Knife crime, homelessness and social care are being neglected
Camilla Cavendish
The Brexit vortex has sucked us all in. When I can tear myself away from the latest developments, I idly wonder what effect this interminable soap opera must be having on Britain’s productivity. Some friends are waking up in the early hours, worrying about crashing out of the EU. Others are so angry at the thought of not leaving that they’ve turned into Twitter junkies.
The same is true of Whitehall, where non-Brexit activity has ground virtually to a halt. The Number 10 communications “grid” is shorn of virtually everything bar Brexit: announcements on anything else are repeatedly shelved. Reports languish unpublished, and policies sit in limbo, while officials grapple with Brexit planning and ministers are distracted by political manoeuvring. Most ministerial activity feels more like firefighting — a dollop of cash to the National Health Service, the police return to “stop and search” tactics to help fight knife crime — than deep thinking about root causes.
I’ve never liked hyperactive government. There are few things worse than ministers inventing counterproductive initiatives to get headlines. The machismo of legislating reached its apogee between 2000 and 2009, when Labour governments introduced a new criminal justice act almost every year, spawning an industry in legal training.
But when business is losing confidence in Britain, knife crime is at an all-time high, climate change looms, hospitals are in deficit and homelessness is erupting back on to the streets, some domestic policy is needed. In December, the chairs of six all-party parliamentary select committees signed a joint statement complaining that the lengthy Brexit process was having a “serious detrimental effect” on wider domestic policy, including the NHS, public transport and the environment. There is also silence on the bigger question of what kind of country the UK wants to be.
The grievances which were exposed by the referendum and the divisions which have deepened since then require a bold response. Theresa May seemed poised to tackle inequalities when she pledged to end “burning injustices” as she became prime minister. But few policies followed.
What protections should workers have in the gig economy? How to tackle automation? What rights and responsibilities should come with citizenship? How will Britain integrate immigrants from so many different cultures? Nothing.
Some progress is being made. When the centre is distracted, shrewd ministers can still get things done. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, is making strides on genomics, technology and steering the NHS towards preventing illness, not just treating it. The education secretary, Damian Hinds, this week launched a consultation to prevent children going missing, by insisting on a register of those educated at home. The Industrial Strategy chugs along. But too often, the big picture is being missed.
Every day, UK-based businesses receive pitches from other countries to relocate their headquarters. Where is the fightback from government? Given the likelihood of continuing Brexit uncertainty, the cabinet should be on a war footing and every minister briefed on Britain’s pre-eminence in corporate governance and our rule of law. They should be talking the country up. Yet outside the trade department, they are voiceless.
Important issues are stuck. A green paper on social care, originally promised in 2017, is urgently needed to fix a system which could bring down the NHS: hospitals can’t discharge elderly people who are medically fit but have nowhere to go.
The Timpson review remains unpublished although its recommendations on how to give excluded pupils a better education and protect them from gangs could be a vital part of the fight against knife crime. As the streets fill up with homeless people, it seems unlikely that the Conservatives will achieve their manifesto pledge to halve rough sleeping. Tackling the perfect storm of short-term tenancies, evictions, delays in universal credit payments and a lack of social housing will take a concerted effort. But ministers are confined to handing out small bits of cash because they cannot muster the required cross-departmental action.
When she first came to power, Mrs May rightly urged her advisers to think beyond Brexit. But she lost precious time while she still had momentum. She took a scorched earth approach to policies associated with her predecessor; abandoned plans to reform prisons; went tepid on the Northern Powerhouse and junked David Cameron’s obesity strategy — only to later resurrect it.
Then, she lost her majority in the 2017 election. Since then, it has been almost impossible to pass legislation. Ministers have been advised not to draw up any bills, especially those which could be amended by mischief-makers.
The looming financial costs of Brexit have made the Treasury especially wary of anything that might require extra spending, including the Augar Review of higher education, commissioned by Mrs May with the clear intention of slashing university tuition fees.
If there is a general election, voters will want to talk about issues beyond Brexit and want a vision of the country’s future. But the government’s cupboard looks bare. This premiership has been dominated by leaving the EU and keeping the Conservative party intact. We still cannot judge the results on either front. But one thing is clear. The self-inflicted wound of Brexit has stolen the oxygen, just when we need to address so many other issues.
The writer, a former head of the Downing Street Policy Unit, is a senior fellow at Harvard University
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