James Morris MP: Devolution of power, as well as deregulation, is vital for economic renewal

James Morris is Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Rowley Regis. Follow James on Twitter.

Localism can help drive economic growth; but only if we are really serious about devolving economic and financial decision making. There are many things I disagree with in the Heseltine growth plan  - far too much focus, for example, on structures – but where I do agree with him is in his recommendations in favour of a more radical, decentralisation  of economic decision making.

We must have the courage to hand decision making power and resources to cities, and sub regions across Britain. Heseltine, in his report, has identified some £50bn of public expenditure which could devolved to local areas in a ‘single pot’. It is vital that, for example, skills funding is devolved so that money can be targeted at skills gaps on the basis of a clear understanding of local priorities and needs. As a country we have spent large amounts of money on skills over the last two decades yet profound skill gaps exist in many parts of the country and are holding back our economic potential. Our approach needs a radical re-think.

What we don’t want, however, is the creation of Regional Development Agencies by the back door. RDA’s were the antithesis of localism. They were administrative constructs which were instruments of central government in the regions. Local Enterprise Partnerships, business led and focussed on defined economic geographies are much more effective mechanisms to drive local growth priorities. Heseltine is right that they need more resources in order to fulfil their potential; but we must not seek to resurrect Labour’s failed regional policy but pursue a collaborative hyper local growth strategy.

James Morris MP: If localism is to succeed, then we must avoid more legislation and central initiatives

James Morris is Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Rowley Regis. Follow James on Twitter.

In its first two years the government has pursued a localism agenda which culminated in the passing of the Localism Bill which became law the end of last year. This has been combined with other initiatives – reforming the planning system, establishing local enterprise partnerships, abolishing regional spatial strategies – to create a whole new localist tool set for local government and local communities.

Yet are these tools being used? If you talk to people in local government they say nothing much has changed; that the centralising link that binds them to Whitehall has not been severed. There is a sense among those who work in local government that is it pretty much business as usual – the institutional small ‘c’ conservatism of local government is reasserting itself.

There are exceptions.  In some local authorities Elected leaders and Chief Executives are seeing the possibilities inherent in the general power of competence and the community right to challenge provisions of the Localism Bill; but the innovators and pioneers are a small club. In communities there is a sense that despite the government’s rhetoric of decentralisation the gap between local government and the communities they are meant to serve is as wide as ever.

James Morris MP: We have a responsibility to ensure Iran NEVER becomes a nuclear power

James Morris is MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis.
Follow James on Twitter.

The seismic changes we are witnessing in the Middle East present both hope for the future but also profound strategic dangers. The threat of Iran continues to be the most pressing issue facing the international community. Should we be concerned about their nuclear intentions, and what sort of threat does Iran really represent to the region?  The truth is, we should be taking the threat of Iran very seriously. Europe and the West must not become distracted by economic woes into underestimating the challenge presented by the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran. Their words and actions paint a vivid picture of the danger the regime would pose as a nuclear power.

Rhetoric littered with 9/11 denial, Israel hatred, and threats to the West are commonplace in the regime’s discourse. Iran’s actions also demonstrate the malignant power of the regime. The state is widely recognised as the world’s leading sponsor of international terrorism, which funds, trains and arms groups like Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. These terrorist groups share the regime’s stated goal of destroying the West.

The Islamic Republic is also providing weapons and support for the Assad regime in Syria as well as being the driving force behind insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have inflicted countless casualties on British forces. If Iran achieves their nuclear ambitions, a rise in international terrorist attacks will undoubtedly follow suit. In the event Iran goes nuclear, the grim prospect is that these terrorist groups will be protected under the regime’s nuclear umbrella.

James Morris MP: The EU referendum vote was damaging for Tory modernisation - it made the Party look out of touch

James Morris is the Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Rowley Regis.

Last Monday I voted in favour of having a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union. I did it because I believe very strongly that we need to give the British people a say, but also for wider reasons which go to the heart of questions about the future direction of the Conservative Party and the breakdown in trust between political parties and the public.

Some people have characterised what happened last week as the re-opening of old party wounds on Europe. Some commentators have argued in the traditional way that we will pay an electoral price if we are seen to be once again "banging on about Europe" because people don’t see it as a top priority issue.

