In praise of doubt: the election

Would you doubt what they say?

So the election manifestos are all out and what a bookshelf of pulp fiction they are. The claims and counterclaims being made by the parties are a game of smoke and mirrors. The tactics are full of bluffs and double bluffs, even the perfidious Albion card is being played by the Prime Minister. His announcement the day after the Scottish Independence referendum to introduce English votes for English laws reinvigorated the SNP and damaged the union but the Tories have nothing to lose in Scotland. The real damage has been to Labour in Scotland and has greatly increased the likelihood of a Tory or Tory-led coalition government.

The latest Lib Dem accusation that the Tories would reduce child benefit has created counterclaims by the Prime Minister but he cannot insist on £12bn of welfare cuts without raiding the living standards of the most vulnerable. Labour is walking the tightrope between claiming to be financially prudent in deficit reduction whilst minimising the austerity measures. The third parties have launched an avalanche of proposals in their manifestos secure in the knowledge that they have no chance of being implemented. It allows them to wallow in the satisfaction of being the good guys.  The Tories and SNP have a common interest in full fiscal autonomy for Scotland: the SNP would have their hands on the financial levers and the Tories would get rid of the Barnett formula that rewards Scotland to the tune of £1623 per head (19%) more public spending than in England. This could provide more dosh to reduce the need for tax increases in the rest of the UK and deliver a proportion of the public expenditure savings.

Last night's TV debate between the three main party leaders was most notable for how the Leeds audience doubted the leaders, challenging them on their well-practised cliches and calling them for concealing their intentions on what they would really really do. The whole charade rekindled my memory of a book of Bertold Brecht's poems that I was gifted by a politician whom I had worked with for many years. He was scholarly and held principled views on localism and democracy. One of Brecht's poems, In Praise of Doubt, we had used as a key quote in a major policy report we had written. Brecht was writing in 1932 but his reflections seem entirely applicable as the disillusioned electorate takes on the discredited politicians as they strut their stuff.

The most beautiful of all doubts
Is when the downtrodden and despondent raise their heads 
and stop believing in the strength
Of their oppressors

There are the thoughtless who never doubt
..They don't believe in facts, they believe only in themselves
When it comes to the point
The facts must go by the board

The thoughtless who never doubt
Meet the thoughtful who never act.
They doubt not in order to come to a decision but
To avoid a decision
Bertolt Brecht 

What most concerns me about the election diatribes is the lack of debate about modernising our governance structures or the failure to recognise that 5 years of austerity has had a devastating effect on local services and undermined local governance.

There has been a remarkable reluctance of the parties to commit to changing the way government works (or doesn't) despite the dire lack of trust in Westminster politics. House of Lords reform, voting systems, and the age for voting are left to the Greens, whose only MP, Caroline Lucas, has written a deft critique of her 5 years in Parliament. 'Honourable Friends' identifies the absurdities of life in Westminster and is more readable than any of the manifestos. The Lib Dems who were the champions of reform in 2010 were completely shafted by the Tories in their quest to change some of these matters during the last Parliament. They reciprocated by refusing to change parliamentary boundaries thus denying the chance for the Tories to gain an extra 20 or so seats. Another goalless draw in the annals of the coalition.

Surely it is time for a proper Constitution for the UK. All parties, as well as civic society, should be part of a convention to properly consider this. It is more important than either redrawing parliamentary boundaries or House of Lords reform. Local democracy needs to be embedded and thus relieved from the iniquitous interference from central government. When we marvel at the product of Victorian inventiveness, we often forget that it was the untrammelled municipalities that were often at the forefront of the most radical and creative use of scientific advances to improve the quality of life of citizens. Water supply, sanitation, electricity and gas production, policing, universal education, hospitals and infrastructure were all initiated and delivered by local government. Best practice was shared from the bottom up not the top down, unlike today when diktats and austerity leave no room for local innovation or creative adaption of new technology and processes.

The absence of any recognition of the damage that the government has wreaked on Councils is palpable. Far from rectifying it, the last budget suggests further cuts of 23% on Councils and the Tories would also make them responsible for funding the replacement of the right to buy Housing Association houses. The Prime Minister has also committed to giving all public sector workers 3 days of volunteering leave, paid for by Councils and other public agencies, needless to say, that this will require further cuts in services costing Councils 1.4% of their budgets.

I heard David Blunkett yesterday saying that he has started "shouting at the radio" now that he has retired as an MP.  Join the club mate, at least the good folk of Leeds were able to doubt the leaders last night. Cameron gave his impression of a bar of soap in the bath as he evaded questions, Milliband struggled to convince people about financial prudence and pacts with the SNP and Clegg just threw in the towel. Thoughtless or thoughtful, they are difficult to believe, the doubters are right to doubt.