About Social Media Today
The public are to be consulted on public spending cuts.
A consultation. Great.
But at the same time, we're told, a "star chamber" is to be created to which Whitehall ministers must justify their spending.
Sounds a bit top down. For years, the rest of Whitehall has had to defend spending decisions to select Treasury officials. How is this "star chamber" different?
Perhaps in our desire to cut the deficit, we need a little more strategic consistency.
Either you disperse power - more power to people and their elected representatives. Or you centralise it in the hands of a Whitehall elite. You cannot credibly do both.
I'd suggest that when it comes to curtailing the largess of government, the former approach has a longer term track record of success than the later.
No post-war government has managed to make real cuts. Not even Mrs T did it, since real spending continued to grow. Why? Because no executive likes to rein itself in. Few ministers ever go to Cabinet to argue their department should get less.
If we are serious about curbing taxpayer funded waste, we do indeed need a radically different approach. Why not allow Commons committees - now free from the whips for the first time ever - to veto Whitehall spending? Why not insist ministers appear in person to annual justify their spending?
As well as fixing our finances, it'd give some purpose back to Parliament.
Come on, guys. We need a little more strategic consistency here.
Either you disperse power - more power to people and their elected representatives. Or you centralise it in the hands of a Whitehall elite. You cannot credibly do both.
I'd suggest that when it comes to curtailing the largesse of government, the former approach has a longer term track record of success than the later.
No post-war government has managed to make real cuts. Not even Mrs T did it, since real spending continued to grow. Why? Because no executive likes to rein itself in. Few ministers ever go to Cabinet to argue their department should get less.
If we are serious about curbing taxpayer funded waste, we need a new approach. Why not allow Commons committees - now free from the whips for the first time ever - to veto Whitehall spending? Why not insist ministers appear in person to annual justify their spending?
As well as fixing our finances, it'd give some purpose back to Parliament.
