We all know very well that Thatcher and Blair left a consensus for the following parties in power to clean up or in many cases - to carry on. The Post-Thatcher consensus left New Labour increasing the gap between the rich and the poor and they decided to carry on the legacy of free market economics. Blair left a behind authoritarian crime policies and continued to widen the gap of those in poverty compared to those living in luxury. Furthermore, how would Cameron's legacy look like if the Tories leave office this May? Will it be as devastating and hard to get over as Thatcher's was or will there be no need to carry it on?
Lets start with the NHS
What has Cameron & Co done to the NHS since 2010? Key findings by the King's Fund in Feb 2015 shows that:
- The Coalition government's reforms have resulted in greater marketisation of the NHS but that claims of mass privatisation are exaggerated
- Reforms have resulted in top-down reorganisation of the NHS and ths has been distracting and damaging
- New systems of governance and accountability resulting from reforms are complex and confusing
- Absence of system leadership is increasingly problematic when the NHS needs to undertake major service changes
- Care Act has created a legal frameworl for introducing a fairer system of funding of long-term care.
Throughout the parliament, the NHS has come under pressure from constrained resources and rising demand for care, with an increasing number of providers falling into deficit and targets for patient care being missed.
So if the Cameron/Coalition Legacy is to continue, there are several problems that need to be solved:
- The next government should continue the emphasis on patient safety and quality of care but with less emphasis on regulation and more on supporting NHS leaders and staff to improve care.
- Further top-down reorganisations must be avoided, but evolutionary and bottom-up changes to the organisation of the NHS are needed to reduce the complexity and confusion.
Immigration
Cameron promised last year the "no ifs, no buts" method to reduce net migration to the "tens of thousands" by the time of the general election - he has failed. The Conservations will go into the election with the politically sensitive net migration figure of 54,000 higher than when they made their pledge in 2010.
- Instead of reducing net migration to Britain to below 100,000, the latest figures show that it is now almost 300,000, its highest level since 2005.
- Why? Two reasons: Increases from immigration from outside the EU (49,000) and increase of 43,000 from within the EU, owing to the free immigration rules.
- The Tories' net migration target was never endorsed by their Lib Dem partners.
- UKIP - the main reason why both Labour and the Conservatives are anxious about immigration. When Cameron launched his "six priorities" for the election campaign in January, immigration surprisingly wasn't included.
The Economy
In 2010, Cameron boasted that Britain was "out of the danger zone." Four years on, with unemployment tumbling, growth resurgent and wages finally picking up, the warning lights are flashing again. He once vowed to "let sunshine win the day." However, George Osbourne has officially missed eliminating the deficit by the end of this parliament. This can be explained in simple terms: more people are working, but are poorly paid and are earning less.