The
primary purpose of party conferences, even more important than catching
newspaper headlines, is to motivate rank and file members to continue working
for the party in their constituencies.
That
usually means celebrating any successes and restating party values and
propaganda.
For
non-members and neutrals, conferences can be less than scintillating, and it is
the exceptions that stick in the memory
There
were three exceptions at this year's Conservative Party conference.
The
first concerned a significant transfer of powers from Whitehall to Town Halls.
George Osborne announced in his speech that he will abolish the Uniform
Business Tax local authorities collect and pay to the Treasury.
Instead
Councils will levy their own business tax and keep the yield instead of
receiving an annual grant from central government.
Greg
Clark, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, followed up this
announcement in his speech and was joined on stage by Councillors from a number
of authorities who are planning to have directly elected Mayors and engage
positively with these powers.
Their
income will all be raised locally from this business tax and the Council tax.
If this arouses more interest in local government and triggers a revival of
more participatory democracy that would be welcome.
The
second surprise came from Justice Secretary Michael Gove who only made a short speech but it was preceded by contributions from outsiders.
The
first was an ex-convict who described how he quit crime, studied for a degree
in prison and got a job working with a charity to keep youngsters out of crime.
He
was followed by James Timpson, Chief Executive of Timpsons, the shoe repairers, 10% of whose employees
are ex-convicts.
Timpsons
runs a training course in Liverpool prison preparing suitable candidates for
jobs in their shops and some are now managers, their example has now been
copied by two other shop chains.
Gove
concluded crime must be punished, but re-offending rates are too high and these
initiatives are good for the individuals involved and for the taxpayer as it
costs more than £60,000 a year to keep someone in prison.
David
Cameron delivered the third surprise.
Much
of his speech was predictable – national security and defence, Europe, the
economy and home ownership.
Towards
the end of the speech he turned to the social reforms he wanted to achieve
before he quits in 2020.
He
talked about one young black girl who had to change her name to Elizabeth
before she got any calls for job interviews.
‘That,
in 21st century Britain, is disgraceful. We can talk all we want about
opportunity, but it’s meaningless unless people are really judged equally’.
He
went on to reject ‘passive toleration’ and plans to prosecute people who
organise forced marriages, arrest parents who take their children for Female Genital
Mutilation (FMG), and shut down institutions that teach children intolerance.
Cynics
will dismiss these measures as a calculated move to occupy the political centre
ground, but Christians might welcome them as expressions of humane values that
reflect the belief that we are all equally made in the image of God and
policies that help people to reflect that are worthwhile.
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