Conservatives
Blog
Friday 27 January
Posted by Alistair Lexden, January 4th, 2012 .
John Bright was one of the giants of the Victorian era.
Anyone who picks up Bill Cash’s new book assuming that it will inevitably be about the European Union is in for a big surprise. There is not a single reference to the EU in the index.
Cash has a second life as a fine, dedicated historian. The subject of this book, John Bright, was one of the giants of the Victorian era, ranking alongside Gladstone and Disraeli. Karl Marx got it right (for once) when he hailed Bright as “one of the most gifted orators that England has ever produced”.
He was the leading radical politician of his time, though never a wild, left-wing ideologue. He possessed, as Cash perceptively notes, a strong vein of conservatism in his character which brought him first into temporary alliances, and finally into a firm association, with the Conservative Party. He helped strengthen the Party as a progressive force in British politics.
Bright was the first English politician to attract and retain an immense personal following throughout the country, numbered in tens of thousands, outside a mainstream party political organisation. He acquired his mass support by arguing with tremendous power for a variety of specific far-reaching reforms, ranging from the extension of the franchise to the protection of human rights in India. He mounted the first well-organised campaigns in modern British history, Cash writes, “with an energy and commitment, and on such a scale and range of matters, that has scarcely, if at all, been emulated by any other politician”.
Bright campaigned hardest of all to secure the repeal of the Corn Laws, which imposed taxes on foodstuffs, and to get the vote for working-class men. These two great changes were implemented by Conservative governments with which Bright worked in the national interest. In Cash’s words, “Bright put conscience, conviction, the working man and the country before party or any personal interest”. He heaped praise on Sir Robert Peel for removing taxes on food in 1846, and wept when he heard of the death of “this great statesman”.
Twenty years later Bright’s influence on the left of the Liberal Party brought Disraeli, governing without a Commons majority, the extra votes he needed from the Opposition to pass the legislation which conferred voting rights on working men in urban constituencies. “Whatever happens, you and I will always be friends”, Disraeli told him.
When he died in 1889, Bright was a leading member of the newly formed Liberal Unionist Party which worked closely with the Conservatives as part of a Unionist alliance against Irish Home Rule until 1912- exactly a century ago – when the two Parties merged to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. Bright’s ideals thus passed into the bloodstream of the Tories, reinforcing their vision of One Nation, particularly in social affairs ,to which Bill Cash himself who is distantly related to Bright has always adhered.
In this fine, richly documented biography, Cash ends the neglect into which his forebear has been allowed to fall, and restores him to the pinnacle of nineteenth century political history where he belongs.
John Bright: Statesman, Orator, Agitator by Bill Cash is published by I.B.Taurus & Co. Ltd. at £25. Alistair Lexden is the official historian of the Conservative Party. For information about his publications and other historical writings, visit his website: www.alistairlexden.org.uk
( 0 comments )
Tags: Bill Cash, Conservative Party, Corn Laws, Disraeli, Gladstone, John Bright, Liberal Party, Liberal Unionist Party, One Nation, Robert Peel, Victorian politics
Posted by George Freeman MP, December 8th, 2011 .
We can make Britain the global hub for medical science.
The UK’s Life Science Sector generates over £50 billion per year in turnover and accounts for 165,000 jobs. With growth of 9.8% per annum it is clear that the Life Sciences sector is of vital strategic significance to the UK economy.
In leading the global fight against rising epidemics of western lifestyle diseases such as cancer, dementia, and diabetes, which most of us are likely to be affected by at some point of our lives, it is also important to our wider wellbeing. ‘Health and Wealth’ go hand in hand.
The Prime Minister’s announcements on Monday set out a new strategy for UK Life Sciences which will help us capitalise on our world class Life Science base of talented and pioneering researchers and compete in this challenging global arena. The UK has been at the forefront of discovery for the past 40 years, but the sector is changing rapidly, putting new pressures on the pharmaceutical sector which requires strategic response.
One such change has been the speed of computing and breakthroughs in genomics. These are opening up untold opportunities, however the time and cost of developing new treatments is rising significantly and the traditional models of research and development, based around large scale establishments, are becoming unsustainable. The future is going to see more tailored medicines, much better targeted at specific patients whom we will be able to predict from their genetic blueprint will be particularly vulnerable to a certain disease. The challenge therefore is to put human clinical disease studies and patients back at the heart of medical discovery and to do this in the UK.
