Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Ed Wins

This result is good for Labour. This Blog, once again, anticipated the political tide (post Sept 17). For far too long the Left has been represented by the Centre, gullible, bureaucratic and hijacked by spin. Ordinary people have been without a voice or a champion. Above all they have been without a progressive ideology to challenge the ever more gluttonous thirst for power and wealth from the finance industry, which sucks money from the lowest to the highest.

The coalition government, well founded and with much talent has a plan. It is a good plan. It will not be a good enough plan unless a new challenge emerges from the Left of a credible alternative, which puts social justice and community reconstruction in partnership with sound finance to deliver a more equal and sustainable society. This will raise the game across the political spectrum.

For the troubles we face from these doleful and pointless wars to the financial crash and the cuts to come are founded in government of very poor quality made possible by the fact that for most of the time the quality of opposition was even worse.

Ed Milliband has to change all that. I think he might and I hope he will.

Gay Bishops

The Archbishop of Canterbury has declared that gay bishops are acceptable to him as long as they are celibate. This is like saying vegetarians are fine as long as they do not eat vegetables. Celibacy has all but brought the Catholic Church to its knees and certainly damaged its image. It is unhealthy, unnatural and likely cause all kinds of probelms if not voluntary and by choice.

The Church of England was founded because the people of England wanted to be free of domination by an autocratic church of Rome and its rigid interpretation of christian teaching. The church of England was enshrined in our Constitution to guarantee freedom of thought and interpretation according to conscience rather than edict. It established a tradition of re-interpretation of meaning as understanding of meaning, purpose and origins evolved. Rather than confront science, as Rome was doing with such disastrous effect, the C of E absorbed it. Likewise on social issues. The law of the land and the law of the church tried to keep in step. Thus abortion, divorce, re-marrige, contraception, equality of women, the rights to equality of gays and ethnic minorities became the law of the land and by and large were adopted by the Church.

Unfortunately the evangelical movement began to gain a hold which diverted the old Church of England from both its mission and its constitutional function, to the point where disgaceful quarrels about discriminations which would be illegal outside its walls have been allowed to dominate. If the Church of England is to survive as a coherent element of our national fabric it has to mend its ways fast. Otherwise it will become a non-established minority gradually slipping back into the clutches of Rome, driving out of its congregations all those who believe the greatest gift that God has given them is the power to think for themselves.

Cutting the Quangos

Leaks that these peculiar public bodies are being lined up for the chop is very good news. However it is not just a matter of reducing and amalgamating. This whole structure provides very bad and expensive government and is fundamentally undemocratic.

Whenever interviewed, the head boy or girl of each puts up a cogent argument as to why, in their precious quango’s case, an exception should be made, how they do much valuable work and how the needy depend upon them and their wisdoms. Sorry no sale. This argument is invalid, because the whole concept is flawed.

Democratic government must be by elected government, assisted by an appropriate department of the civil service and must be responsible to the electorate for every outcome of public administration and management at national or local levels, where and only where the government has an appropriate function to perform. What has happened is that numerous quangos have been created either to carry out functions which under a proper constitution should be the responsibility of the electorally accountable, or which are meddling activities which are nothing whatever to do with government and neither it nor its agencies should be anywhere near.

It is this fashion for  non-government agencies, regulators and authorities which has created a crippling burden upon the economy, not only in terms of actual cost, but in terms of gigantic hidden costs of putting a millstone round the neck of almost every function and activity of everyday commercial, business, academic and private life. Getting rid of the whole apparatus, hook line and sinker, would save money yes, but more to the point, it would set the economy free.

Then we would see the recovery really get up steam.