The reason voters feel powerless: because it's the truth
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Version 0 of 1. Too many voters feel left behind and disconnected from politics. That was the consensus after last month's local and European elections. From the authors of an excellent book on Ukip to the various bewildered party leaders, the conclusion was the same: there is an urgent need to connect with those who feel excluded. The political class is too detached. Agreeing on the problem is the easy bit. Addressing the issue is more complex, as the current Guardian series Insecure Britain vividly illustrates. The complexity deepens because on one level, parts of the political class have chosen to be detached as a matter of ideology. I do not mean that some at Westminster are wilfully "out of touch", the usual lazy cliche applied to politicians. The disconnection between politics and voters takes an altogether different form. The nature of the breakdown was touched on in an unusually illuminating exchange between David Cameron and Ed Miliband at last week's prime minister's questions. The seemingly modest clash touched on the biggest domestic challenge of our times. In the light of the Birmingham schools controversy, Miliband asked Cameron which bodies parents should turn to when they have concerns. Cameron could not give a definitive answer. Because there is no answer. Cameron replied that parents could complain to the head. Miliband asked what should happen if parents suspected the head was part of the problem. Cameron suggested Ofsted would act. Miliband pointed out that some inspections take place only once every few years. The prime minister replied that there would now be unannounced inspections. The Labour leader suggested that such unexpected visits would still happen infrequently. Cameron had no further clear answers. Here is one example of many as to why voters feel disconnected. It is because they are disconnected. Public services are so fragmented there are no clear lines of accountability. Parents who are worried by what is happening in a school will try to pull levers and discover that no one is at the other end. They are left to fume impotently. The lack of clear accountability and the impotent fuming applies far more widely. When a patient phones to see a GP and is told that the next appointment is in a week's time, what can they do? Justifiably, the surgery will tell the caller that every single slot is taken. At a national level, GPs' representatives call for a greater slice of the NHS budget to meet demand. But the fragmentation of the NHS, problematic at a local level, also applies higher up the convoluted hierarchy. Who takes the key decisions about the distribution of funding? Is it the health secretary or NHS England, the new, mighty quango? The despairing patient has no clear path towards an earlier appointment. The chaos has not arisen by chance but by design. Andrew Lansley's original NHS bill highlights the mindset at the upper levels of the coalition. There was no reference to the health secretary having any responsibility for the NHS. The omission alarmed some Conservatives, as well as those from other parties, and was put right in the Lords. It was deliberate and ideological. For the coalition, certainly in its early phase, fragmentation was the preferred means to deliver public services. Ministers believe a smaller state, an apparent choice of local providers, contrived internal markets with external regulators, and quangos assuming powers previously held by elected politicians, empower users of services. They seek to step back from being stifling, but one unintended consequence is that users have not got a clue where to turn when things go wrong. Where do I find affordable housing to rent? Sorry, this is no longer the responsibility of local councils. We used to build homes, but were stopped from doing so. How do I find somewhere I can afford to live? Try a housing association. Who are they accountable to? Central government gives them money. So who do I contact? You could try Eric Pickles, but he has a lot on his plate. Who do I complain to about the cost of getting on an overcrowded, unpunctual train? You could start with the train company, but the fares are regulated by the regulator, although the regulator is accountable to the transport secretary. And then there are the costs of Network Rail, which functions separately. There are many other examples of how voters feel left behind because they are left behind. The fragmentation began in the 1980s. The abolition of the metropolitan authorities removed an important line of accountability. To take one example, it was impossible subsequently to find out who was responsible for the appalling state of public transport in London. I once attempted to discover who was guilty for a particular hopeless bus service in north London and ended up speaking to someone in his living room in Potters Bar, who told me he was more than satisfied with provision. There were no effective connections. One of the reasons why transport in London has improved beyond recognition is the link between the service and the elected mayor. The lines of accountability have been put back together again. Was it "statist" to put an elected body in charge of London's transport? Is it "statist" to guarantee patients can see a GP quickly? Is it "statist" to suggest that if an elected government is responsible for raising the money to pay for the NHS it should take some responsibility for how the money is spent? Is it "statist" to suggest that local, accountable bodies should assume some responsibility for standards in schools and for housing? If it is, the term should cease to be pejorative. As the Guardian's series on the mood of the nation shows, some voters cite "immigration" and "Europe" as reasons for their discontent. Those specific concerns must be taken seriously, but in their evocation of distant accountability and powerlessness in the face of change, they stand for a much wider disconnection. Britain needs to be put together again. And until it is, voters will feel powerless, because they are. Steve Richards presents Rock N Roll Politics at the Park Theatre, Finsbury Park, on Sunday 6 July |