Similarly the current models of funding are under strain. Healthcare providers are looking for increasingly cost-effective solutions, yet we can’t avoid the fact that innovation often comes at a cost. Under current NHS practice, this means that uptake can too often be slow with the knock on effect that industry can often find it increasingly difficult to justify investing in the UK.
The industry has been calling for measures to aid the discovery, development and commercialisation of research; and that is what we have done. The global race is on to maintain the UK’s standing as a leader in medical diagnostics, bio-technology and pharmaceuticals and we need to make sure we become the natural choice for investment in Life Sciences, for the benefit of research, UK plc, and most importantly for our patients.
The core vision at the heart of the Prime Minister’s strategy is to provide an unrivalled ‘ecosystem’ that brings together business, researchers, clinicians and patients to translate discovery into clinical use for medical innovation within the NHS. Through a £180 million Catalyst Fund, a streamlined regulatory framework enabling quicker entry to the market for new discoveries, and a package of reforms to make it easier for industry, universities and hospitals to work together on clinical research, we will provide an environment and infrastructure that supports pioneering researchers and clinicians to bring their innovation to market earlier and more easily.
Most important will be the benefits for patients. Under these proposals NHS patients will find it easier to access the many benefits of being involved in research such as earlier access to innovative treatments and the opportunity to take part in clinical trials. We can stop the stories of cancer patients forced to fly overseas to take part in potentially life-saving trials and open up access to innovative treatments here in the UK.
Just as pharmaceutical research is increasingly driven by genomics, we need to encourage an approach whereby every NHS patient can be a research patient, contributing to the struggle to prevent disease in the next generation by the better use of data on disease and drug side effects to better design and target medicines. This is already happening in the field of Cancer Research, with one in six patients already involved in research. Looking into the genetic trends of drug responsiveness is key to cracking diseases like dementia, diabetes and cancer, and with the appropriate protections in place these measures can radically improve our chances.
The Conservatives are committed to re-energising the UK’s medical science sector. The announcements on Monday were an historic step to accelerate the integration between academics, clinicians and industry we need to deliver better health outcomes for patients. As a new MP with a fifteen year career supporting biomedical innovations I know it was an announcement that will make a real difference.
George Freeman is the MP for Mid Norfolk. In July 2011 he was appointed Adviser on Life Sciences to the Minister of State for Universities and Science, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP.
( 4 comments )
Tags: Cancer Research, Catalyst Fund, health, Medical science, nhs, pharmaceutical sector, UK Life Science Sector
Posted by Alistair Lexden, December 2nd, 2011 .
A new, comprehensive history of our Party has just been published.
A new, comprehensive history of our Party has just been published. It is a profoundly important book.
Its author, Robin Harris, is a highly regarded historian and writer. He has been well-known in Conservative circles since the 1980s when he was Director of the Conservative Research Department. Having, he writes, been ” stressfully on the inside” of the Party organisation, he is now “contentedly on the outside” though contentment is not a quality that those who have worked with Robin Harris readily associate with him.
In some 520 pages of clear, forceful prose he draws on a wide range of (largely published) sources to provide an immensely stimulating, and often highly provocative, account of the Party’s changing fortunes-its triumphs and its setbacks-since the early nineteenth century. It was then that the modern Conservative Party began to take shape, mindful at all times of its Tory forebears and their traditions which stretched back to the late seventeenth century. So the word Conservative joined, rather than replaced, the venerable term Tory in the political lexicon.
There are many fine passages in this beautifully written book. The philosophical foundations of Conservatism supplied by Edmund Burke-ironically not a Tory at all, but an Irish Whig-are summarised incisively. It was from Burke that Conservatives learnt to ” nurture and respect the organic links between the practical circumstances-’ the little platoon’-in which man finds himself, and the greater national and international entities”.
Harris notes perceptively that ” the most effective exponents of Conservative politics have often been outsiders”. No one proved that point more memorably than Disraeli, the exotic Jewish outsider who cast his spell over the Party so profoundly that it continued to grow in strength after his death in 1881, making him the greatest Conservative icon of all time. ” National prestige”, writes Harris, was ” his decisive contribution to the idea which the Conservative Party has of itself”.
