Wes Streeting attacks centre-left for ‘excuses culture’ of blaming civil service | Wes Streeting
Wes Streeting has criticized the centre-left of politics for a “culture of excuses” that blames Whitehall and stakeholders for the slow pace of change, saying politicians are “not just at the mercy of forces beyond our control”.
His comments will be seen as an attack on Keir Starmer’s complaint that change is constantly being delayed by the abundance of regulations and arms-length bodies.
Paul Ovenden, a former key aide to the prime minister, wrote about the power of the “stakeholder state” earlier this month. He said campaign groups, regulators, plaintiffs, business organizations and well-networked organizations were blocking any changes the government wanted to bring about.
But speaking at the Institute of Government on Tuesday, Streeting said he was angered to see his side making similar comments to the far right about public services not being able to change.
He said: “The right is promoting this claim. They come with chainsaws and wreak havoc to completely destroy public services.
“Surprisingly, some on my side of the political divide have started parroting the same argument. They complain about public services. They blame stakeholder capture.
“That’s the excuse that culture doesn’t do the centre-left any good. If we tell the people we can’t make anything work, then why would they vote to keep us in office?”
Streeting compared the state to a shopping cart with a “crippled wheel” tailored to the status quo. But he said that’s no excuse for poor steering.
“We have no doubt that these are excuses… There is no point in complaining about a broken wheel if you allow the tram to move on its own, instead of directing it where you want it.
“We are not just at the mercy of forces beyond our control. Our destiny is in our hands. And precisely because we on the centre-left believe in the power of the state to transform people’s lives, we are in the best position to change it.”
Streeting said politicians must start addressing the problems without delay. “Where there are no levers, we build them. Where there are obstacles, we bulldoze them. Where there is underperformance, we challenge it,” he said.
He said public services reform “is one of the great challenges of our time.” Failure in this area led to discontent, cynicism, and ultimately the rise of populists.
But he also said it was urgent because of increasing demand for health and care services, including people managing multiple conditions, failures in prevention and demand for mental health and special needs services. And he said people were increasingly paying more but getting “worse service” in return.
“They ask correctly: If I can track a package around the world, why can’t the government tell me what’s going on in my case? Why do I have to tell my story five times? Why do I have to travel, queue, wait and chase? Unless the state modernizes, it will become increasingly irrelevant to the lives of its citizens.”
“Failure to meet these challenges creates a national atmosphere of skepticism and pessimism. But their most corrosive implication is fatalism: the idea that nothing can change.”
Before Christmas, Starmer told a liaison committee of MPs about his frustrations with delays in the functioning of the government.
He told the committee: “My experience now as prime minister is that every time I try to pull a lever there’s a lot of regulation, consultation and arm’s length bodies that come up and that means the process from lever pull to delivery is longer than I think it should be, which is among the reasons why I want to reduce regulation generally and within government.”
