Is this a good time to talk about trust?

Am I delusional in thinking that the general mindset of the UK population is far more upbeat today than it has been in previous periods of economic difficulty that I can remember? How do you square such a relatively positive outlook with the experience of losing a job, losing savings or seeing the value of a pension plan evaporate in front of your eyes? I don’t really know. But I wonder whether after the genuine anger that follows loss has passed, more people are looking to themselves and to each other for help in working out the way forward rather than expecting the elusive ‘them’ to come up with a solution. This could point to a greater degree of self reliance and decreasing expectations of state support. Both of these developments are probably for the better though I hope that the corresponding reduction in reliance on the state and financial institutions does not lead to a loss of trust in the community.

Perhaps there is an opportunity to catch the mood by introducing a serious attempt to decentralise power; you never know. To quote a quote, Bagehot in the Economist reports that Gordon Brown has written in the Independent, “There is no option I will not consider if it redistributes power.” Bagehot (The Economist, 30th May 2009) goes on to suggest transferring power from the executive to Parliament though he does admit, “Boosting MP’s freedom and remit might seem another strange response to their misdemeanours . But it is necessary and overdue.” Perhaps giving MPs a bigger role in government will instill a greater sense of responsibility. And why stop with Parliament? What about having another look at devolving power to the regions as well as to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? It might just be the right time for the national mood to respond to loosely coupled government and that a central government orchestrating (as opposed to managing) regional activities will see increasing levels of enterprise across the country.

It is not that anyone seriously believes that local politicians as a group are any more honest than their national counterparts or even that the national politicians are particularly dishonest, in spite of the recent revelations of quite unseemly behaviour. The issue is for the state to trust its citizens more, giving them greater responsibility with the corresponding authority to manage local affairs for the betterment of local communities.

There is an interesting irony here because I think that Mrs Thatcher was instrumental in fostering this greater sense of self belief while, if I remember aright, she was also instrumental in centralising power away from regional authorities. Perhaps now is the time to build on the former change to reverse the latter.