Janet Daley ushers in new political economy…

            

I never thought Janet Daley would usher in a new period of political economy, but yesterday she did, at least in my mind. She proceeds…

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Gordon Brown has achieved something truly magnificent in his 10 years as Chancellor… He has single-handedly ended the great post-war economic argument. We now know the answer to the question that has dominated British politics for a generation: can you solve the problems in the public services by spending more (and more) money on them?

The definitive answer is no. The last ten years has seen the tax burden increase by 7p in the pound, yet the public are far from convinced there has been a proportional improvement in services. And now that it is unlikely any further spending will deliver tangible improvements, there’s only one thing New Labour can do: turn to previous Tory policies.

Yesterday Tony Blair unveiled a ten year blue-print for public service reform, setting out how his successor could create a “truly personalised” public sector where individual needs are tailored to. None of this is ground breaking stuff, in fact it’s mostly recycled third-term Thactherite policy, some of which the incumbent Government actually repealed.

However it strikes me that neither Blair or New Labour, have ever fully grasped what creates real choice. It’s all very well arguing for a system responsive to demand, but trying to guess from Downing Street what demand is likely to be, and then providing a set number of options and calling it ‘choice’, misses the whole point. The point is that by freeing up the public sector and allowing money to follow the consumer, the end result is more choice and ultimately the more personalised system Blair wants to see. It’s a bottom up concept that removes Government from the system. But this concept at least, is one that’s alien to New Labour.

Tony Blair and New Labour’s problem here is that they’re still stuck in the same tax and spend, target setting mindset, which now renders them incapabale of carrying out the reforms needed. And so New Labour has served its purpose, proving that spending alone is not enough. I almost feel sorry for them, in the sense that having spent record sums on public services, they never could grasp how to make the money work for both the public and themselves.