Cameron on Transparency

Just a quick note to remind people that they can still pose David Cameron questions on the Conservative draft manifesto on Transparent Government and tune in at 5:30pm to see him hopefully answer at least one of the 4 questions I currently have in the top 10!

Cameron talking dirty to the TPA

This is the kind of stuff that members of the Tax Payer's Alliance might find themselves spending £1.50 a minute to hear, because it's about as close to porn as political party policy gets for them. I am, of course, talking about David Cameron's outstanding suggestions on how to bring transparency back into government spending. To quote from the introduction,

Government has been far too profligate for too long. Billions are wasted each year on pointless bureaucracy and failed projects that do nothing to improve the lives of the taxpayers who foot the bill. The explosion of unaccountable quangos, public sector ‘non-jobs’ and costly bureaucracy is an indictment of Labour’s reckless approach to spending other people’s money.

So far so good, but far too often that sort of statement doesn't have an effective follow-up to actually solve the problem. People complain that political parties are big on rhetoric, but short on workable solutions to the problems which nobody can fail to notice. No longer, because with the 5 words

sunlight is the best disinfectant

we have the solution that is just a little too radical and risky for Labour to ever contemplate. 13 years of backroom deals and hiding behind "commercial sensitivity" has got to stop, no ifs, no buts, and the only way to stop that is for a million pairs of eyes to watch every move that our elected representatives make. Whatever else the Conservatives do if they win the next election, opening up government spending and contracts to this kind of scrutiny will keep the next government and the one after FAR more honest than the current one.

And while we're at it, I can't wait for the current shady deals and suspiciously lax contracts to be shown the light of day. I can only imagine the skeletons lurking in the current government's cupboards...

Why Daniel Hannan is a Conservative

Having read David Cameron's speech about Rebuilding trust in politics, I now have something of an insight into what Daniel Hannan means when he says that piece by piece, The Plan is becoming Conservative policy, often almost word for word. Does Cameron's speech go as far as Carswell and Hannan in radically shifting power downwards and outwards? Not quite, although it's still a seismic shift in our political structures if the commitments become reality, and far more radical than either of the other two parties can ever hope to be. Gordon Brown's cynical move to curry favour with his VERY belated attempts at electoral reform (which frankly have some serious problems) are exposed for what they are, an attempt to save his own skin whatever the actual merit of his suggestions. What I have to wonder is, will the Lib Dems dare comment on this speech? Are they willing to propose something this radical and do they dare let the words "we fully support this plan" pass their lips?

Looks like it's going to be an interesting election...