I am really worried....part 2

As you know the ineptitude and indeed inhumanity of government concerns me, and fast on the heels of the migration fiasco in Calais comes another scheme to get people back to work.

In this case people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol, or who are obese will lose benefits if they do not attend rehabilitation courses. On the face of it this is a reasonable policy, but I will tell you now it does not have a chance of success.

Firstly there is overwhelming evidence that coercion into this type of programme just does not work. The vast body of evidence is that if rehabilitation is a forced option then it fails. So firstly the policy is doomed before its starts.

Secondly, to make rehabilitation successful it requires huge resources. Where is this money to come from, it just does not exist. In our town an overstretched Social Services department already sends people to charities for help. Yes rehabilitation should be offered, but this is not a quick fix but something that will take months and require professional levels of resources and funding. So secondly the policy is not financed.

Thirdly a friend of mine pointed out that one of the reasons people become addicted is because of the wretchedness of their existence. Their addiction simply dulls the pain of everyday live. Potentially the policy by using the threat and or the actuality of losing benefits will make people’s lives worse so they will have more reasons for addiction.

Lastly as someone who believes in a free society, it worries me that we should be prescriptive against a distinct targeted group of people. I have known several alcoholics none of who were on the breadline, but who were causing untold damage to themselves and other people. Nobody was suggesting any intervention in his or her case. What we have here is a selective compulsory policy that is only one step short of eugenics.

What is needed is a well resourced supportive environment in which people are given the choice to follow their own course. This is far more likely to be successful than any amount of threats. The carrot is a better way than the stick, and above all it is a successful way not a policy that will simply make things worse.

I am really worried part 1…….

This may sound like a worn out record, but I am becoming really concerned how are government is losing touch with reality. Two main areas illustrate that nicely, the situation in Calais and the plans to withhold benefits to those who are obese, suffer from drug or alcohol problems and do not accept treatment. These both show politicians out of touch with what is really happening.

The Calais situation shows an approach that just will not work. First of all it is amplified out of all proportion. While it is quite obviously a human tragedy the numbers there are comparatively low, low compared to the number of illegal immigrants who enter the UK by other means, and low compared to the numbers resettled in the rest of the European Community. There is a far bigger problem at Heathrow for instance with travellers who overstay their visas.

We have to address the core problem, the gut reaction is to build higher fences, however the people storming the fences are already desperate and have risked death multiple times just to reach Calais, ultimately you cannot fence the whole of the channel coast. Also when watching the TV tonight it seemed that the fences were just being pushed over, well just down the road the barriers surrounding the local school playing field are more robust than that.

There has to be a constructive dialogue first of all with the French, after all they have what is essentially a British problem dumped on their doorstep. It needs joint coherent action. Secondly perhaps we should talk to the migrants themselves, would it not be better to undertake orderly processing in France rather than play this game of cat and mouse. Then we have to look at the root cause, failed states in the Middle East and Africa a state of affairs for which our actions are at the very least contributory. When we help oust regimes like Gadhafi in Libya we had no coherent policy of reconstruction.

At the moment we are attempting a policy of isolated prevention without addressing the root causes of the issues. Our politicians are just looking for cheap headlines, and the losers are the migrants in Calais living in squalid conditions and indeed the French people living there whose daily lives must be considerably disrupted.

A brave politician would engage not mouth platitudes.

Tomorrow my rant will continue……..

Milk Matters

I know that my regular readership, Thomas that means you, have been missing my updates on the state of the milk market. Imagine my delight this week when Private Eye had a column devoted to that very subject. It put to rest some myths that have long been pedalled by dairy farmers.

Firstly the contracts offered by supermarkets for milk are some of the best in the industry, the real problem is the low price of milk used for making cheese, butter, and milk powder have been dropping because of a worldwide collapse in demand.

Next it is an incredible rise in productivity that not helping the dairy farmers, the average cow now produces 2000 litres of milk a year more than it did in 1998. This is a rise of about 40%, largely because of automation that more effectively regulates diet and means that the animals are less prone to disease.

So if we assume for one moment that demand is static economics would say that we need 40% fewer cows to produce the same volume of milk. Essentially the market is forcing farmers out of business until supply equals demand when prices will stabilise and potentially rise again.

