Not watching Boris on stage – I can guess that it’ll be well delivered, witty, pointed, contain at least one anti-Livingstone joke for the faithful to choke themselves laughing on, and so on. This much is read – he is clearly the most popular as well as the most powerful Tory in the country, speaking very much to his audience. It’s not exactly a tough gig, is it?
Indeed, what’s interesting this week is not the power but the Tory – reports of rifts with Cameron are partly an inevitable result of their two jobs – one trying to win an election (which involves portraying the country as a crime-ridden hellhole one step from total ruin), the other trying to run London (which involves morale-boosting PR for what is now his team and announcing reducing crime figures etc. as a *good* thing rather than something to be quietly ignored while you crank the foghorn about ‘fear of crime’). As a Tory speaking to Tories, one of the obvious thing to talk about is how great it would be to get more from the voluntary sector (read: charities, philanthropists, bodies whose funding doesn’t come from taxation, basically). They love that, but always overlook one problem, which I’d humbly like to share with them.
As a minor part in a charitable organisation, it’s my sad duty to inform Mr. Johnson that if he thinks that London is overflowing with voluntary organisations bursting with zeal and funding he’s got a screw loose – we’ve just (to no one’s surprise) lost our main source of finance and I guess we won’t be alone in cutting back this year, and last year wasn’t too much cop either, although we did get enough in to cover all the essentials. The worst time to throw more of the workload onto the voluntary sector is at the start of a recession, after all – during the bad times ahead we’ll effectively be treading water and trying to keep breathing. In our case (and again this pattern fits many types of charity) we get hit twice – we lose donations from business and organised events will bring in less money as people tighten their belts.
So, Boris, don’t expect London’s voluntary sector to help pay for your GLA cuts and frozen precepts. We ain’t got the readies, mate.
Tags: 4 Comments
4 responses so far ↓
Boris should enjoy his moment of glory. From here on it gets harder with each “decision”.
Meanwhile, the Tory inner-circle can meditate on the observation that he is the only one of the Etonians to achieve — what for it — power!
Now, here comes a point.
When, not “if”, the bubble bursts around Cameron, who’s left? for those of a conservativehome.com or iaindale.blogspot persuasion, not much. It’s the brown-tongue job there. Beyond that, curiously, there’s a group of us who actually want a London governance to succeed.
If the Mayor of New York City is/was a contender, why not the Blasted Boris?
Deary me, he can’t be worse than the Cameroionies.
Isn’t this about commissioning? That funding comes from taxation! There is a move to get voluntary organisations to provide services for the state under contract. This isn’t a Tory thing.
Many voluntary organisations seem to be strongly in favour of becoming service providers, others might argue that they are only being used because they are cheaper than doing it in house.
I’ve never understood why people believe that voluntary organisations would somehow be immune from the usual temptations of being funded by the state, though. Doesn’t it risk damaging all the reasons Tories like the voluntary sector in the first place?
It is a Tory thing, insofar as rightwing Blairites like the idea, and several of them are likely to jump ship come 2010.
[...] course, this is a teachable moment about the Tories and the voluntary sector. As Boris Watch wisely points out, they are obsessed by the idea that Britain is full of charities who all have inexhaustible [...]