From the editor’s desk

Labour, too, must earn our respect

Leader

The triumphal return of Tony Blair to Parliament this week was somewhat diminished both by Labour?s less than overwhelming victory in the general election and by the fact that both he and the Leader of the Opposition, Michael Howard, have signalled their eventual departure. Yet a third successive win was an historic achievement, not least because an early return to power by the Conservatives seems unlikely. But Iraq continues to hang like a cloud over Mr Blair?s new Government as it did over the old. And when Tuesday?s Queen?s Speech talked about the need to restore ?respect? in society, some naturally asked whether the fall in respect for politicians, the Prime Minister in particular, might not be part of the problem.

The other key word of the new Government?s programme was ?reform?, meaning its continuing effort to shake up the health and education systems. The Government wants to allow significantly greater participation by the private sector in both domains: encouraging commercial sponsorship of the new academies that are designed to replace failing comprehensive schools, for instance; and letting private enterprise meet some of the demand for treatment under the National Health Service. Notwithstanding that both services will continue to be free at the point of delivery, there are still left-wing MPs and public sector trade unions who regard such flirtation with the profit motive as a betrayal. Indeed, part of Mr Blair?s skill has been to use such ideological conflicts to demonstrate that New Labour is not in thrall to the unions or to the Left. His fear is that despite sinking vast amounts of public money into the public sector there will be little to show in return, without mechanisms ? and the market is an obvious one ? to ensure efficiency and value for money.

One thing MPs learned on the doorsteps in recent weeks is that the public now regards lawlessness on the streets as one of the greatest threats to its quality of life. But for all that Mr Blair repeatedly says about the need to balance rights with responsibilities, it is a broad cultural problem that defies easy solution. It has as much to do with the often deteriorating quality of parent-child relationships as with such issues as levels of policing or the need for new laws. It is more likely to need a thousand small initiatives than one big one, and some of those must come from individuals and local communities rather than from government. By promising to tackle something as complex and ill-defined as ?lack of respect? the Government may well have bitten off more than it can chew. One aspect of the Government?s programme that will need careful watching, if it is not to cause unfairness and bitterness, is the intention to coax disabled people off benefits and into work. And one aspect deserves all the support it can get: the Government?s determined effort, through its chairmanship of the G8, to trigger a new phase of economic development in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world both by debt relief and by massive investment. If Mr Blair should want to be remembered positively for anything for his three terms as Prime Minister, it is surely this.