Views
Power in the hands of the people - for The Inverness Courier
THE last time I wrote for The Inverness Courier, I expected that by now we would be in the grips of a general election campaign.
I was forced to hedge my bets at the time and — just as Murphy's Law would predict — the whole thing had been called off by the Tuesday on which my column appears.
The repercussions have been dramatic, at least within the world of Westminster. Gordon Brown, who looked unassailable throughout much of the summer, is suddenly a much weakened figure. For the time being, the Conservatives are buoyant, in the polls and in parliament.
Here in the Highlands, I think people can be forgiven for finding this all a bit puzzling.
It is bizarre that the Prime Minister should have the power, with the Queen's formal agreement, to call an election whenever he wishes. I wonder if, by now, Gordon Brown is wishing he could give that power away. He surely must regret the extent to which he teased the nation, including his own political colleagues and the press, only to back down at the first sign of a serious contest.
With fixed term parliaments an established fact for the Scottish Parliament, this feature of the UK constitution looks especially anachronistic from north of the border. The arguments against reform for Westminster look very thin indeed.
To that end, two of my Lib Dem colleagues have moved quickly to introduce a Bill which would address this problem, and put elections back where they belong, in the hands of the people rather than the political elite. They have already attracted strong cross-party support.
Not previously known for letting any power slip beyond his reach, I wonder if even the man in 10 Downing Street might secretly be wishing the Bill well.
CARE WORKERS
The situation surrounding senior care workers in the Highland Capital is a case study in the human consequences when Home Office civil servants decide to adjust their rule book.
People from countries like the Philippines who have been living in our community for several years, doing important and skilled work looking after local old folk, are suddenly being told by the government that they must return home.
The greatest unfairness of the situation is that their circumstances have not changed in the slightest, and they have done everything which they could to follow the rules.
If the change goes ahead, the potential disruption to care provision is also serious.
So, I was pleased to receive a response from the minister responsible recognising that continuity of care should be taken into account.
It is disappointing, that, as the Courier revealed last week, the "compromise" which has been proposed contains a caveat which ultimately excludes the people affected locally altogether.
There are many complex issues about the appropriate rules for coming to work in the UK, but it is in the interests of both fairness and practicality for any changes to be introduced with good warning, and with effective rather than tokenistic transitional measures.
The government must now go back to care providers and sort out the mess that it has created.
In the meantime, I am asking the minister to ensure that no action is taken to stop people working or to cause more disruption to their lives than they have already had to suffer.
CHANGE AT THE TOP
One more recent consequence of the cancelled general election was Ming Campbell's sudden decision last week to resign the leadership of the Liberal Democrats.
Although he was only at the helm for a little over 18 months, in that time he did a great deal to make sure that we were ready for an election this year.
He has helped the party to carve out a distinctive position at the heart of British politics — firm in our defence of civil liberties; determined to tackle growing inequality under Labour; and prepared to lead the world in tackling climate change.
Ultimately, he concluded himself that the trivia surrounding his age was distracting from progress on these important issues. It is a mark of the man that he set aside his own personal interests for the things in which he believes.
In both Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell, the next leader of our party has very hard acts to follow. I hope and expect there will be an exciting contest.
From what looks likely to be a field of two candidates, I have lent my support to Nick Clegg, a man who I think has the vision and the communication skills to break apart the increasingly cosy consensus of Labour and Conservatives which dominates the UK political scene.
Posted on: 23/10/2007
