On 28 January 2025 at 7:30pm Politics in Pubs Manchester will meet at The Welcome Inn for a discussion on the role of government.

What is the role of government?

What should it do?  And what should it not do?

The About page of our website says:

“We want to live in a successful, independent Britain that:

• meets the needs of its people
• provides its people a say in the laws that govern their lives
• allows its people to be involved in planning for the future
• invests in the people of this country, developing the skills we need to be more self-sufficient as a nation”

Imagine a future where we live in such a Britain. What would its government look like?  What would its role be in ensuring we have cheap and reliable energy, access to nutritious food and secure homes, a functioning infrastructure – water, transport, education and healthcare?

For example, would such a government be responsible for coordinating the investment in, and development of the skills needed within the population for the country to thrive? How would this work?

What shouldn’t government be responsible for?  And how can elected representatives be accountable for decisions made?

Since it was elected the current government has set up at least 25 quangos (quasi autonomous, non-governmental organisations).  These are non-elected bodies, usually funded by taxes and with a role in government but independent of ministers.  That is almost one a week. These 25 new quangos include the Independent Football Regulator and School Support Staff Negotiation Body. Every government since the early 70’s has been happy to contract out decision making in this way. The number of quangos grew most dramatically in the 80’s. In 2010 the coalition government reduced the number, largely through mergers. It is difficult to find accurate information on how many now exist, but they run into the hundreds and include bodies such as NHS England and HMRC. You can find more details here: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/government-war-quangos

Is this reliance on “arms-length” bodies helpful or unhelpful?

One of our regulars will start our discussion. We are very grateful to him and hope no-one will come expecting him to “have all the answers”.  The development of discussion on the topic will be the responsibility of all of us in the room.  We don’t intend this to be an academic exercise but thope it will help inform a workshop we have planned in February on how current government expenditure could be improved.

There’s every possibility that we won’t reach a consensus on any of the questions raised above – but hopefully the discussion will help us all understand more about what system of government we have at present and how we would like to see it changed.

All are welcome. Directions can be found here.