Participation with responsibility

Nowadays, in every walk of life, from the student to the old-age pensioner, there is an air of frustration. I submit that this is not because the average citizen has lost his sense of values; neither is this a manifestation of weak character.

It is because of the feeling that citizens are being increasingly submerged under an over-powering machinery of government and bureaucracy that deprives them of the opportunity to serve and be responsible in a real and effective way, either for their conduct or the community's affairs.

It has become fashionable to talk of 'participation'. Insofar as this means allowing more people to discuss what ought to be done, in the pretence that they will be taking part in the decision-making process, this is a dangerous concept.

It amounts to a sop, disguising the fact that we are being deprived of the right to take many decisions for ourselves.

There can be no participation without responsibility. It opens the door for the remorseless destruction of individual responsibility and so of individual freedom.

The history of tyranny and arbitrary government proves that mere bread and circuses do not constitute a life worth living. Without freedom and responsibility, bread and circuses bring corruption and decline.

A former Master of Balliol once commented that the poorest had his own life to live, not to be managed or drilled or used by other people. His life is his and he has to live it. None can divest him of that responsibility.

However different men can be in wealth, ability or learning, whether clever or stupid, good or bad, living one's life is one's own responsibility. This is not a scientific or a commonsense doctrine. It is a moral principle.

This means limiting the sphere of government to its proper functions, including the provision of those essential services that can only be provided for and on behalf of the community as a whole.

Instead, we are creating a society in which the greater rewards are going to the least deserving, whether at the top or the bottom, the tax avoider and the scrounger.

Meanwhile, power is being concentrated into the hands of fewer and fewer people, whether in central government, state boards or industrial 'giants'. We are encouraging mergers instead of stressing the need to encourage small business to fend for itself.

The crisis that we face today is not primarily economic; it is a crisis of confidence - a crisis of leadership.

We get soft words, exhortations and promises of mini-booms forgetting that, in the world in which we live, the quality of leadership is more important than any political programme as such.

What such diverse leaders as President John F. Kennedy, Pope John XXIII, Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi had in common was vision, integrity and the ability to inspire people to something over and above their immediate self-interest.

Real leadership tells people that what is demanded of them, not just what they can be offered. We have to reject the misleading statistics that are considered in a vacuum, and start thinking of man and his potential.

Let's face it. The responsibilities of government have now expanded to the point where ministers are becoming incapable of undertaking even those duties which ought to be their primary responsibility - the maintenance of the rule of law and the general direction of our affairs. Instead, we are having more and more quangos, some of whom will act as EU policemen.

It is a fundamental error for any government to claim to do what it cannot do and what it ought not to do - and that is to try and supervise all forms of initiative through a complex administrative law network that is changed at will by a Parliament that has become a tool of the government.

Parliament is no longer functioning as the protector of the rights of individuals against the arbitrary acts of the executive. What is missing is a credible and effective defence against the concentration of power.

This applies with urgency to the field of taxation, the appropriation of property by the State and the appointment of quangos whose powers encroach on the rights and opportunities of the average citizen.

What we want, and what we want to help create, is a stimulating society which is exciting and adventurous and, for those very reasons, progressive and prosperous.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not objectives to be despised. No citizen could be successful unless he is happy and he will not be happy without freedom and responsibility.

Much prized as they are, these assets are like stars shining in the human firmament. It takes leadership to navigate by such stars.