Is David Miliband wearing this
under his shirt?Power to the people! The mantra of 70s revolutionary Wolfie Smith and his tiny Tooting Popular Front passed the lips of up-and-coming cabinet minister David Miliband this morning.
It wasn't Wolfie's own slogan, of course, but he - or John Sullivan, the writer - deserves credit for pointing out how hackneyed and ridiculous this political cliche had become even in the 70s. Overused by politicians of left and right this appeal to the mob has been part of our political discourse ever since certain French radicals saw the need to separate Louis XIV's head from his shoulders. Anyone running against the powers that be has always appealed over the heads of the current establishment to the man in the street.
The ancien regime in this case, the bureaucrats taking control away from the "people" are local town halls, who need to have some of their powers devolved down to parish or street level. The man, as the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson points out, called "brains" by Alastair Campbell, believes "double devolution", as he puts it, could be New Labour's next big idea.
Local residents, he argues, want greater control over their estates or roads, the power to evict anti-social neighbours, crack down on anti-social behaviour and the power to sack poorly performing public service providers. Town halls in this argument, are too remote and too unresponsive. Political parties that fail to address this agenda, this lack of control, will not only be behind the curve but will be swept from power.
Worse, that failure to tackle the sense of powerlessness that many voters feel could result in the rise of demagogic rightwing parties blaming social ills on immigration - as seen in many European countries. If people feel instead that they have the power to make a difference in their local community then more will feel the effort is worthwhile - known to policy wonks as "the virtuous circle".
Several issues arise out of Mr Miliband's idea - firstly, as the Tories quickly pointed out, is that in many other areas of government (police force mergers being one), power is being centralised not devolved. That doesn't make this idea invalid. More difficult is getting the mechanics right - and this brings us back to Wolfie. How do you prevent a vocal and active minority hijacking the agenda? When Guardian Unlimited spoke to Mr Miliband at the Labour conference about this transfer of power, the minister was emphatic that a way must be found for the majority view to be heard.
To the dismay of Wolfies everywhere, he told us: "When I talk about empowering individuals or communities that doesn't mean a regime of meetings seven nights a week in dark committee rooms." The answer he believes is local surveys of the kind that many local authorities already run. Good news if you like being asked what you think of the local park. Even better if Mr Miliband can make sure your answers actually make a difference.