After Disraeli, Conservatives never wavered in their belief that their country must always be a leading participant in European and world affairs. In developing our national greatness, Disraeli’s successor, Lord Salisbury, achieved considerably more in practical terms than the remarkable Jewish adventurer. Yet Salisbury rarely gets the recognition he deserves in Conservative Party history. Harris redresses the balance, drawing on Andrew Roberts’s magnificent biography of Salisbury, published in 1999. The Conservatives were in office for fourteen of Salisbury’s seventeen years as Party leader. ” No Conservative has equalled that record, nor looks likely to do so”.
This book cannot, however, be regarded as a definitive history of the Party. Harris allows his own strong, often controversial political opinions to intrude unduly on his assessments of the Party in the twentieth century. It has been dubbed the Conservative century. The Party was in office, either on its own or in coalition, for some two-thirds of it. Harris finds little merit in most of the leaders who brought the Party success in this period. Harold Macmillan is treated with particular scorn: ” by no known definition was he philosophically speaking a conservative”, he writes of this formidable politician who consistently identified himself philosophically with progressive Tory ideals which have so often assisted the fortunes of the Conservative Party.
Harris believes that Margaret Thatcher’s predecessors should have done far more to get the state out of the economy and promote the kind of liberal, free market policies she pursued so successfully after 1979. That approach would not have brought electoral success before the late 1970s. Throughout the earlier decades of steadily rising prosperity the Conservative Party won its victories by showing that it could extend economic and social well-being throughout all classes more effectively than Labour without resorting to worryingly unorthodox economic doctrines.
The Party’s great twentieth century goal was spelt out by Stanley Baldwin in 1924: ” to make One Nation of our own people at home which, if secured, nothing else matters in the world”. More Conservatives have been inspired by the One Nation ideal than by anything else; it is not even mentioned by Robin Harris. The twentieth century cannot be understood without reference to it. And, thanks to David Cameron, it is being brought back to inspire Conservatives once again in this century.
The Conservatives: A History by Robin Harris is published by Bantam Books at £30. Alistair Lexden is the Party’s official historian. For details of his publications and other historical writings, visit his website: www.alistairlexden.org.uk
( 0 comments )
Tags: Conservative Party, Disraeli, history, One Nation, Robin Harris, Stanley Baldwin, Thatcher
Posted by Rachel Shackleton, November 16th, 2011 .
Apprenticeships are good for employers and apprentices.
My name is Rachel Shackleton. I am 18 years old, I am from Kent and earlier this year I became the first ever Conservative Policy Forum (CPF) apprentice based at CCHQ.
Just a few months ago, when I was still studying for my A Levels in media, English and psychology, I never thought I would be saying those words. I hadn’t considered apprenticeships. I hadn’t even heard of the CPF. And I was surrounded by teachers who were adamant that the Labour Party was amazing and the Conservatives were bad.
University or a gap year – these were the only options that seemed open to me back then. But I started thinking about the alternatives. I was suspicious about my teachers promoting the Labour Party so heavily. So I did my own research. I read up on the Conservative Party – what they stood for, what their values were, what their policies were. I found that what they were saying was what I believed. And I also found out that it was in fact Labour who had caused many of the problems we face today.
So I went online and started searching for opportunities. It was actually my mum who found the apprenticeship being advertised through The Parliamentary Academy. And when I went to the interview and was offered the job I thought: wow, I really have landed on my feet.
Now, nearly one month into the job, I love it. I have so much more responsibility than I thought I would. My daily tasks include reading through CPF submissions from different constituencies, printing, filing and assisting the forum’s head, Daisy Meyland-Smith, with its day-to-day running. Originally I had thought about pursuing a career in the media. But so much of what I do here involves the media. And it involves the policies I became interested in back when I was a student. It really is such a great opportunity.
CCHQ is a fantastic environment to work in. TVs are on throughout the office, people are constantly rushing around, phones are always ringing – there is a real buzz. There is also such a mixture of people here, from all backgrounds, of all ages. Everyone treats me like I’m the same as them. I worked in retail part-time, and even though I enjoyed it, I find that I am treated so much better here. And I am learning so much from the people around me.
