscientiously resigned from the Tory front bench over grammar schools – join the club, Graham, The backbenches are really quite fun, and they give you the freedom to speak up for your constituents which is exactly what you have done.

But North Wiltshire has not been short of events either, albeit on a different scale. The Chippenham Folk Festival was jolly, although there seemed to me to be remarkably few locals present. Saturday saw me at three of my favourite annual events. The Purton Carnival Parade on Saturday with its Disney theme is a colourful tradition . Carnival parades continue in Wootton Bassett and Malmesbury, too, although it has been lost in Chippenham. They take an enormous amount of effort by a dedicated team of organisers, but in community terms are well worth the effort. By 3.30 that afternoon I was at the Chippenham Sailing Club Regatta to ring the bell to start a race together with the redoubtable Shirley Ritchens, who together with her late husband, Geoff founded the club some fifty years ago. Then on Saturday night, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones and I attended the annual Skittles Dinner at the Chippenham Constitutional Club, of which I am very proud to be President. Its a thoroughly enjoyable and hearty event. I sadly had to miss the Lea, Cleverton and Garsdon family Frolic on the Sunday, the Craft Fair in Lacock and doubtless a dozen other jolly community events elsewhere.

These community events of all kinds are amongst our greatest assets here in semi-rural North Wiltshire. They are both the product of, and a contributory factor towards the preservation of, that rarest and hardest to define commodity, Community. Local people getting together, having fun, promoting a cause, just enjoying each other’s company. How thoroughly healthy that really is. We should spare no effort to preserve it, because you don’t have to look far up and down the M4 corridor to find places which are sadly lacking in that old fashioned sense of community. That, together with local post offices, churches, village halls and shops are what make an area like this what it is.

Great events are made of small battalions. These are the things which truly matter. Paramount Chieftainships, international jet settery, north London bling. These are things for others. Give me the Chippenham Sailing Club’s Annual Regatta any day.

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