Coalition may at last put an end to Equitable life saga

WHEN the House of Commons adjourned for last year's summer recess, the cracks were already showing and badly.

It had been a trying time for us all. The MPs' expenses saga had shaken people's trust in politicians. Soaring unemployment was hammering home the extent of our economic mess. In Afghanistan, strategic deadlock and a rising death toll punctured public confidence in our campaign.

National morale hit a low, as did the credibility of Gordon Brown and his government.

A year on and things are beginning to look and feel different. A dramatic election ended with the ejection of the longest-serving Labour Government. The hung Parliament ushered in a new phase of political cooperation, promising a wealth of opportunities.

There has been no shortage of action too. In a bid to put the national interest first, and put right many of our inherited wrongs, the infant Con-Lib coalition acted boldly on the Budget, unveiled a radical programme for NHS reform, launched reviews on defence and counter-terrorism and moved to hand power back to local communities.

Now, building on its Big Society concept, very much pioneered here in North Dorset, the Government seems determined to reach out and tap into public feelings and opinions as it crafts solutions to the problems facing us.

I was very excited to learn that, in this summer's spending review, the whole country has a chance to be involved in the difficult decisions that will have to be taken to sort out our deficit, bring our finances back on a stable footing and stimulate economic growth.

For 13 years, spending reviews have suffered from the assumption that central government always knows best.

The result has been plummeting public sector productivity and proliferating waste. There's no doubt we need big ideas if we are to even begin addressing the scale of our problems. The Government realised that "new thinking" will be best achieved through the broadest possible consultation.

So over the next three months, think tanks, academics, representatives of local government, business and trade unions will all discuss and debate various aspects of government spending.

But it's not just for the experts. To protect the public purse, the leadership needs to have its finger on the public pulse and give everyone a chance to have their say.

So if you have a sensible spending solution or an inspirational money-saving idea, be sure to take part in the spending challenge via the Treasury's "Spending Challenge". It is good to know we are in this together in more ways than one.

The Spending Review will also be scrutinising the Equitable Life saga. In north Dorset, many Equitable Life policyholders have fought long and hard for justice since the value of their policies was cut in July 2001.

For many years it has been clear that regulatory failure played a serious part in the Equitable debacle. Despite this, the Labour Government sought at every turn to evade responsibility and even tried to block the Ombudsman from launching an investigation.

What the last Government failed to do in almost a decade, the new Government succeeded in doing in just two months. Sir John Chadwick's final report has just been published, an Independent Commission on Equitable Life Payments has been set up and the first robust figures surrounding the calculation of relative loss have been released. We even have a positive framework for the payment scheme and a clear timetable for the first payments to be made by the middle of next year.

Trust and credibility have been restored to the process. At long last, I hope justice is in sight for Equitable victims in Dorset and the whole country.