Most of my friends are at university, but they worry about how they are going to get jobs afterwards with no experience. They are really jealous of what I’m doing – the fact that I’m learning and earning. What have I learnt? I have learnt what a great service the CPF is, encouraging people to shape the party’s future. I have learnt about the Conservative Party and what it truly stands for. And more importantly I have learnt that my future lies in politics.
So I am really pleased that the government is announcing more support for apprenticeships. I would really encourage others to do what I did – to think beyond university, to think beyond gap years and to think about starting their careers with a fantastic scheme like mine.
( 3 comments )
Tags: apprenticeships, CCHQ, Conservative Party Headquarters, Conservative Policy Forum, CPF
Posted by Dr Daniel Poulter, October 31st, 2011 .
We can never tell when our lives may be touched by cancer.
We can never tell when our lives may be touched by cancer and everyone has a relative or friend who has been diagnosed with the disease. Breast cancer remains one of the most common cancers in women and that is why it is so important to highlight the illness through Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
We know that the risk of breast cancer increases as women get older, is more common amongst women who are over 50 and post menopausal, and the highest instances of breast cancer are typically in the years after menopause. Women with relatives who’ve had breast cancer have a potentially higher risk of developing it themselves (the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can increase the risk of developing breast cancer).
There are different types of breast cancer, including invasive ductal breast cancer, which effects between 70-80% of women diagnosed with the disease. This is a cancer started in the cells behind the ducts of the breasts (milk ducts). There is also invasive lobular breast cancer, which accounts for about 10% of cancer cases. This is where the cancer starts in the cells that line the lobules of the breasts; this is most common in women between 45 and 55 years of age.
Self examination of their breasts by women is advisable as it provides them with an opportunity to detect any abnormal lumps or bumps. This is ideally performed lying down, and the breast should be examined in quarters, feeling for any abnormal lumps. The woman should also feel into her armpit for any abnormal lumps. Doctors and other healthcare professionals would much rather put a patients mind at ease, and if a woman is at all concerned it is important that she goes and sees her GP for a consultation.
Earlier this year the coalition Government published its cancer strategy, which seeks to save an additional 5,000 lives every year through until 2014-15, by earlier diagnosis and improved access to services, screening and radiotherapy. Early diagnosis saves lives, and this initiative from the coalition Government can be warmly welcomed.
My advice to women who are reading this is that if you have any concerns about abnormal lumps and bumps in your breasts, or any concerns about breast cancer in general, go and speak to a medical professional and they will be only to happy to help.
( 0 comments )
Tags: Breast cancer, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Coalition, Women
Posted by Alistair Lexden, October 4th, 2011 .
In the nineteenth century politics in Manchester suddenly changed.
In the second half of the nineteenth century politics in Manchester suddenly changed. What until then had been a mighty, unshakeable bastion of Liberalism was infiltrated brilliantly by the Tories.
The turning-point was Disraeli’s ingenious Reform Act of 1867 which gave the vote to working men (as long as they were householders) in urban constituencies. The local party leaders in Manchester at once infused fresh life into their constituency associations where the new voters were given the warmest of welcomes. At the 1868 general election a Tory candidate was elected for the first time ever in Manchester, coming top of the poll in what was then a three-member seat.
The local Tories knew they could do even better if they kept up the momentum of change. In 1872 they brought off a notable coup by persuading Disraeli, who rarely held big public meetings, to address his growing army of faithful supporters in Manchester as the climax of a week-long visit to the city. The reception given to Dizzy was described by one MP as ‘beyond anything he ever saw’.
On 3 April 1872 he addressed some 6,000 enthusiastic Manchester Tories from 7.30pm to nearly 11pm in the famous Free Trade Hall. He had two bottles of what looked like water in front of him. In fact they contained white brandy: and it was with its aid that the 67-year-old Tory leader sustained himself during his three-and-a-half hour marathon speech delivered without a note.
It was a defining moment for Toryism in Manchester and throughout the country. He spoke at some length about the Tory Party’s duty ‘to elevate the condition of the great body of the people’ and ‘to increase the wellbeing of the working classes of the country’ as part of a campaign to create greater ‘sympathy between classes’. What practical steps should be taken? ‘Pure air, pure water, the inspection of unhealthy habitations, the adulteration of food, these and many other kindred matters may be dealt with’, he said. In broad terms he defined the agenda that the Party was to follow generation after generation, continuing in our own times.