We do need to remain firmly placed on the centre-ground. We do need to talk every day about jobs, education, health, welfare reform, immigration, and the family. However, we also need to recognise that the debate about Europe is now in a mainstream issue and the terms of that debate have changed fundamentally since the battles of the 1990s. Those battles were fought at a time when the default establishment view was that the Euro and further European integration was Britain’s destiny. That is certainly not true now and the issue has become part of a menu of mainstream issues which are of great concern to the British people.

James Morris MP: Modernisation isn't about left or right, it's about gaining voters' trust to implement radical policies

James Morris is the Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Rowley Regis.

The debate about the modernisation of the Conservative Party is often characterised as a debate between the left and right of the party. This is a false distinction and misses the point. I am someone who believes that the party needs to continue the process of "modernisation", which started when David Cameron became leader. All political parties need to evolve and change to respond to the changes in the wider world. For me, "modernisation" is not something akin to a superficial make-over, but something much more fundamental. As I said in previous posts, there is danger that in government  this process has stalled, or even gone into reverse.

The modern Conservative Party is capable of holding within it many competing views. That is the nature of a healthy, functioning political party. It is important that the process of modernisation emaphasies the value of this broad church, for true modernisation is not about two competing views of how the party should develop, but a synthesis of the diversity of views within the party into an organic whole. True modernisation is about ensuring that the British people understand that we are on their side.

James Morris MP: We mustn't sub-contract "niceness" to the Lib Dems

James Morris is the Conservative MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis.

In this unique coalition government the Conservative Party cannot afford to sub-contract ‘niceness’ to the Liberal Democrats. Immigration Minister Damian Green expanded on this point in a speech to the TRG before Christmas when he said: ‘We must not sub-contract the need to keep the government in the progressive space to the Liberal Democrats.’

Allowing the narrative to take hold that somehow the Liberal Democrats are tempering the instincts of the ‘nasty’ Tories could be fatal to the long term prospects of the Conservative Party. The so called ‘de-toxification’ of the Tory brand was an essential task of the last six years. Huge progress was made, but this vital work was only partially completed by the time of the last election. We cannot afford to neglect this job as we grapple with the complex problems of governing.

We need to develop a clear, long term strategy which builds on the successes of the last few years. That strategy needs to be clear that the development of a modern, compassionate Conservative Party is not a function of an obsession with image or spin but is a deep seated expression of our values as a party. We need to be clear that we are all custodians of the Conservative Party brand – a brand which requires careful nurturing and protection. It is a brand which fell out of fashion and became ‘toxic’; but with effort, has proved to be enduring nevertheless.

James Morris: Localism and Decentralisation are the defining concepts of the Coalition's governing philosophy

James Morris was elected MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis at the general election, having previously been chief executive of the think-tank, Localis.

Could it be that the localist moment has arrived?  Quite unexpectedly the Coalition government has created a once in a generation opportunity to change the landscape of political decision making in Britain. It could be one of those rare moments in political history where policy idea meets the sweet spot of political opportunity. The political crisis created by the MPs' expenses scandal, the shock of the financial and economic crisis and the erosion of trust in big government has created the conditions for an unexpected revolution.

The concept of ‘decentralisation’ is now right at the heart of the agenda of the government. It is, arguably, the defining concept of its governing philosophy.  The idea of devolving power from the centre to individuals, local government and communities is now central to the reforming ambitions of the Coalition, particularly in the wider set of policies within the idea of the big society.

Over the years the drive towards centralisation has been inexorable – a centrifugal force which has become unstoppable and has come at a considerable price. Indeed, I would argue that this long march of centralisation has been one of the main causes of the problems that have manifested themselves over the last two decades – the collapse of trust in politics and the effectiveness of political decision making; the ineffective way in which central government has handled the management of public services and the general sense within local communities that political decision making has become remote from the grass-roots of social life. These forces also had the affect of snuffing out the culture of volunteering, of mutuality and sense of community which had previously been characteristic of many local areas.

James Morris: The Million Vote Mandate

James Morris, Chief Executive of Localis and Director of the London Policy Institute, looks at what Boris' priorities should be as mayor. Download the Million Vote Mandate report here.

