Freedom Line Blog

Of the 18 bills proposed by Britain’s Coalition Government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats none may be as immediately consequential as the Academies Bill.  Filed in May just days after the Coalition took power, the Academies Bill allows any public school rated as “outstanding” by the central government to be approved automatically for privatization.  The stated goal is to move authority for running the school from local bureaucrats to private individuals; be they groups of parents, charities, or religious institutions.

The schools are allowed to use whatever methods necessary to meet the national testing requirements, but they can only charge the amount of the voucher each student gets from the central government.  If the school can deliver the desired results for less than the voucher, they get to keep the money left over.  Oh, by the way; this nationwide program starts this September.

The Coalition’s motivation for this and other decentralizing initiatives results from two realities: cutting spending to reduce the deficit, and giving more power to everyday citizens.

As conservative presidential contenders start to ramp-up their 2012 campaigns, I hope they are paying close attention to these striking policy developments.  The economic crisis coupled with the incompetency of our own overgrown governments may be just the combination necessary to mark a new birth of freedom in America.

No one beats the Brits for being able to find the funny in any circumstance; especially when it comes to politics.  For a bit of gallows humor, David Cameron’s Conservative Party released this three-page document framing the recently deceased Labour government’s legacy as a last will and testament.  Here’s the cover:

The Last Will and Testament of Labour 1997 – 2010

To my successors, I leave no money, only waste,

debt and the deepest cuts of modern times.

To the young people of Britain, I leave one in five of you

without work.

To pensioners, I bequeath you lower pensions. I reduced the value of

pension funds by billions. I leave you working longer for less.

In 13 years, I have wasted the inheritance left to me.

Of the gold bullion my predecessors bequeathed me,

I sold over 350 tonnes at the worst possible price.

I have spent and spent and spent again – and every man, woman and

child will have £22,400 to pay for my profligacy.

I have taken your hard-earned money and wasted it. I lost £3 billion

in benefit overpayments and paid the dead £10 million in tax credits.

I leave Britain a bigger deficit than France, Germany and Japan,

greater than Greece, Italy and Portugal.

I leave 2.47 million of you without a job.

With more time I could have done more.

I leave no apology, no regret, no comfort, and not an ounce of

contrition.

I leave you years of painful and difficult decisions.

This is my legacy to you.