Never before had Disraeli given such an explicit exposition of what was to become known as one-nation Conservatism. It provided the further stimulus that Manchester Tories wanted. At the next election in 1874 they won two of the city’s three seats. Two years later the annual Party Conference was held for the first time in Manchester amid marked enthusiasm. The story of success continued. At the election of 1900 the Unionists, as the Tories and their coalition Liberal partners were then known, triumphed in all but one of the six seats into which Manchester had by that point been divided.
From small beginnings the Conservative Party in Manchester advanced spectacularly in just over thirty years. It could happen again.
Alistair Lexden is the official historian of the Conservative Party. Visit his website – http://www.alistairlexden.org.uk- for details of his career, publications and other historical writings.
( 4 comments )
Posted by Alistair Lexden, October 1st, 2011 .
Delegates at this year’s Conference should read this outstanding book.
On 9 October a letter from the Prime Minister was read out to the delegates attending the annual Conservative Party Conference held that year in Blackpool. The man who carried out the task would himself move into Downing Street ten days later. The Prime Minister’s letter stated: ‘It will not be possible for me to carry the physical burden of leading the Party at the next General Election…In these circumstances I hope that it will soon be possible for the customary processes of consultation to be carried on within the Party about its future leadership’.
The Conference plunged into turmoil. All attention was concentrated on the candidates for the leadership. The most flamboyant of them quickly declared that he intended to disclaim his peerage so that he could return – as leader, he hoped – to the Commons.
These dramatic events took place of course in October 1963, making that year’s Conference one of the most remarkable in the long history of these annual gatherings which began in 1867 (with so little initial success that only six delegates turned up for the second Conference the following year). Harold Macmillan’s decision to resign was conveyed by his successor, then Lord Home, who would shortly become Sir Alec. Disaster immediately overtook the irrepressible Lord Hailsham after he announced that he intended to cast aside his title. Much beloved until then by the Party Conference, he destroyed much of the long-standing goodwill by his tasteless behaviour which included feeding his infant daughter from her bottle in the lobby of the Conference hotel.
The extraordinary drama played out in Blackpool nearly fifty years ago is recreated by D.R.Thorpe in Supermac, his marvellous biography of Macmillan, which has been reissued in paperback this month. Rarely has a book attracted such uniformly glowing reviews. (My own assessment was posted on the Blue Blog on September 12, 2010.)
The 1963 Conference marked the end of a career which had a far greater impact on the history of the Conservative Party than many Tories have so far acknowledged. Thorpe corrects the balance in this beautifully written book which blends Macmillan’s personal life brilliantly with his political activities. Thorpe quotes Macmillan’s own judgement on his Tory achievement. ‘I succeeded in making it a national party, covering a very wide range of classes, interests and individuals’. This is perhaps going too far. It was Disraeli who first made it a national party: Macmillan kept it firmly on the Disraelian track to its lasting benefit.
Delegates at this year’s Party Conference should find time to read this outstanding and hugely enjoyable book.
Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan by D.R.Thorpe published last year in hardback is now out in paperback from Pimlico at £16.99. For information about Alistair Lexden, the Party’s official historian, visit his website: www.alistairlexden.org.uk.
( 0 comments )
Tags: Blackpool, Conservative Party Conference, D.R.Thorpe, Disraeli, Harold Macmillan, Supermac
Posted by Damian Collins MP, September 29th, 2011 .
Conference will showcase the talent and diversity of start ups.
We all know that small and start up businesses are part of the life blood of our economy and a key driver in growth. However, as well as talking about how government policy can support new businesses I wanted us to use the Conservative Party Conference this year to really showcase the talent, drive and diversity of the start up businesses sector.
So this party conference sees the launch of a unique initiative to promote hungry new businesses through our Start-up Hub competition. I first proposed this idea at a discussion breakfast on the creative industries, organised by Conservative Business Relations earlier in the year. Thanks to the support for this from their Chairman Alan Lewis and his team we are giving nine businesses that have launched since May 2010 the chance to exhibit at the conference. You can visit them at the Start-Up Hub, which is located at stands 4 to 7 in the main conference exhibition hall.
