Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Iain Dale 9:39 AM

You really have to feel sorry for Gordon. He's spent billions of pounds of our money trying to get us out of recession, and yes, we've finally made it. Britain's economy grew by a massive, er, 0.1% in quarter 4 of 2009. This figure is so low that after adjustments, the economy could actually still be in recession.

Let's not split hairs though. It is good news that we are emerging from recession, even if we are the last major country to do so, and even if it has cost us far more than other countries to get to this point.

But the fact that it has taken so long should be a warning signal to everyone, rather than a clear sign of encouragement. It is a signal that internationally, people are still very nervous about the state of the British economy and are still not putting their money here? Why? Because they fear that our out of control government spending may well result in our triple A credit rating being reduced sooner rather than later.

We are not out of the woods yet, and I note an absence of Labour Ministers on our TV screens in the last 15 minutes crowing about their wonderful triumph. They would be well advised to remain silent.

A New Role for PPSs?

Iain Dale 11:05 AM

I've written before about my fears relating to the ability of a new Conservative government to drive forward its agenda in the face of opposition from recalcitrant civil servants. These fears are exacerbated by Conservative plans to halve the number of political advisers. Many people think that this is a decision which could come back to haunt David Cameron.

Labour has doubled the number of special advisers since 1997. Clearly this has gone too far, but the Conservatives shouldn't underestimate the role they have been able to play in driving through Labour's agenda. If the Tories haven't got the same resources available to them, they shouldn't be so naive as to think that ministers will be able to do it all by themselves.

So here's an idea. If there is a Conservative government with a reasonable majority, it is important to find things for backbenchers to do, if only to keep them out of mischief. So my suggestion is this. Instead of appointing one PPS to a Cabinet Minister, each one should have two. They would be unpaid (as now), but one of them would effectively fulfil the role of a second special adviser. The advantages to a Cabinet Minister are clear, but it would also be good for more backbenchenchers to gain experience of how government operates. These PPS's should be carefully chosen, rather than the random process which exists currently. Ideally, they should have some knowledge of the subject area of the department they would be working within.

PPSs need to be more than the proverbial bag carrier. They also need to be more than a Minister's eyes and ears in Parliament. A second PPS in a department will need to augment the work of the Minister's SPAD and to take on an light enforcer and progress chasing role.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: Some interesting comments. The way to avoid increasing the payroll vote is to reduce the number of ministers in the first place. Also, Jimmy's point is (as usual) fatuous as nowehere was I advocating that each and every Minister should have their own dual PPSs. PPSs are normally only allocated to Cabinet Ministers and perhaps five or six senior Ministers of State.