So let us look beyond the simple supermarket bashing that in this case may only be part of the story. Unfortunately it is the farmers who invest in automation who are winning. It may sully our view of Daisy chewing the cud in a rural idyll, but it is a fact. For you Archers fanatics it is the difference between Berrow Farm and Brookfield. Now I cannot possibly comment in which environment the cows are happiest, I will leave that to you dear reader.

Suday Thoughts

I read a couple of good articles in today’s Observer that set me thinking. One came from a predictable source another less so. Steve Hilton was a close policy advisor to David Cameron until about two years ago. He argues cogently that localism is the big new idea to enthuse the people. Correctly he argues that decisions have become ever more centralised and remote from the people, this leads him to say that because of this the population becomes disenfranchised and therefore more disillusioned with politics. There is an equation between civic pride and engagement with the size of an electorate.

Thus even the smallest French village has its Marie with a council that can make a real difference to its inhabitants. We also have the evidence of the US where even a small district elects its school board that can have a real impact on educational provision. Now both these examples of localism can have a negative as well as a positive effect. The nearest equivalent in this country are Parish Councils, indeed we have one in Newby and Scalby on which I had the misfortune to serve many years ago. They have tax raising powers, however these are extremely limited and any jurisdiction that they have seems to be regarding trivial areas like the maintenance of graveyards. In my experience they are talking shops mainly for people who like self-aggrandisement. Public participation is discouraged by the arcane procedures that they adopt.

So my conclusion is that Hilton is maybe right but that in order to enthuse the electorate they have to understand that any local body has real powers, and inevitably this will mean devolving power over real taxation. It also means that any efficiency enjoyed by the centralisation of services will be lost. The other challenge is that if it merely means that there is another layer of government then the complexities, costs, and beaurocracy will defeat people’s enthusiasm. So I applaud the sentiment but think that it will be challenging to implement, not the least because both central government and local authorities will have to give up meaningful power. You have obviously heard of the phrase “turkeys voting for Christmas”.

Another problem is getting capable people to stand for these local bodies. To be effective they are time consuming roles that are not rewarded commensurately with effort needed. Particularly at a local level you would become an easily identifiable Aunt Sally for the local electorate.

I think that a real step forward could be more openness in our local government, particularly with the demise of local newspapers. Ironically this should make it easier to disseminate information via the web. Each council should have a rapporteur whose job it is to be journalist reporting and explaining Council decisions and workings. As a rule of thumb everything should be reported, justification should be given for confidentiality rather than the other way round.

So Mr. Hilton your article has got me thinking, but I think that the solution is maybe not as simple as you propose.

Families

I have been thinking about my family, it is not large and I find it difficult to envisage those people who have hundreds of cousins in far-flung parts of the world. It has been a difficult year for our family for a number of reasons but I think that we have emerged from it much stronger.

There is always a rock at the heart of all family life, and that in our case is Marion. It is not that the world revolves around her but the fact that Marion makes the world revolve. Marion sends out so much love that it keeps everybody smiling and that by her subterfuginous (is that a word) ways keeps the wheels turning, particularly when those around her are being less than helpful. Above all Marion provides the humour that drives reminiscences. Also without her none of us would get to where we have to be on time, well fed and dressed.

Children our both a trial and a joy, and that is certainly true of ours. We have had a great week with our daughter. First of all in her inimitable style she has organised us, cupboards are now tidy and future plans made. She he has put me right on the mores of the younger generation and filled me in on celebrity culture. She also has to be a foil for our political arguments. Last night our daughter also reminded us that she is crazy, I took her to the beach and she swam in the cold North Sea for 20 minutes. Now I found it difficult to get in a Provencal pool, to swim in a sea that is 20 degrees colder fills me with admiration.

Our son manages a demanding job and a family with aplomb. I admire him for his core values and the way that he is imparting those to his children. He also constantly surprises me with his risk taking and entrepreneurship. It is great to witness a young person striving so hard to make their way in the world. He has contrary views on some things but that only makes for some good arguments, even if he is always wrong.

No family would be complete without some dizzy blondes, and we have three a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. All of them in their different ways keep us grounded. I can only marvel how our daughter-in-law juggles a demanding job with the challenges of bringing up two small girls. Fantastic is all I can say, and those two little girls generate a ray of sunshine through the gloomiest of days.

So when I think on it I am really lucky to have a great family, however so that they do not get to above themselves I might detail their faults in a future blog. There is one that they all have in common from the youngest to the oldest, they do not unconditionally agree with me all of the time.