Three different businesses will be exhibiting on each of the first three days of the conference, and they were selected following a national competition. I would also like to thank the three supporting businesses for the Start-up Hub, Barclays, BlackBerry and Fujitsu.
The nine finalists are drawn from across the UK, from Glasgow to Gloucestershire and Nottingham to Notting Hill. A number of the businesses represent important growth sectors for the economy; particular green technology, digital and creative industries and advanced engineering. The Birmingham based Caribbean Catering Company also provides training to help get young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into work.
You can vote for your favourite business through the conference app, and you can find out more about this and the competition online at www.conservatives.com.
The Government has already improved conditions for new businesses and entrepreneurs by cutting corporation tax and scrapping burdensome regulations. What the Start-Up Hub will do is give these entrepreneurs a tremendous opportunity to market their products to thousands of delegates, the national media and business leaders from the across the UK. I hope that the opportunity to present themselves at the Party conference is good for all of the businesses involved.
I have listed below the nine finalists for the Start-up Hub, please do look them up.
British Alpaca Company: Based near Binfield in the Maidenhead constituency, Britain’s first organic home grown alpaca textile manufacturer.
Smiley Talk: Based at Llantrisant near Cardiff, a 100% safe online community for schools and children.
Integrated Operation Solutions: Based in Manchester, provides IT systems and consultancy for charities and small businesses.
VDU Publishing: Based in Glasgow, an independent e-book publisher.
Versarian: Based in Cinderford, Gloucestershire produces micro-porous metals used in the semi-conductor and solar energy sectors.
Peelable Posters: Based in Nottingham, manufacture peelable, re-usable posters.
Caribbean Catering Academy: Based in Birmingham, catering company providing training for disadvantaged young people.
buildabrand.com: Based near Ladbroke Grove in London, an online one stop shop for creating brand identities.
OE Systems: Based at Streetly in the West Midlands, provides portable ‘power on the go’ systems for businesses.
( 2 comments )
Tags: business, Conservative Party Conference 2011, Damian Collins, Start-up Hub
Posted by Mark Prisk, September 28th, 2011 .
Poorly-designed or unnecessary red tape is a real brake on growth.
On Thursday, I caught the Entrepreneur’s Express North to the MADE Festival in Sheffield. Both the train, and later the festival itself, were full of bright, enthusiastic young entrepreneurs, soaking up advice on how to start their own firms or sharing their experience of doing business in Britain.
But it struck me that even at MADE, in such an optimistic, dynamic, ‘can-do’ atmosphere it was obvious that Britain’s business owners and managers are desperate for government to get to grips with red tape and bureaucracy. They don’t want expensive grant schemes or subsidies, they just want government to create a competitive environment in which they are free to thrive, innovate and create jobs.
I remember that feeling of optimism when I started my business, back in the 1990s – and I remember how frustrating red tape was back then, too. Of course, nobody wants to scrap regulation entirely – well designed regulation is critical to the effective operation of markets, and the protection of consumers and employees. But poorly-designed or unnecessary red tape is a real brake on growth, and ever since I have been committed to cutting that burden wherever we can.
That is why, this morning, we published the second Statement of New Regulation. This document lists all the regulations that government departments plan to scrap or introduce – or in some cases, have already scrapped or introduced – between July and December of this year. It’s a summary of how well the new ‘One-in, One-out’ system is working. And it holds some modest good news for hard-pressed businesses and the entrepreneurs I met last week.
Combined with the first Statement of New Regulation, covering January to June of this year, we’ve seen a £3 billion saving for employers from the new indexation of pensions and the capping of other regulatory costs during 2011. The number of de-regulatory measures has increased three-fold between the first and second halves of the year. And 60 per cent of departments have delivered a net reduction in the cost that they impose on business. In short, this Statement shows that between July and December of this year there are ten ‘INS’ but 25 ‘OUTS’.
