EasyCouncil not at all easy

I was sorry that the need to attend an anti-cuts meeting in Lambeth last night kept me from the important rally in Barnet.



I am pleased however to see Barnet's bonkers "EasyCouncil" nonsense trashed by the auditors (http://m.guardian.co.uk/?id=102202&story=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/23/barnet-easycouncil-costcutting-plan-criticised).



I think that all high profile attempts to "re-invent" local service delivery are more or less driven by a desire for profile on the part of their proponents rather than any realistic prospect of positive change.



What we need now isn't innovation - it's a circling of the wagons to protect as much as we can of the Welfare State bequeathed us by previous generations.



Politicians and senior managers love to have a "vision" but I think "visions" are generally the product of hallucinogenics.



I want to spend the next few years limiting the damage being done to our society by a Government of millionaire public schoolboys. That's not a "vision" but it's cold hard pragmatism.

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