Tom Richmond: 'Big society' ideas could put Tories in a pickle

It is a noble approach that has been reinforced, in recent weeks, by his Government's plans to set the wheels in motion for a series of referenda, and other votes, that encapsulate its "people power" agenda.

As well as the possibility of a landmark vote on electoral reform – one that could make or break the coalition – residents could also be going to the polls to elect a local police commissioner, have a veto to reject above-inflation council tax rises and elect a mayor in four major Yorkshire cities.

Eric Pickles, the Bradford-born Local Government Secretary, believes it is far more important for residents to have their say than for

decisions to be taken in Whitehall.

He has a point. Policy-making became over-centralised under New Labour, but it is important that referenda should not be used as a ploy by Ministers to force the electorate to take some difficult decisions over the budget deficit.

Yet, while the approach stems from Cameron's core beliefs, the Government has yet to adequately explain who will pay for all these referendum votes in these austere times – and whether the final vote will be valid if turnout does not exceed a benchmark of, say, 50 per cent.

While it is an established feature of American elections that voters cast their judgment on all manner of issues and appointments, referenda are still a relatively rare phenomenon in this country – and there is a distinct possibility that the principle will not catch on with an electorate that has become disillusioned by broken promises on VAT and such like.

That is why Cameron may have to rein in his blunt Yorkshire colleague – before the Government ends up in a proverbial political pickle.

For that is precisely what will happen if the turnout is low, or if the Government imposes the concept of directly-elected mayors on Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Wakefield without giving voters in these towns a chance to say whether they want this questionable system of government – as promised by the Conservatives before the election.

And, in many respects, should residents be expected to traipse to the polls when all they want from their councillors and MPs is quietly effective leadership?

NO foreign policy gaffe is likely to eclipse David Cameron's comment that Britain was America's "junior partner" in the Second World War when he was toadying up to Barack Obama. The PM's apology on Thursday for any offence caused was one of the most embarrassing episodes of his premiership thus far.

Cameron should , therefore, note that honesty is not always the best foreign policy. He should also acknowledge that there is every chance that Obama will be a one-term president, judging by the underwhelming nature of his presidency that has not matched his rhetoric.

After November's mid-term elections that are likely to see the

Democrats suffer heavy reverses, Obama will have to begin his

re-election campaign. And, if the Republicans are able to find a credible candidate, the next two years could be tumultuous in America.

It's why Cameron should try and remain as neutral as possible – John Major paid a heavy price for endorsing George Bush senior in 1992 and not Bill Clinton, the eventual winner.

Yet the Prime Minister should not lose too much sleep about the moral lectures being delivered with increasing regularity by Leeds-educated David Miliband, the former Foreign Secretary.

He's only speaking out because his leadership campaign is being

undermined by the candidacy of his younger brother, Ed. And, let's face it, the holier than thou Milliband's only claim to fame at the Foreign Office was to make Hillary Clinton, the current US Secretary of State, go weak at the knees.

EVIDENTLY, the Government's age of austerity has not yet caught up with Tourism Minister's John Penrose's department.

Instead of staying at a modestly-priced B&B guesthouse or farmhouse

during his overnight sojourn to Yorkshire this week, Penrose bunked

down at the luxurious Hotel Du Vin in Harrogate – one of the spa town's most stylish (and pricier) establishments.

IT was a bit rich that Jack Straw, the Shadow Justice Secretary, should be complaining about the Government's plans to reduce the number of MPs by at least 50. "I heard the Minister's waffle about extra consultation, but that is no substitute whatever for independent public inquiries," said Straw.

Excuse me, but wasn't it Straw, as Home Secretary, and then a

disastrously inept Foreign Secretary at the time of the Iraq War, whose political career has been based on "waffling"?

WHAT does it say about Labour mismanagement that it spent 6m of public money publishing a pledge that neighbourhood police will spend at least 80 per cent of their time on the beat?

Isn't this what the police should be doing?

CAN anyone explain why the BBC invited, and presumably, paid Sally

Bercow, the Labour-supporting wife of the Commons Speaker, to review

the papers on Andrew Marr's programme last Sunday morning?

Given that the Speaker is supposed to be politically neutral, his wife's ego-boosting contribution was only noteworthy for the anti-Government comments she made, including her description of the Liberal Democrats as "toast".

Shouldn't we expect better from the Speaker's family – and the BBC?