Howard: Labour lacks accountability
Conservative leader Michael Howard today accused Tony Blair of creating the most distant and unaccountable government since the days of absolute monarchs and the divine right of kings.
He said the Prime Minister’s “centralised, top-down” system of government and his desire for more regulation and bureaucracy had left him out of touch with the country, and vowed to make government more accountable.
Speaking in Birmingham today, Mr Howard said: “Mr Blair has built the most centralised, top-down system of government seen in peacetime Britain since we had absolute monarchs who believed they had a divine right to rule.”
Parliament had been “sidelined”, while local councils struggled with regulations, directives and targets and the balance of power between the Government and the people had shifted towards the Government.
The Conservative leader promised to make government more accountable by publishing a detailed timetable for action, cutting unelected quangos and giving more power to local bodies.
He also said the Conservatives would introduce laws to protect the neutrality of civil servants, cut the number of MPs by a fifth and bar Scottish and Welsh MPs from voting on matters such as tuition fees that affected only England.
Mr Howard used his speech to fire a new salvo in the battle over 69-year-old pensioner Margaret Howard, whose case he has championed since her shoulder operation was cancelled seven times.
He said: “When I raised this case in Parliament, I was accused of playing party politics. What is Parliament for if it is not to be a means to make Ministers accountable for the services for which they are responsible?
“A Conservative Government will introduce greater accountability into the NHS. We will give patients a real choice about which hospitals they use.”
