so the new government has over the last few weeks, been rolling out their “big new ideas”, both at the national and local level. of course, so much of this is not new at all, simply old Thatcherism given a shiny new patina of glossy technology and lingo. in particular, they’ve combined two key messages: partnering the ideas of paring down waste with massive public consultation.

we’ve been prepared for massive spending cuts to the public sector – well, no surprise there. they’re tossing around figures of 30% or more. but what is new is that they are inviting public sector workers to help propose which areas should be cut. they even have a snazzy new website where you’re invited to help “re-think government to deliver more for less”. all very well in theory, unless you happen to be a public sector worker.

as a public sector worker who manages a small team of 9 in a local authority, right now i am (and all my colleagues are) being asked to justify our existence, whilst looking around and knowing that in a year or so, 1-in-3 of my team members (or i) will likely be gone. those of us who remain will all be on pay freezes for the foreseeable future.

the reality is we’re all fighting not to be downsized, and like anyone else, if there’s a viable alternative that gives me and my team a chance at escaping the very real axe hanging over our head, well, i wouldn’t be shy about offering it up – and i don’t think there are many who would do differently. but it’s a sickening experience to know that in order to save your own neck, you must willingly participate in in the sacrificial offering of someone else. and in the end, they will do what they want anyway, but as one of the crabs in the pot, i’ll bear some of the guilt.

but instead, we’re supposed to go to the website and presumably contribute ideas like:

• sack council busybodies
• deport all refugees – “i am not a racesist nor am i a facshist if they are still under threat of death if they where to go back fine help them out but most of the conflicts they where running away from are over so send them back to rebuild there own countries”
• 10% paycut for all civil servants
• tax non-eu immigrants “to raise enough money to ensure the immigrant is providing enough funds to the Government to cover the extra strain on the nations infrastructure”
  
• kick scottish m.p.s out of westminster
• stop housing “deliberately” pregnant teenagers – “Don’t have children if you can’t afford them off your own back”

those are the kind of savings ideas they were looking for, right? because that’s what they got.

another public consultation exercise being undertaken is the new “your freedom” website. in theory, the government wants to scale back the rule of what came to be called “the nanny state”, so they’re asking people to propose laws and regulations they want to see scrapped. they’ve established a website for public proposals and commentary. again, if you’re truly committed to smaller, more libertarian government, then i suppose it’s a fine idea in principle.

the problem is that it takes almost no imagination to realise such a website is bound to quickly devolve into a sloppy free-for-all of intolerance, idiocy and blatant racism. some of the ideas floated thus far include:

• getting rid of speed bumps as they infringe on civil rights
• getting rid of the human rights act so the british taxpayer doesn’t have to support murderers on benefits
• religeous (sic) freedom for christians – “the Christian way of life should be respected and should not be ‘brushed under the carpet’ just to accommodate other religeons so as ”not to offend them”
• forced adoption of children
• immigration – “every Tom, Dick and Abdul that takes it into his/her head to come to Britain and live like leeches on the backs of the taxpaying public”.
• restore civil liberties – which apparently means “Ban homosexual and lesbians from advertising that their lifestyle is normal. It is not normal and they should not be allowed to tell our children that it is. Stop anyone who does not have a national health number or who does not speak English from benefiting from Free treatment in our health service, take a leaf out of the rest of the worlds health systems for ALL non residents. Stop anyone who cannot speak english from receiving benefits. No English NO CASH”
• ladies (sic) sanitary wear – tampons should not be taxed with vat as a luxury item. now i actually agree with this, but it’s probably not what the site is meant for
• allow people to own guns – because “Hand-gun training and possession teach self discipline and self control. Shooting is one of the few sports in which men and women, able-bodied and physically impaired can compete on equal terms. Being forbidden to own hand-guns implies lack of trust by the government, fear of it’s own people, that the people are immature and also makes us a laughing stock.”
• remove the ban on Roman Catholics taking the throne
• housing for people with mental ill-health – “the law states that, because they have ‘mental health problems’ they have more rights than the other residents, which means rights to create absolute hell for other people and not be evicted. the ‘Community Mental Health Team’ ( who really would be best dispensed with altogether!) act like a hysterical bunch of do badder do gooders by foisting their bizarre services often at the whim of a faceless bureaucrat in a housing association on the wrong people and leaving the really ill folk seriously alone”
• and take ian huntley off suicide watch because “if he wants to kills himself, why not let him?”

and that is just from a quick perusal of the postings submitted *today*. such vile, contemptuous opinions are being hosted on state-sanctioned websites which i, as a taxpayer, help pay for.

let’s not be daft: there is absolutely no way the government will action any of these proposals, whether spending cuts or legal repeals – even if there were a genuinely good idea hidden somewhere in the pile of shit, it would be a nearly impossible logistical task to even trawl them. these websites are simply technological lip service to mollify voters who got stuck with a “coalition” that absolutely no one is happy with.

is this really the best, most effective way to solicit public opinion that this short-sighted government could come up with? have they never read internet comment forums before? have they never scrolled to the bottom of an op-ed piece? it’s the equivalent of an electronic slam book.

but the pretence and expense of this is all the more baffling considering we *just had an election* whereby people presumably made their political priorities quite clear. it’s simply not possible to have effective collective rule, and in fact doing so risks de-prioritising those who are most vulnerable and fewest in number. the role of government is to balance the needs of all its constituents, not just those of the majority. which is, after all, why we elect leaders to act on our behalf… or at least, that’s how i thought it worked?

in the meantime, the great ill-informed masses will get to continue to graffiti the websites, in the name of democracy. on my tab. i’m tempted to submit my own e-proposal that cameron-and-clegg simply unplug the servers that host these pages, and do the jobs we pay them to do – come up with and implement smart, considered ideas.

and i would, if i thought there was a prayer in hell that anyone would actually get a chance to read it.

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