In the last couple of weeks there have been some surprising displays of anger as the coalition policy decisions begin to be revealed to the public. The Tories have upset their own traditionalists and conservationists by proposing to sell off the Forestry Commission, there is an up swell of opinion from celebrities and establishment figures to safeguard libraries, bus transport and Citizen Advice Bureaus. The first tranche of Council budget cuts are being announced and are being met with shock and horror. The headlines are about the number of jobs lost but the real impact will be noticed later once the staff have gone, buildings are closed, grants for the third sector are reduced and services that folk took for granted evaporate.
The well rehearsed retort by ministers is that councils should determine their priorities for savings and that the government regrets the closure of libraries, reduction of grants and the removal of home care etc. is disingenuous in the extreme. Tory and Lib Dem controlled councils are already rejecting this script from the Coalition in Whitehall and the emerging narrative is far more concerned with the impact on communities and the vulnerable. Meanwhile morale has dipped further in public services and in those companies who are dependent upon public sector contracts. The uncertainty about jobs undermines the confidence of existing staff as well as diminishing opportunities for young people. It has created a mood which is reminiscent of the recession in the early 1980's.
The latest wheeze by the PM to divert attention away from the meltdown of public services is to set up a new front on the need for a more muscular liberalism which appeals to the more xenophobic press and hard hearted citizens. Advisers who dare question policy decisions are sacked and, despite the long saga of Andy Coulson's departure, there is still a bullish air about the PM's utterings. I have tried to triangulate what the government mean by the Big Society, muscular liberalism, and an economic model based on business investment and savings. I can only conclude that it is remarkably like Thatcherism but for real. No one may have understood the last government's 'Third Way' either but it didn't really matter because things were generally getting better.
The problem of collapsing support for the coalition is magnified by the pyramidal effect of the internet with thousands of instant critics able to vent their frustrations. The public know how to play against the spin and the coalition briefings against councils and other public bodies are increasingly exposed as inept and brutal demonisations of the very organisations who deliver services but are blamed for having to axe them. This form defensive communication by government has been banished by most progressive organisations who realise that customers need solutions not reasons for failure. Customers also value honesty and acknowledgement when things go wrong. It took six years for the last government's popularity to nosedive, the coalition are moving at such a pace that they have achieved this in eight months.
In Scotland we have been spared the more brazen and ill conceived attempts to reform schools and the NHS but the scale of cuts is still damaging confidence and what will happen after the Scottish elections in May creates a further layer of uncertainty. Given that last year's cuts have been deferred I cannot believe that any of the big four political parties will be too upset if they are not part of the next Scottish Government.
The well rehearsed retort by ministers is that councils should determine their priorities for savings and that the government regrets the closure of libraries, reduction of grants and the removal of home care etc. is disingenuous in the extreme. Tory and Lib Dem controlled councils are already rejecting this script from the Coalition in Whitehall and the emerging narrative is far more concerned with the impact on communities and the vulnerable. Meanwhile morale has dipped further in public services and in those companies who are dependent upon public sector contracts. The uncertainty about jobs undermines the confidence of existing staff as well as diminishing opportunities for young people. It has created a mood which is reminiscent of the recession in the early 1980's.
The latest wheeze by the PM to divert attention away from the meltdown of public services is to set up a new front on the need for a more muscular liberalism which appeals to the more xenophobic press and hard hearted citizens. Advisers who dare question policy decisions are sacked and, despite the long saga of Andy Coulson's departure, there is still a bullish air about the PM's utterings. I have tried to triangulate what the government mean by the Big Society, muscular liberalism, and an economic model based on business investment and savings. I can only conclude that it is remarkably like Thatcherism but for real. No one may have understood the last government's 'Third Way' either but it didn't really matter because things were generally getting better.
The problem of collapsing support for the coalition is magnified by the pyramidal effect of the internet with thousands of instant critics able to vent their frustrations. The public know how to play against the spin and the coalition briefings against councils and other public bodies are increasingly exposed as inept and brutal demonisations of the very organisations who deliver services but are blamed for having to axe them. This form defensive communication by government has been banished by most progressive organisations who realise that customers need solutions not reasons for failure. Customers also value honesty and acknowledgement when things go wrong. It took six years for the last government's popularity to nosedive, the coalition are moving at such a pace that they have achieved this in eight months.
In Scotland we have been spared the more brazen and ill conceived attempts to reform schools and the NHS but the scale of cuts is still damaging confidence and what will happen after the Scottish elections in May creates a further layer of uncertainty. Given that last year's cuts have been deferred I cannot believe that any of the big four political parties will be too upset if they are not part of the next Scottish Government.
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