The Million Vote Mandate, a report from Policy Exchange and Localis out today, (which has contributions from Andrew Gilligan, London Evening Standard journalist, Tony Travers, the leading London expert at the London School of Economics, Phil Taylor, Ealing Borough Councillor and London blogger, Gavin Lockhart, Head of the Crime and Justice Unit at Policy Exchange, Zac Goldsmith, Environmental Campaigner, and Steve Malanga, Editor of the City Journal, the policy powerhouse of the Manhattan Institute) is the first major report, since the Mayoral election, to ask the question: How can Boris use his million vote mandate to make his first term a success?

Five weeks after his dramatic election victory in which Boris received the votes of over a million Londoners in an election which saw a 10% increase in turnout, the heavy policy lifting is about to begin. A spate of new appointments and positive announcements – a range of talented deputy Mayors, a high powered CEO from the GLA drawn from business and the establishment of a forensic audit team charged with examining the costs of the GLA line by line – have all sent the right message: that this administration marks a decisive break from the past and that Boris is serious about delivering for London.

However, the big, high impact issues on which Boris’s first term will be judged are beginning to loom large. The continued intractability of the fight against knife crime; the delivery of the bloated Olympics project in a radically changed economic environment; clearing the ground for the roll-out of Crossrail, a £16bn headache in which the financial deal between the previous Mayor and the Treasury looks far from water-tight and the need to continue to take steps to improve the quality of life for all Londoners in the context of continued economic and environmental pressures, will all present considerable policy challenges to the Mayor and his team.

James Morris: Reinventing Policymaking as an Open Party

James Morris, the Director of Mind the Gap, writes his second article on the need for a more open, democratic and networked Conservative Party.

I argued in my previous post that the Conservative Party needs to become a different sort of party; one that is more open and responsive to the wider networks of the modern world.

If the party is truly serious about becoming more open, more relevant and more attuned to the world as it is today it needs to re-invent, as it has done many times in the past, the way it makes policy. The party needs to create a truly open culture which can act as a catalyst for a true intellectual renaissance ; a renaissance which will once again make the Conservative Party an engine of ideas for solutions to the long term problems the country faces.

Some argue that, since 1997, the party has not engaged in any genuine broad based policy making at all. Where new policies have been developed they have emerged out of the awkward clash between focus groups and the output of the traditionally structured policy unit. This has resulted in either policies of the ‘dog whistle’variety the political usefulness of which was highly dubious (immigration?) or of the ‘too clever by half’ variety (patient passports?) which merely resulted in confusing the wider public. Proper consultations have been all too rare and where they have been done they have been done in a piecemeal or tokenistic fashion.

If the party is really serious about becoming a more open party, readying itself once again for government, it needs to re-invent how it makes policy to ensure that the solutions the party offers to the wider public are grounded in a real understanding of the problems and issues those people face. A more open policy making process would ensure the party focussed relentlessly on developing solutions to the long term issues the country faces; solutions focussed on what is ‘right’ for the country rather than what is most politically convenient for the party.

Policy cannot be created in a vacuum. It has to emerge from a set of broad principles upon which the members of the party can agree. Political parties, even open and networked ones, cannot just become sponges for an unedited wish list. A more open party, though, would have the courage to keep its policy options open ended, allowing for lines of analysis to be followed, and unexpected and innovative solutions to emerge through engagement with the real world and not just from the minds of policy wonks. Creative ideas and research are important but these cannot be done in isolation; true policy innovation comes when ideas come into contact with the rough edges of the real world.

Ideas for new policy approaches must be sought outside of the traditional policy making structures. Policy making in a new, more open Conservative Party will involve creative engagement with the widest possible network of ordinary citizens through engagement with voluntary groups, businesses, churches, charities etc

A more open Conservative Party should engage, to borrow a phrase from the software industry, in rapid application development mode. Policies should be prototyped quickly and those prototypes should be tested and debated by as diverse a group as possible. The party should invite ‘outsiders’ into the policy making loop; stakeholder groups, user forums, and independent advisory panels are all good ways of entrenching a broader, more open approach to policy making; resulting in more rigorous, more grounded and, above all, more relevant policy solutions. The party should also make use of new technology to encourage as wider participation as possible in the testing of policy prototypes through on-line forums and consultations.

