UK Conservative Leader Pushes Ahead With ’the Big Society’

Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg formed a coalition government after the conservatives failed to win sufficient seats.
UK Conservative Leader Pushes Ahead With ’the Big Society’
Simon Veazey
5/18/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/99863135.jpg" alt="Founder of Kids Co, Camila Batmanghelidjh (L), attends the 'the Big Society' meeting, chaired by British Prime Minister, David Cameron, (C), in the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street in central London, on May 18, 2010. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images))" title="Founder of Kids Co, Camila Batmanghelidjh (L), attends the 'the Big Society' meeting, chaired by British Prime Minister, David Cameron, (C), in the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street in central London, on May 18, 2010. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images))" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1819741"/></a>
Founder of Kids Co, Camila Batmanghelidjh (L), attends the 'the Big Society' meeting, chaired by British Prime Minister, David Cameron, (C), in the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street in central London, on May 18, 2010. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images))
LONDON—Fellow Conservatives said it had lost them their seats, commentators said it would be dropped as soon as David Cameron got to Number 10, and leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg had said it was like being invited to the pub only to pick up the tab for everyone’s drinks.


But they were all backpedaling on Tuesday as “The Big Society” was wheeled out as a flagship government initiative by conservative leader David Cameron just a week into office. Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg had formed a coalition government after the conservatives failed to win sufficient seats themselves, necessitating a spirit of cooperation on such programs.


Mr. Cameron emphasized that the policy was the first step to be taken in a more comprehensive coalition agreement document.


Mr. Cameron said, “It’s a big signal that the first part to be published is actually that part about having a big society, decentralizing power, about empowering communities, about all the work you do to help build the big strong society you want to see in the United Kingdom.”


“I hope this is the start of something very big.”


Speaking to community leaders sitting round the Cabinet table, Mr. Cameron said he wanted to shift power away from politicians sitting around that table “telling us all what to do, issuing orders and instructions, and passing laws and regulations.” He said that the state was “often too inhuman and clumsy” to tackle the country’s social problems.


“It’s something I would like to be one of the great legacies of this government, to build the big society,” he said.
“Yes, we have to deal with the deficit, yes we have to make sure we secure the future in Afghanistan, and bring the troops home. But to me personally what I would most like to be a legacy is actually helping build the big society and the work that all of you and many hundreds of thousands of people in the country do.”


Many Tory campaigners and candidates had said the concept had little traction with voters on the doorstep during the election campaign. They said the concept was too elusive and complex and had needed introducing much earlier in the campaign.


Mr. Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, who strongly criticized the big society proposals during the election campaign, smoothed over his past remarks, saying he had come to discover that the two parties had been using “different words” that meant “the same thing.”


Mr. Clegg told community leaders that the fact today’s meeting was taking place so early in the new government was an “expression I hope enough of how much importance we together in this new coalition government attach to what you do.”


He went on, “What I’m discovering is we’ve been using different words for a long time—it actually means the same thing.


“Liberalism, big society. Empowerment, responsibility. It means the same thing.


“I think what we are grappling with is nothing less than a huge cultural shift where people in their communities, in their homes, on their street, don’t always turn to answers from officialdom, from government, but they feel both free and empowered to help themselves and help their communities.”


Labor have warned that the idea could result in “do-it-yourself” services. Mr. Cameron described the big society as the “only big idea” on offer during the election campaign.


Policies included a national citizenship service for 16-year-olds, giving people the right to veto council tax rises, and for new providers to be able to set up so-called “free schools” in the state sector.


But Labor’s Chris Bryant, a former minister, told the BBC, “This is drivel. ... I think this is an attempt to get government on the cheap.”

Simon Veazey is a UK-based journalist who has reported for The Epoch Times since 2006 on various beats, from in-depth coverage of British and European politics to web-based writing on breaking news.
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