PAUL SIEGERT:
You've said in the past that you're not in favour of regional development
agencies. They do a lot of the hard work for the Government at the moment
out there, helping small businesses. Have you changed your mind on your
views on them?
DAVID CAMERON:
No. What we think is that in areas like the south east where actually local
authorities would like to come together and take over the role of regional
development agencies, I think they could probably do it better. I think
actually if Kent and Sussex wanted to work together, if the Thames Valley
authorities wanted to work together. I don't believe that this
regionalisation of Britain is the right way to go. We could save some money
and give it back to people in tax reductions if we got rid of the regional
assemblies and so much of the regional bureaucracy there is. That's what I'd
like to do.
And the interview ends with this amusing little exchange..
PAUL SIEGERT:
And tomorrow, of course, Valentine's Day. How will you and Mrs Cameron be
spending Valentine's Day?
DAVID CAMERON:
I was a bit late to book the restaurant, so we're going out to dinner but
it's going to be a bit late and Mrs Cameron is not best pleased that I left
it so late but at least I've got a table, so that's a good start.
And I have been spending Valentine's Night at the BBC (BBC News Channel paper review at 11.20pm). The dog house awaits.
"amusing little exchange"?
ReplyDeleteHo, ho ho. How side-splitting is that? Is there any chance you could be more obsequious Iain?
What would actually happen is that the money and decision making would disappear into government regional offices and Whitehall.
ReplyDeleteCameron is right. I can more-or-less guarantee (from my own inside knowledge) that Local Authorities, working in partnerships — at which they have usually proven to be so good — would do a far better job than any "outsider" outfit, which is what RDAs are.
ReplyDeleteMulti-layer government doesn't work well anyway, as there are far too many avenues for conflict, leading to delays to, weakening of, and (sometimes) abandonment of worthwhile ideas and projects.
With two levels (say, national and local) A can disagree with B, or B can disagree with A. That's two conflict routes.
Add a third layer (say RDAs) and that goes up to six (work it out). Add a further layer, perhaps County Councils, and you end up with ten.
I leave it as an exercise for your readers to work out how many a fifth (Area Committees) and of course the EU as a kind of sixth layer (though we don't seem to challenge them very much, if at all!) would generate.
It's all very messy, and usually ends up with big and powerful outsiders dictating to communities who will have to put up with the result and any fallout. This is why I am so passionately in favour of ALL governance being at local level apart from those very few matters that genuinely have to be national.
Keep up, Iain!
ReplyDeletehttp://oldrightie.blogspot.com/2009/02/do-we-really-want-or-need-him-is-he.html
"Bob Piper said...
ReplyDelete"amusing little exchange"?
Ho, ho ho. How side-splitting is that? Is there any chance you could be more obsequious Iain?
February 14, 2009 10:19 PM"
You're right Bob. I'd like to see how the Brown's spend Valentines day. Now that would be freakin' hilarious.
Death to regional assemblies!
ReplyDelete"regionalisation of Britain"? Only England is being regionalised. Why can't David Cameron bring himself to say "England"?
ReplyDeleteGood Golly said "I'd like to see how the Brown's spend Valentines day. Now that would be freakin' hilarious."
ReplyDeleteWell, funny since you ask. I have a mole in Downing Street and can tell you what went on. Exclusive to Iain Dale's Diary!
*Gordon and Sarah Brown are both in the living room*
Gordon: "Well Sarah, I'd like to thank you for your wonderful presents today. I'd also like to pay homage to your modesty and frugality in these difficult times. It is good to see that, by buying me this lovely plasma television at the 15% VAT rate, you have helped put more money into the economy and saved yourself some money in the process."
Sarah: Thanks Gordon, I thought you'd like it. I've also bought you some of these... *hands over a box to Gordon*
Gordon: My my, what could this be?
Sarah: Open it and see. *Gordon opens the box*
Gordon: Oh, it's just what I've always wanted. A box full of disused mobile phones! I keep running out of these things, you know. I can't help but wonder why.
Sarah: You're welcome. Come on then, what have you got for me?
Gordon: Unfortunately, I have not been able to get you anything in the present time scale. You're probably aware that I've been busy sa...
Sarah: Let me guess, you've been too busy saving the world, haven't you?
Gordon: I have, yes. Giving people real help now in these difficult times.
Sarah: That's my Gordon! *kisses Gordon*
Iain,
ReplyDeleteThe BBC will probably not even report this in case it helps the Tories, and if you wanted proof about the BBC being part of Labour.
With all that is going on there is not one current topic on the BBCs "Have Your Say"about labour and what people think about the current situation.
Can you imagine waht it would be like if the Tories were in power. The BBC needs sorting out.
Grim Reaper,its VALENTINES night, she doesn't just kiss him,she hugs him to her heaving bosom and they live happily ever after......sigh.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly I don't feel well..
dmc said "Grim Reaper,its VALENTINES night, she doesn't just kiss him,she hugs him to her heaving bosom and they live happily ever after..."
ReplyDeleteNot even the Grim Reaper wants to imagine the Prime Minister having sex. Believe me, I felt sick after reading Cherie Blair's book...
PAUL SIEGERT:
ReplyDeleteYou've said in the past that you're not in favour of regional development
agencies. They do a lot of the hard work for the Government at the moment
out there, helping small businesses. Have you changed your mind on your
views on them?
Emphasis added.
Notice how ps bigs up the rda's to try to give the impression that to abolish them would be bad. Anything to undermine the Conservative position.
Typical beeboid.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for devolution, Ive seen the benefits here in Wales however, it must apply equaly to England as well as the other home nations which of course it doesn't. England should have it's own parliament. Labour and their EU cronies wish to remove England from the map and replace it with regional assemblies and the Tories are quite mute about this for fear of upsetting Scottish voters who aint going to vote conservative anyway. A very strange tactic for the party that is supposed to represent middle England.
ReplyDeleteRDAs. The government's way of saying it is doing something, without actually doing anything, really.
ReplyDeleteHo, ho ho. How side-splitting is that? Is there any chance you could be more obsequious Iain?
ReplyDeleteNo. We'll leave that to the real experts. Balls, and Co.
has 'windmill dave' said if he intends to abolish r.d.a.'s and assemblies before or after the conservative m.e.p.'s leave the e.p.p. and we have our referendum on the european constitution (sorry,lisbon treaty)?
ReplyDeleteConHome is carrying a story that Cameron is promising an England Only Grand Committee that excludes Welsh SCottish and NI MP's
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough the slippery one's remarks in his Channel M interview were understood to mean that he wouldn't be abolishing the NWDA. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
ReplyDeleteThe RDAs and RAs have had their moments but what we have hear is an almost Lib Dem like tendancy from Cameron to change the tune on every doorstep or in this case every region.
Scotland gets a parliament - we get a committee. Thanks Dave.
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteRDAs are an EU institution. Good luck to Spam with their abolition.
In fact, all of those taxes and institutional bodies that belong to the EU would be one of the things that Spam would find embarrassing, except that the massively-foreheaded idiot belongs to the European Union himself...
DK
Is there any chance any of the damned parties with MPs in Westminster might actually consider asking the English what they want for England?
ReplyDeleteIt's called democracy, a novel notion for the governance of England, in the 21st century.