Policy making in a new, open Conservative Party, would be driven from a broad set of shared principles, would be relentlessly focussed on the long term, and would have been developed with the broad-based involvement of the wider public. One of the political legacies of New Labour will be that there will be whole series of issues which this government had been either incapable or unwilling to tackle. It is the historic responsibility of the Conservative Party, as has been the case so many times in the past, to re-invent the way it makes policy, so when we do return to government the party is ready to once again take the tough policy decisions the country so desparately needs.

James Morris: The Conservative Party and Open Networks

ConservativeHome.com campaigns for a more open, democratic and decentralised Conservative Party.  We helped lead the campaign against the attempt to disenfranchise party members in the current leadership election.  Last week Daniel Hannan MEP made the case for open primary elections.  Today, James Morris, the Director of Mind the Gap, argues for a much more open, networked Conservative Party - fully engaged with the hopes and fears of the British people.

The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that all ‘closed’ systems will inevitably lead to ‘entropy’ – that is to say that they will be characterised by disorder and chaos. For too long the Conservative Party has been a closed system - inward looking, engaged in a dialogue only with itself, deriving energy from internal conflict – rather than reaching out to the host community on which its survival depends – the British people.  As a result its internal structures and modes of thinking have become incoherent and chaotic.  In order to avoid the evolutionary fate of other ‘closed systems’ the Conservative Party needs to adapt itself rapidly; to open itself up to the networks of the modern world and once again become a force in the political universe.

The party needs to develop quickly on outward facing and positive attitude to the wider networks of the modern world. It needs to develop rich and varied connections with networks outside of its traditional hinterland. This means developing coalitions and partnerships with civic, voluntary and other pressure groups in a variety of areas of the nation’s social and cultural life. This might mean, for example, developing unusual or counter-intuitive alliances with whole range of groups – informal and formal – from text messaging networks of young people as they consume and enjoy popular music, to environmental groups focussed on the debate on climate change.  This must mean more than an embarrassing form of gesture politics but must constitute an openness or attitude which is embedded in the DNA of the party - in the web and wharf  of how the party properly sensitises itself to the rapid changing nature of modern world. 

This openness to the networks of the 21st Century will be facilitated through the millions of conversations which occur daily on the blogs of the world wide web as well as the millions of ordinary conversations that go on in local communities day after day. The party needs to develop a sensitive awareness of all these conversations and how they shape understanding of the world in which we live today. The party needs to use this new networked understanding to engage in real consultations with local communities – not in the empty gesture of Labour’s Big Conversations – but in a way in which promotes continued and sustained involvement of local people in the development and formation of policy. Local people should be involved in the testing and piloting of policy ideas, not in the anodyne atmosphere of a focus group – but in the messy reality of everyday life. This new Conservative Party, by becoming part of these wider, changing networks, will truly become a party which can demonstrate, even in opposition, that it can make a difference to lives of ordinary people and translate policy into action.

As the party begins to evolve from an inward looking organisation, separated off from the world of which it is a part, it needs to demonstrate visibly that conservative ideas can translate into real change on the ground. This means a change in the mind set of every person involved in the party – from elected representatives, party activists, policy advisors in Westminster and anybody else loosely associated with Conservative Party though, perhaps, not a member of it – so that everyone becomes plugged into the social and political networks which they can influence. By doing this the party should be able to benefit from positive network affects, as the positive associations of the new mentality of conservatives and their demonstrations of success of the ground begin to form a virtuous circle with the wider public. 

This will not be an easy task but is the only way to achieve the goal of making the party ‘look and feel like a completely different sort organisation’ The type of effort required to transform the party requires it to be open to a complete re-wiring of its inner structure and workings.  Open, flexible, and responsive to ideas as they flow up, down and across the fizzing networks of our inter-connected world;embedded in the communities of Britain which, for too long, the party has retreated from, and demonstrating in its words and actions that conservative ideas are relevant to the future challenges people face in their day to day lives.