Golden Showers and democracy

Growing evidence suggests there is a huge deficit in the democratic process and that it is seriously damaging the foundations of the consensus by which governments are elected to govern on behalf of all citizens.  In turn, the integrity of politicians and the democratic process is in such a parlous state that this deficit will simply deepen.

I talk not of financial or monetary deficits, although those are stark and chilling enough.  I do wonder if the post-apocalyptic vision harrowingly etched out in Cormac McCarthy’s novel ‘The Road’ is now closer than we can imagine ?

I talk instead of how our governments are ‘consulting’ citizens over planned changes in law or in public services.  Or if I may put it more plainly, how governments [and public bodies generally] have become expert at passing off any of their ‘consultations’ as being but the briefest of precipitations in our unbroken progress towards the sunny uplands and green be-turbined hills of government’s vision, when in fact the policy compass is broke and our sense of being damp, cold, clueless and alienated comes not from being lost but from having to stand still and endure yet another ‘golden shower’ being delivered from a great height by civil servants and ministers. 

Almost a year ago, Scottish government published plans to introduce specific equality duties.  These plans followed extensive ‘consultation’ late-2010.  Some of us – OK, a telephone box-ful of us – were disbelieving at the very slight changes made in the final plans from the pre-consult version.  In a matter of days before Parliament was to vote the duties into being, those denizens of the telephone box [it kept us dry from the ‘golden showers’ amongst other things] took a long hard look at the analysis of consultation responses published [very late] by government.  Big surprise.  Almost all of the public bodies which had responded had welcomed the planned specific duties with orgasmic trumpet voluntaries fit to burst. 

Almost all of the public bodies which had responded had welcomed the planned specific duties with orgasmic trumpet voluntaries fit to burst.

Turkey Voter

Given the removal of the previously onerous specific duties which no public body had been able to meet to any real degree, it was understandable that public bodies would welcome having to do a lot less than they had failed to do previously.  What was naughty was the analysis then went on to advise the reader and MSPs that the majority of respondents agreed with the draft specific duties.  The quality of analysis was on a par with that you'd get in running a survey mid-December, where 10 out of 10 turkeys asked said, yes, they agreed with government plans to abolish Christmas.

Alex Neil

Some of us managed to persuade the Parliamentary Equal Opportunities Committee [PEOC] that the information they were being given to support the new specific duties was somewhat flawed and, along with some persuasive passion and guidance how better duties for Scotland could be built and on how to tell the difference between ‘golden showers’ and honest rain, they agreed, inviting Alex Neil and his civil servants to button-up, zip up, and think again.

..... inviting Alex Neil and his civil servants to button-up, zip up, and think again.

Some of us were naïve enough to believe that after that experience it would not happen again. 

Alex Neil and a JCB

Late in 2011 Scottish government ‘consulted’ on plans for a Social Housing Charter.  Lots of us commented.  This week, government sent a note to all of us who commented to provide us with a copy of the final Charter which will be considered for approval in Parliament next week.  It has significantly changed from what was ‘consulted’ on.  When I engaged with civil servants over when I could read an analysis of the ‘consultation’ responses and asked had it been weighted to take account of whether respondents had been landlords or tenants and other citizens, I was advised that I would be sent a copy of the analysis once it was approved for publication.  When I went back and asked if MSPs and Ministers had seen the analysis, I was told that yes they had been given a copy.  To summarise, MSPs are being asked to approve a Charter, heavily revised to take account of a ‘consultation’, and those of us who responded are not able to get a copy of the analysis to ensure that it is fair and transparent, and not just another ‘golden shower’ of the kind with which Alex Neill tried to hose down the PEOC last year.  Is it just coincidence that Alex Neil now has the Ministerial bag in which what is left of social housing sits ?

Sue Marsh

‘Golden showers’ are not exclusive to the Scottish political climate.  Many of you will be aware of the Welfare [sic] Reform Bill winding its way around the corridors of Westminster.  Some of you might even be aware of the work of Sue Marsh and others in getting the House of Lords to amend the Bill, only for government to win subsequent votes.  Sue and some other disabled people pulled off a remarkable coup in exposing the massive ‘golden shower’ trick pulled by government when they claimed that their ‘consultation’ over the Bill showed most disabled people supported their plans to abolish Disability Living Allowance [DLA] and replace it with Personal Independence Payments [another ‘golden shower’ in its own right].  The ‘#Spartacus’ report from Sue and others exposed the ‘golden shower’ on DLA reforms in astounding detail.  If you want to read more on this shameful episode, follow this link.

Matthew Norman, columnist with the ‘Independent’, expressed himself forcibly on the duplicity around WRB and it is worth a read.  A sample :

Whatever damage peers inflict on this snarling Pitbull of a Bill, however many of its teeth they remove, its advancement has taught us something chilling about the Prime Minister.
For all his personal experience, expressions of paternal goodwill towards the disabled and fraternal concern for their carers, at the first clanging of the alarm bells his instinct was to scarper, and leave them in the stairwell to burn.

In countries across the world, citizens are risking and sometimes losing their lives in telling leaders to button/zip-up and enough already with the ‘golden showers’.

Here in Scotland?  We have an ‘Occupy’ camp in St Andrew’s Square which has the buzz often found in long-closed and abandoned factories.  Ironically the camp is now surrounded and hemmed in by the street closures required to allow more roadworks which are needed to let Edinburgh’s Hornby tram set be taken out of its box.  Not quite going to make the history books as Scotland’s redux of the Aurora's pivotal moment in St Petersburg in 1917. 

Not quite going to make the history books as Scotland’s redux of the Aurora's pivotal moment in St Petersburg in 1917.

It was down to the action of citizens like Sue Marsh to expose government’s duplicity and chicanery over WRB.  None of the major disabled people’s organisations [and there are many and some national ones are cash rich] achieved anything like the same impact.  Perhaps part of the democratic process deficit gap is created by the established voluntary/charitable sector’s inability or unwillingness to seriously challenge governments? 

That being so, we need to understand why a momentary, random, alliance of a tiny number of people in Scotland was able to stop the dilution of protections offered by specific equality duties.  We need to understand why Sue Marsh and others were able to harness their disparate knowledge, experience, energy and outrage, and plug it all into social media channels such as Twitter and so ensure that disabled people in this country are not to be left in the burning stairwell of government policy.  With that understanding, we can reclaim control over how our society is to be shaped, regain our capacity to hope for ourselves as well as for others, and revive our determination to live each day as a decent human beings.

Footnote

For those carbolic loving, Sunday Post-reading and thoroughly decent people who consider putting the rubbish out on the wrong day to be bad form and who blush at swearing, I have used the twee ‘golden showers’ throughout this piece in order to avoid giving offence.  Should you be intrigued, want to extend your vocabulary, and live just a little dangerously, you can get a translation of the phrase here.  If you want to retain your innocence, would never watch ‘Goodfellas’, and are content with government’s delivery of ‘golden showers’ on you and yours on a regular basis, do not, repeat DO NOT click on the link.  Click on this instead.