I once harboured hopes that the biggest financial crisis in my lifetime would bring about changes in society. I wrote about by personal responsibility for the credit crunch; over-indulging in irresponsible borrowing and reckless spending, urging others to do likewise. But just as I haven’t done enough to change my lifestyle, nor have the banks or the politicians. Whilst the credit crunch has seen some people lose their jobs and lose their homes these personal tragedies do not appear to have triggered a wider reassessment of how we should lead our lives.
Only strong political leadership can bring about these sorts of changes. Yes, arts and culture are important – although new trends brought about by world events usually take a while to percolate through the system. The media is also really important. And public services and businesses deliver services to people on a daily basis. But, for all the fashionable disinterest in it, politics remains the focus and the force for articulating a vision of the world, motivating people to a cause and bringing about change through a combination of hard and soft power.
Gordon Brown’s speech yesterday only served to underline the lack of change. Not once did he talk about tough decisions in prioritising public spending. He mentioned “cuts” only three times: twice with reference to the Tories and once in relation to targeted tax cuts. More importantly, Brown failed to present me (or anyone else) with any tough choices that confront my life:
- He didn’t ask whether I should sacrifice the convenience and price of Tesco home delivery with supporting local enterprise at my corner shop.
- He didn’t ask if it was wise of me to be looking at some home improvements.
- He didn’t suggest that I should think twice before making a vanity decision to cut off my phone contract early to (finally) get an iphone.
- He didn’t ask me if I could do without £200 a month to invest in a personal pension – or whether I could spend less watching football to give more to charity.
This isn’t just an anti-Gordon point. Tony Blair provided national leadership for some months before becoming Prime Minister. David Cameron has not yet shown any ability to articulate the public mood and provide real leadership on any issue – beyond his personal empty symbolic gestures.
I experienced the lack of leadership – the lack of a desire to change – this morning. I logged into my online credit card account with Egg. The balance, which I reduced to £0 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, is now pushing beyond the -£500 mark. And I notice the following message from Egg, confirming that they have unilaterally increased my credit limit by £650. Regardless of the fact that I’m earning less now than when I took out the card and they’ve undertaken no assessment as to my ability to pay. The era of responsibility-free credit may have just been through an interregnum.
An unwelcome message from Egg banking
Real leadership means lots of things but includes taking every opportunity to lead – making the most of a crisis. The credit crunch was the best opportunity in a generation for politics to become relevant, to change the direction of our country and stake out a new course for Britain. The opportunity has been missed.