Clegg wants Whitehall downsize
Nick Clegg told activists he wanted to "radically" shrink central govt
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Saturday, 12, Jan 2008 08:10
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said "radically shrinking" public service departments will improve their performance in a keynote speech.
Speaking to his party for the first time since replacing Sir Menzies Campbell as leader, Mr Clegg called for a charter of freedoms and responsibilities for local government to achieve his aims.
He blamed Labour and the Conservatives for fostering a culture of centralised policies, describing the trend as "just daft".
"You can't run thousands of schools from an office in Whitehall, and you can't innovate effectively on a national scale," he said.
"More powers must be devolved from central government, and with them more power to raise and spend money."
The 41-year-old Sheffield Hallam MP used his idea of "free schools" to illustrate his proposals, suggesting education be liberalised to prevent schools suffering from "ministerial involvement" in progress assessments.
For this story in depth and more on party politics visit politics.co.uk, also part of the Adfero news network.