When combined with everything else that the Government is doing to tackle bureaucracy, this represents real progress. The Red Tape Challenge – which is looking at all 21,000 existing regulations and giving individuals and businesses the chance to tell us what works and what doesn’t, what should be simplified and what should be scrapped – has identified 160 retail regulations to be ditched or merged, with more sectors and themes to report in coming weeks. Britain’s smallest businesses, and new start-ups, continue to benefit from the moratorium on new domestic regulation. And by directly copying EU regulations straight into domestic law, we’ve ended ‘gold plating’ to stop British firms being placed at a competitive disadvantage to their European counterparts.
There remains a long way to go. But this Statement shows that the culture in Whitehall is changing. People are beginning to realise that regulation must be a last resort, not the first option. And in this challenging economic period, every hurdle that we remove from the path of a new start-up or existing firm means better growth, more private sector employment, and greater progress toward re-building and re-balancing our economy.
( 4 comments )
Tags: business, Economy, entrepeneurs, Sheffield
Posted by Peter Luff, September 16th, 2011 .
We’ve laid the foundations for a more stable future for Defence.
It’s been a tumultuous year at MoD but as the ministerial team looks back on what’s been achieved, we all feel we’ve laid the foundations for a much more stable future for Defence.
It can’t be said too often that we inherited a grossly over-committed budget that meant we would have had to make cuts to programmes and capabilities just to live within our means. But the need for Defence to make a contribution to deficit reduction meant those cuts had to be sharper still. I know there are many people who feel Defence should have been exempt from reductions, but to them I simply say that there is no point in trying to defend a bankrupt country.
So in the last year we have had a Strategic Defence and Security Review that began the process of aligning our resources with our commitments. We always knew that, after so many years of neglect, it would take more than one SDSR and one MoD annual planning round to get things into balance, but we are making real progress.
And we’ve done much more than the SDSR. We are all especially pleased to have incorporated the Armed Forces Covenant into law. We’ve also launched a range of initiatives, most importantly the Levene review, that will transform the way MoD works. I’m particularly pleased with the new Major Projects Review Board that will keep a careful eye on those big projects that go over budget or over time. And the new forum for Small and Medium Sized businesses I’ve established will give them a real voice in MoD’s thinking for the first time.
All that, taken together with Liam Fox’s recent statement on the basing review, the reserves review and the government’s commitment to increase the MoD equipment budget in real terms after 2015, means we can now say for the first time in decade or more that our plans are in alignment with our resources.
That’s not to say we don’t have more serious work to do to complete the process. Things remain very tight – that’s the product of years of Labour indifference to the need to balance MoD’s budget – but we can now plan with real confidence.
For me there are two central challenges. With the various reviews behind us I now need to get on with the White Paper on Equipment and Support for Defence and Security. We couldn’t publish it until all the other issues were settled, but now, working with my good friend James Brokenshire in the Home Office, we can finalise this important document.
While the White Paper is about what we buy, the other major piece of work – Bernard Gray’s “Materiel Strategy” – is about how we buy it and support it. The real problems with major defence programmes have been caused by politicians and top military personnel in London. Over committing the programme has meant pushing buying things into the future at much greater cost, and always striving for technical perfection has driven up costs far to far. We need a balanced budget that ends delays, and a culture of “good enough now, not perfect later”. But when we’ve done all that, we still need to make sure we have the skills and structures to buy and support equipment well. That’s what Bernard Gray is sorting out next.
So after fourteen months I think I can honestly say that we’re turning the MoD supertanker round, but it’s going to be a while yet until we can say that all the problems have been solved.
Despite all the difficulties and challenges, the troops in the front line in Afghanistan and all those on service in the Libya campaign are getting the equipment and support they need. This is a tribute to many hard working civil servants, scientists, military personnel and private sector contractors who, together, are providing an outstanding service to our armed forces on the front line.
And that’s my last challenge. Seventy five per cent of our armed forces say their equipment is what they need to do the job they’ve been entrusted with – and given the high standards they rightly set for their kit, that’s a high figure that I’m determined to make even higher. But only twenty per cent of the public think the kit is good enough. We need to do more to show to the British people that, although we still have many issues to deal with in MoD, we are firmly on the right track when it comes to the one thing above all others that we must do well.
( 1 comments )
Tags: Afghanistan, Armed Forces Covenant, Liam Fox, Libya, Ministry of Defence, MoD, SDSR, Strategic Defence and Security Review
