Inspiration from the neighbours
On Saturday I went to the North East Regional Conference of the Liberal Democrats. Like most people I treasure my Saturdays, so it felt like quite a sacrifice but in the event I was really pleased to have gone.
Everyone was pleased to hear about the progress we’ve made in County Durham, but it was even better to hear from Northumberland where our group has established itself as the biggest group on the county council, and has started to run a minority administration.
Best of all, however, was a truly inspirational address from David Faulkner, Deputy Leader of Newcastle’s Liberal Democrat Council. He talkes such common sense - we need to be a safe pair of hands so people don’t think they’ve made a mistake in putting us in charge, but we need to be much more than that. People need to see the real difference a Lib Dem Council makes. He talked about making Newcastle a greener city (it has achieved fantastic improvements in recycling rates) and making it a leader in Democracy, getting decision making down to as local a basis as possible. I was particularly impressed to hear that one of the first actions the Liberal Democrat administration took when it swept to power was to give the chairmanship of all five scrutiny committees to Labour. Yes, that’s right, to the opposition. David argued that good administration means that you have to separate the executive function - the wielding of power - from the function of checking up that power is being wielded effectively and policy is being delivered. It’s common sense.
It’s also a million miles away from what is happening in County Durham where the Labour Party is so timid that it’s hugging power and the job of scrutiny to itself in the hope that no-one will find out what’s really going on.
I was so impressed by what I heard that I had a look at Newcastle’s website on the dull topic of corporate governance http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/corpgovernance?opendocument . It’s just so refreshing to see the principles of good governance set out - accompanied by an appraisal of what has been achieved and what is still to do. Bring on the day when Liberal Democrats take charge in County Durham and start the revolution here.
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