CentreRight

How reforming the banks could help fix ‘broken Britain’

Earlier this year David Cameron declared his support for ‘social investment banks’ to encourage social  entrepreneurs, who he hopes will play a big part in fixing ‘broken Britain’. He should go much further and establish a new type of high-street bank – a saving and enterprise bank – to compete head on with the big corporations that dominate the industry at present. Banks that combine social and economic objectives have worked well in Germany for many decades.

They would serve three main purposes. First, they would be safe homes for the savings of ordinary people who are trying to work and save their way to independence. Second, because they would be required to invest in local enterprises only, they would help to reinvigorate business and overcome their dependence on international corporations that withdraw loans at short notice and impose excessive charges for borrowing. Third, by investing in productive enterprise they would encourage a renewal of responsible proprietorship, a natural evolution of Mrs Thatcher’s strategy of encouraging a property-owning democracy.

We should have the right to recall MPs

Should we have the right to 'recall' MPs? It can be done in America, why not here? Few of us had heard of recall until 2003 when California Governor Gray Davis lost the recall ballot to the 'governator', Arnold Swarzenegger. The idea is simple, as a Civitas online briefing proposed yesterday. Sometimes voters regret the choice they made at the last general election and do not want to wait until the next time. If a proportion of the electorate (say 20%) can be persuaded to sign a petition to recall the elected office holder, then an immediate by-election must be held.

There is cross-party support. Back in February 2008 a group of 27 Tory MPs wrote to The Daily Telegraph calling for local voters to be allowed to 'recall' their MP and at the weekend Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg came out in favour.

How common is it? In America 18 states allow elected officials to be recalled from their posts by a petition of between 12 and 40 per cent of voters. In 1903 the city of Los Angeles was the first large area to introduce recall, followed in 1908 by Oregon and in 1911 by California. Then Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Washington all adopted recall in 1912. In addition eleven more states, while not permitting recall of state-level officials, do allow the recall of local officials.