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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Yes we must take back control, not from Brussels – from Whitehall | Yes we must take back control, not from Brussels – from Whitehall |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Take back control. After two bloodstained years in British politics, it remains the one Brexit slogan with a modicum of potency. It drips with self-righteous empowerment. It depicts remainers as shiftily in thrall to Brussels, while shielding Brexiters from the charge of mere xenophobia. It is also utterly cynical. | Take back control. After two bloodstained years in British politics, it remains the one Brexit slogan with a modicum of potency. It drips with self-righteous empowerment. It depicts remainers as shiftily in thrall to Brussels, while shielding Brexiters from the charge of mere xenophobia. It is also utterly cynical. |
| In a recent series of interviews for this paper, John Harris travelled the country, going “anywhere but Westminster”. It showed yet again that the poor are always with us, a familiar tale of those “left behind”, their misery aggravated by austerity. Theirs is a local Britain savaged over the past decade by massive cuts in spending on services. | In a recent series of interviews for this paper, John Harris travelled the country, going “anywhere but Westminster”. It showed yet again that the poor are always with us, a familiar tale of those “left behind”, their misery aggravated by austerity. Theirs is a local Britain savaged over the past decade by massive cuts in spending on services. |
| One thing about Harris’s respondents I found new. Unlike those I have met on similar ventures, they were not so much angry as resigned. The most frequent comment was: “There is nothing we can do.” They have lost that crucial ingredient of democracy, a degree of empowerment. Two years ago, Brexit offered to “give them back control”, and they decided to take it. | One thing about Harris’s respondents I found new. Unlike those I have met on similar ventures, they were not so much angry as resigned. The most frequent comment was: “There is nothing we can do.” They have lost that crucial ingredient of democracy, a degree of empowerment. Two years ago, Brexit offered to “give them back control”, and they decided to take it. |
| It was the cruellest of deceptions. As of today, half the control that will supposedly be repatriated under Brexit is simply a lie. We cannot disregard the rules of the customs union if we are to maintain the 54% of British trade that is with the EU and its trading partners. Fortress Britain is mad. American and Canadian traders must adhere to EU rules. All else is nonsense. | It was the cruellest of deceptions. As of today, half the control that will supposedly be repatriated under Brexit is simply a lie. We cannot disregard the rules of the customs union if we are to maintain the 54% of British trade that is with the EU and its trading partners. Fortress Britain is mad. American and Canadian traders must adhere to EU rules. All else is nonsense. |
| On the other hand, we can repatriate the shedload of EU directives that have accumulated over the decades, powers that are nothing to do with trade, from bats to building regulations, pharmacies to farming. These we can control, as we still control our welfare state. | On the other hand, we can repatriate the shedload of EU directives that have accumulated over the decades, powers that are nothing to do with trade, from bats to building regulations, pharmacies to farming. These we can control, as we still control our welfare state. |
| But who is we? One thing is for sure, it is not those in Harris’s survey. There are two states in the United Kingdom, the central state and the local one. The Brexiters’ tussle with Brussels is matched by the provinces’ tussle with London. But while the Brussels argument is ongoing, that between London and the rest of Britain is game, set and match to London. | But who is we? One thing is for sure, it is not those in Harris’s survey. There are two states in the United Kingdom, the central state and the local one. The Brexiters’ tussle with Brussels is matched by the provinces’ tussle with London. But while the Brussels argument is ongoing, that between London and the rest of Britain is game, set and match to London. |
| Local government still delivers roughly a quarter of all public services, but financial stringency means it does so overwhelmingly as a Whitehall agency. British sub-national government is so impotent it is off the international graph for centralisation. It controls a derisory 1.6% of GDP, against 6% in France, 11% in Germany and 16% in Sweden. British local democracy is that of a failed state. | Local government still delivers roughly a quarter of all public services, but financial stringency means it does so overwhelmingly as a Whitehall agency. British sub-national government is so impotent it is off the international graph for centralisation. It controls a derisory 1.6% of GDP, against 6% in France, 11% in Germany and 16% in Sweden. British local democracy is that of a failed state. |
| In one area after another, austerity has stripped councils of all discretionary spending: on day centres, libraries, nurseries, care homes, visits to elderly people, public gardens, minor road repairs. Services that enrich and enable local life are being cut back, even in plush Surrey, Northamptonshire and Somerset. | In one area after another, austerity has stripped councils of all discretionary spending: on day centres, libraries, nurseries, care homes, visits to elderly people, public gardens, minor road repairs. Services that enrich and enable local life are being cut back, even in plush Surrey, Northamptonshire and Somerset. |
