Buried under buzzwords

It's tough being a junior minister in the New Labour government. But when in doubt, you can always fall back on a buzzword.

But even that is becoming more difficult, because there are so many of them - and they tend to contradict each other. Take poor Estelle Morris (please, someone, take Estelle Morris). The government has been promoting the idea of 'choice': choice in education, health, local democracy etc. Morris complained this week that such choice only helps the middle classes who know how to play the system. 'The people who lose out from choice are the good hard-working families who we are in politics to represent,' she said. There's no point having a choice about which hospital to go to if you can't get into it for months. So 'access' to services is important, too. Unable to choose 'choice' over 'access', Morris came up with this: 'choice with access'. 'That's what marks us out from the Conservatives', she argued.

But why stop there? The spirit of New Labour surely demands choice with access that is inclusive, diverse, tolerant, sustainable and patient-centred. This politics-by-thesaurus is driven by the utter absence of ideas. Lacking any long-term vision, ministers appeal to us as managers - so it's hardly surprising that they end sounding like managers. Morris has found ministerial life rather tough going and is stepping down at the next election. So, she's made her choice - to bale out of politics altogether.

Morris criticises 'choice' agenda, BBC News, 17 September 2004