It will all come round again if you wait a while. There is nothing new under the sun.

David Cameron (Michaela says she always finds herself shuddering when his name is mentioned) has this idea- and it goes something like this-

Lets stop all these public services, and suggest that people just get on with it for themselves.

The middle classes will come through.

An army of people dressed in sensible shoes will organise committees to clear slums, dig sewers, set up homes for the incurables and feed Tiny Tim till his little tum is fit to bust.

Cameron seems to have taken advice from Samuel Smiles.

And meanwhile, all around us, community groups who might give structure and organisation to all this community activity are all going to the wall as they lose their funding.

It is not as though I could ever be accused of being against community activity, or believe that the Big State can ever be the answer to all the issues that society throws up. But when a ‘big idea’ is used as a mask to do the same old confidence trick- cuts to services, and power and wealth to the already powerful and wealthy- then I start to feel the need to rant.

Now, rant over- have a laugh at this little clip…