| A parallel Guardian survey by Aditya Chakrabortty has been examining how some communities have responded to these cutbacks. With rare exceptions – such as Plymouth and Preston – what is noticeable is how minor is the role played by formal local government. It is residents who bring a derelict street to life, volunteers who step in when school meals collapse, drivers who try to keep a bus service running. | A parallel Guardian survey by Aditya Chakrabortty has been examining how some communities have responded to these cutbacks. With rare exceptions – such as Plymouth and Preston – what is noticeable is how minor is the role played by formal local government. It is residents who bring a derelict street to life, volunteers who step in when school meals collapse, drivers who try to keep a bus service running. |
| When the central state breaks both the back and the spirit of the local one, people respond as if to an emergency. But this is neither democratic, nor is it control. Many of these services were once supplied by parish and town councils. I recently met two leading members of such councils, in the Midlands and in Wales. They were as responsible and competent as any Whitehall civil servant. They were discussing how to relieve the worst aspects of local austerity but, unlike their opposite numbers in Germany or France, they were powerless to bring it about. They had no revenue base and were hamstrung by central controls. | When the central state breaks both the back and the spirit of the local one, people respond as if to an emergency. But this is neither democratic, nor is it control. Many of these services were once supplied by parish and town councils. I recently met two leading members of such councils, in the Midlands and in Wales. They were as responsible and competent as any Whitehall civil servant. They were discussing how to relieve the worst aspects of local austerity but, unlike their opposite numbers in Germany or France, they were powerless to bring it about. They had no revenue base and were hamstrung by central controls. |
| “Returning” power from Brussels will not return it to these people. It will return nothing. The winners from hard Brexit will be a London parliament and a London civil service. While town halls are frantically sacking staff, Whitehall has stopped cutting, and has recruited over 11,000 extra officials. Its employment rose 3% last year. The Institute for Government estimates Brexit is now costing taxpayers £2bn in staff alone. Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg are centralism’s useful idiots. | “Returning” power from Brussels will not return it to these people. It will return nothing. The winners from hard Brexit will be a London parliament and a London civil service. While town halls are frantically sacking staff, Whitehall has stopped cutting, and has recruited over 11,000 extra officials. Its employment rose 3% last year. The Institute for Government estimates Brexit is now costing taxpayers £2bn in staff alone. Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg are centralism’s useful idiots. |
| The arrogance of Westminster’s hard Brexiters is no different from that of Brussels. It is a desire by those with power to accrete more of it. Britain’s central state is not uniquely competent – despite Jeremy Corbyn’s blind faith in it. Week after week, the National Audit Office reports a litany of Whitehall incompetence: on NHS computing, naval procurement, Carillion contracting, railway franchising, prisons administration. If Whitehall ran a loc l council, half of it would be in special measures. | The arrogance of Westminster’s hard Brexiters is no different from that of Brussels. It is a desire by those with power to accrete more of it. Britain’s central state is not uniquely competent – despite Jeremy Corbyn’s blind faith in it. Week after week, the National Audit Office reports a litany of Whitehall incompetence: on NHS computing, naval procurement, Carillion contracting, railway franchising, prisons administration. If Whitehall ran a loc l council, half of it would be in special measures. |
| One recent survey suggested councillors are trusted by 41% of people, against just 19% who trust government ministers. Yet it is ministers who relentlessly take power from councillors. This has to be reversed. Parish, town and county taxes should be uncapped, revalued and remerged with business rates – and fiscal redistribution restored from rich to poor areas. Local people should be able to vote for funds to relieve school cuts, care home shutdowns, and nursery closures. Such services should not have to depend on some headline-grabbing dollop of Treasury grant. | One recent survey suggested councillors are trusted by 41% of people, against just 19% who trust government ministers. Yet it is ministers who relentlessly take power from councillors. This has to be reversed. Parish, town and county taxes should be uncapped, revalued and remerged with business rates – and fiscal redistribution restored from rich to poor areas. Local people should be able to vote for funds to relieve school cuts, care home shutdowns, and nursery closures. Such services should not have to depend on some headline-grabbing dollop of Treasury grant. |
| It is not so much the money that matters, nor is this a matter of left or rightwing ideology. It is a battle over how to regenerate elective democracy at the grassroots. Politicians love it in opposition, never in power. At the very least, a Brexit devolution settlement would “give back control” to those who thought they had voted for it. | It is not so much the money that matters, nor is this a matter of left or rightwing ideology. It is a battle over how to regenerate elective democracy at the grassroots. Politicians love it in opposition, never in power. At the very least, a Brexit devolution settlement would “give back control” to those who thought they had voted for it. |
| • Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist | • Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist |
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