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Power to do what?
A friend of mine (a conservative party supporter) recently wrote to Mr Elphicke explaining the flaw in the 'big society'. His point being that although the idea of power to the people is one that we would all agree with, there is actually no mechanism for providing this. I would add that what we will see is the power actually being handed to county/district councils, removing responsibility from central government, and this power being abused, eg closing all the toilets in a city. Councils are statutory bodies that are not run by 'the people' and do not necessarily always work in the interest of 'the people'. Councils prioritise and things that don't make money go first, regardless of what people want or expect. We can see this first hand with the Port, another statutory body.
Power to the people would be the ability to stop the sale of OUR port or forests, not the opportunity to buy them. This is power to those who can afford it, which is really what this localism will create. 'Planning' in towns is a clear example of this. poorer areas will be more subservient and dependent on private corporations than richer areas. Look at how regeneration is achieved in poorer areas, look how much we needed Asda, this will only get worse. In reality democracy and choice will be reduced in areas that cannot afford it.
Let me be very clear, I think Mr Elphicke is doing some really good work for our area and I agree with so much. As I say, my problem is with 'big society' being contradictory to devolution, making smaller pockets of society. Society is about the shared views and standards of individuals, if these are localised then this is small, not big, big would be national. What Mr Cameron is actually promoting is individualism, I wish he would just say it! Power is finite and it is not being given to us, just shifted around to negate responsibility.