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524  11 November 2002   

Blairism
a flawed Liberal philosophy

Spurred on by the upcoming Queens Speech, Tony Blair gave an interview last Sunday to The Observer .  That was a mistake.  Because repetition of his thoughts only highlights their serious shortcomings, as an integrative political philosophy.  In spite of Tony Giddens' best efforts, the material is distinctly impoverished.

"Rights and responsibilities have always been at the heart of my politics" says Blair.  "The theme of rights and responsibilities will be central to the Queen's Speech..."

• But, but, but - that is the problem, Tony - not the solution!  I recognise that there is a linkage in terms of personal obligations, personal and religious morality.  Your religious observance confirms, I am sure, that the wealthy, with all their property rights, have responsibilities to help the poor.  Having had a marvellous education myself, I feel (and no doubt you feel) a strong responsibility to share learning and professional perceptions with others.  In personal terms, rights certainly do import responsibilities. But this correlation simply does not translate into politics, into relations between the citizen and the State.  The citizen is commonly considered to have rights against the State - but those rights are not dependent upon the discharge of any responsibilities to the State.  The bail-jumping teenager does not sacrifice his right to a fair trial, if accused of murder, just because he failed in his bail responsibilities on a pilfering charge.  There is no correlation between the two.  Nor is he deprived of Unemployment Benefit, or the chance to get to college - if life otherwise permits. In politics, the State is not entitled to condition citizens' rights, requiring its citizens to behave "well" in order to be able to rely on them.  That way lies political autocracy and oppression.

"Respect is at the heart of a belief in society" Blair goes on to say. "It makes real a new contract between citizen and State, a contract that says that with rights and responsibilities come responsibilities and obligations".

• That cannot be.  In a private relationship, where there is free-will and some parity of bargaining-power, effect can be given to a person's agreement, underpinning a "contract".  But there can be no contract between citizen and the mighty State.  Where is the parity of power?  When is the contract entered into - upon birth?  Upon naturalisation?  The fact is that, in politics, the concept of "contract" has no place - it s a misleading concept, a deceitful form of speech, which conceals the unilateral character of the law, binding always in the absence of contract, not because of contract.

"We will rebalance criminal justice emphatically in favour of the victims of crime".

• This is wicked, and as a lawyer you know perfectly well how wicked it is.  What matters in the criminal courts is the crimes should be correctly identified and punished. The criminal law is not about the victim - never has been, and should not be.  For injured victims, Labour introduced Criminal Injuries Compensation - a parallel civil procedure.  Criminal justice is about the wrongfulness of the originating action, the crime.  Drunken driving is heavily punished - and rightly so - even if there is no victim.  Appalling criminal behaviour may on occasion have only trivial consequences for the victim, but the punishment should remain harsh, and seek to deter the offending behaviour. The direct involvement of victims in the administration of justice creates a maudlin tabloid sideshow, leading to misjudgements and public misunderstanding.  Arab societies which accord primary roles to the families of dead victims ought not to be imitated: in many respects, their judicial practices are inferior to ours.  Equally, minor infractions sometimes have the most horrific consequences for the victim - and the sentencing Court must find its way through those complexities.  Your analysis is wrong, deeply flawed and heralds an oppressive and vindictive judicial regime. 

I could go on.   Your image of the Third Way is taking a real battering at the moment, simply because it is naive and unrealistic. Your use of social-control orders (curfews, bad neighbour orders) has been a dramatic failure. Tony - you are a good Prime Minister, one of the best - with flair, courage, confidence, and imagination.  But in matters of judgment, you are too often wrong. 

• When it comes to political philosophy, you are out of your depth - for goodness sake, leave that to others...

525   12 November 2002   

MEMO

To:       Ken Livingstone

From:   Roger WE

You’re getting problems from Swansea.  Press reports suggest that the records at Swansea’s DVLA are so out-of-date that you will not be able to collect your London congestion fines next Spring.  You will get bogged down (the Press says) in mis-collection disputes. 

I have the solution.

The answer?   Sell paper tickets, in advance.  Every complying vehicle should be required to carry its ticket on its windscreen. Lottery outlets could easily be programmed to issue Congestion Charge Tickets, and you would then be collecting your money in advance.  Anyone driving into the control area without a ticket displayed would be subject to a fixed-fine, which in the absence of legislation that might have to be collected as a civil-charge (I concede) through DVLA.  The problem of mis-collection, however, would be greatly reduced. 

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