The people of Surrey have been invited to show the rest of Britain what they are made of. Sugar? Spice? All things nice? Either way, the leader of the county’s Conservative council, David Hodge, has done something politically bold and worthy of national attention. Hodge has announced that, owing to cuts in central government funding, he wishes to raise council tax by 15 per cent, to pay for social care. This is despite having made £450 million (Dh2.04 billion) in savings from Surrey’s annual budget. To do this, however, because the government has capped council tax increases at just 5 per cent, he would have to win a local referendum.
The cynical view is that Hodge knows he won’t win, and is covering his back before proceeding with horrible cuts. He claims to be particularly concerned about children’s services, adult social care and support for people with learning disabilities.
Who in Surrey is going to be massively vociferous in claiming lack of concern when a private moment in the voting booth will do the job just as well? The slightly less cynical view is that, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, and the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, both in Surrey constituencies, Hodge has calculated that he’s in a good position to wring some extra funding out of Westminster. Which would be good for Surrey, and Surrey alone.
The entirely uncynical view, however, is that Hodge means what he says and hopes the county’s people will decide that services for vulnerable people are worth paying for. Which would make them the most effective, money-where-your-mouth-is campaigners against austerity to have emerged. Even if Hodge isn’t sincere, he certainly sounds sincere. Key to this opportunity is how other political parties react to his move. Thus far, the signs are not good.
Chance to illustrate a principle
Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, who has spoken a lot about opposing austerity, doesn’t seem keen. “It’s not right that we should thrust the social care crisis on local authorities, all of whom have different levels of income,” he told Sky News. “It’s a central government responsibility and central government should face up to its responsibility.” Right, Corbyn. Except that this is a chance to illustrate a principle: That people are willing to pay higher tax if they understand it’s being used to make a better place for everyone. It’s what you and your supporters say you believe. Why miss a chance to prove it, even on a local scale?
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, seems no more interested in getting behind this local Tory rebellion to get wider arguments into the public domain. “When Conservative ministers are being told by their own council leaders that vital services are struggling to cope with funding cuts, it would be extraordinary for them not to take notice,” he said. “This referendum could be avoided if the government agreed to work with other parties to come up with a sustainable funding solution for the NHS [National Health Service] and care services.”
Right, Lamb. The Conservatives really need to get all nine of you Lib Dem MPs on board, to show them the way forward. Only their pride is stopping them from begging.
Or perhaps it could be accepted that these three parties are not going to work together to solve the social-care crisis, when Westminster politics currently resembles nothing so much as exhausted toddlers trying to throw water bombs at a badly wounded hog from 40 yards. But maybe all three parties could find some common ground in Surrey and build from there.
Whether he knows it or not, Hodge has provided what could become a catalyst for change, if only Britain’s politicians would start having the debates they say they want. Instead, they trot out tired tropes, then wonder why everyone just switches off. Yes, a service such as social care cannot be funded locally. Obviously, the less affluent a place is the more it will need to spend. It’s no accident that Westminster enjoys the lowest council tax in Britain — just £669 for a Band D property in 2016-2017.But there’s an opportunity here to really drill down into what that unfairness means.
Scrub up your finest activists, guys. Get them down to Surrey and make the argument. Galvanise Surrey into putting up a fight for democratic engagement and human empathy. Even a close-run defeat would say something important. A few of the Labour MPs currently sitting on the backbenches making hopeful calls to their headhunters should think about taking a trip to Surrey as well. Sure, Hodge may be bluffing. Who knows? But the rest of Britons might as well run with it.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
Deborah Orr is one of Britain’s leading social and political commentators.
