GP Taylor: The Big Society? If Cameron wants a better Britain, then he must ask us what we want

I was seething; I could feel my heart beat in anger. This was another stupid decision by a council that came in the wake of them selling off the assets of the town one by one to be turned into flats and car parks.

I felt helpless, like a neutered cat in an alley of fluffy pussies.

So much for David Cameron and his idea of Big Society where everyone could get involved and we could have our say and be listened to by those who govern. How his words must echo the cavernous chambers of the Town Hall.

It was not long ago when he said: "I think we're on to a really big idea, a really exciting future for our country. Things that fire you up in the morning, that drive you, that you truly believe will make a real difference to the country you love, and my great passion is building the Big Society."

These are great words, repeated with great rhetorical flourish at this week Tory's party conference, but should we take them seriously?

After all, was it not from the same lips that Cameron revealed that his favourite character from Grange Hill was Gripper? "Indeed, Gripper Stebson was one of my role models in life," the Prime Minister proclaimed after Phil Redmond, creator of the BBC TV series, had introduced him at Liverpool Hope University. What Cameron didn't appear to realise was that Gripper became a racist bully and was expelled from the school.

The trouble with Cameron is that he hasn't let us know what his idea of a Big Society really is. He plum-mumbled about voluntary groups and the importance of local pubs and post offices and then cut 734m from voluntary projects. He talked about local groups taking over key projects, but didn't give many details and many now conclude that this is just a fig leaf to cover budget cuts.

"Big Society" has already become a meaningless catchphrase trotted out at conferences and in TV soundbites. If you don't know what to say in a debate just shout out the words... Big Society... as if you have political Tourette's Syndrome. It has no substance and is a topic that would even leave the balding hip-hop-capped MP for Richmondshire lost for words.

For me, it is not the big idea by which people will remember his Government in future decades as Cameron proudly said, but the lack of it.

In some ways, Cameron is right. We do need a Big Society, but not in the woolly, Old Etonian, "let the serfs do it on the cheap" way that he is suggesting. It was not long ago that the rallying call was that society was in a broken mess. It will take more than talk to sort this out.

Big Society is people starting to take a pride in where they live and who they are. It is about helping those around you and wanting the best for our nation. It certainly isn't about the

New Labour desire to extinguish anything British from our land and have no pride in our national identity. It is about having Town Hall officials accountable to the public for what

they do and listening to what the

public wants.

A Big Society really should be a place where people think that they are valued and that their opinions matter. It is so important that everyone is allowed to be involved and have their say. What matters to people is having safe streets; bins emptied every week and police officers on the beat.

It was only the other night that an alarm went off across the road. I

rang the police and was told it wasn't policy for officers to attend alarm activations in a dwelling house. If my home were getting robbed, I would want the police to come at the sound of the alarm.

What an advert to villains – burgle houses set off the alarm and we

won't come. When I pounded the

beat, we attended all alarms. Yes it was a hassle, but we met people, talked to them and built relationships. We also were given tip offs and caught criminals red-handed.

If Cameron really wants a Big Society, then he is going to have to start again. What government after government fails to do is ask people what we really want. They would find that the public are quite easily pleased. Safe streets, good schools, yobs dealt with firmly, clean hospitals, empty bins, criminals banged up, nice shops, a decent wage, civic pride and a feeling of inclusion are some of our needs.

Cameron forgets that he is in politics at a time when people have

lost faith in politicians. Now is his chance to change all that. There are communities throughout Yorkshire that need to start feeling good about themselves and discover a hope for the future.

As our society becomes more insular and lives are experienced through a virtual world of social networking sites, the Big Society needs places for us to meet face to face and talk about how we feel in social groups. This once happened over the garden fence, on the street corner and in the pub. Those places have gone only to be replaced by loneliness and despair.

To build a Big Society, Cameron has to banish fear and bring back a

society that values itself and all those within it.