Friday, April 13, 2012

A layer too far


Millefeuille.jpgYour Freedom and Ours takes on the idiot Sue Cameron over the issue of elected mayors. The point our Helen makes is that these new mayors have very little power, which makes them just another layer of government on top of an already cumbersome system.

And you know that there has to be something in her complaint when she andThe Guardian agree, the latter referring tothe great mayoral delusion.  What the imposition of the system, it says, "really highlights is the modern establishment's talent for messing with things for the sake of it, with no sense of history, experience, or even clarity about what exactly they want".

The worst of it, here in Bradford, is that with the political establishment united in opposition to the idea, the electorate may vote "yes" in the forthcoming referendum – one of ten throughout the country – simply because the politicians don't want it.

One can sympathise with, and admire, the sentiment, but that – as the election of Galloway shows – is a very poor basis for a decision with long-term financial implications which will end up costing millions. This, by any measure, is a layer too far, making an already poor system even worse.

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