'Sure Start has taken valuable resources like carers and therapists out of other local services.' So said David Cameron back in June 2006 when speaking to the National Family and Parenting Institute. In the same speech Cameron said that a future Tory government would ensure that 'funding goes first to all those local providers of early years care that are doing a great job.' What does that mean exactly? More money for private nurseries? More for the wealthy at the expense of providing less for the poor?
Sure Start is a good example of progressive politics - that the power of the state can be harnessed to help promote the common good. Tories simply do not believe this. The Tory philosophy is that small government is good government: clearly Sure Start is not safe in Tory hands. As Mary Riddell points out in this week's Observer:
The government has invested £20bn on early years and childcare. SureStart alone will get £1.8bn in 2007, which is encouraging, though not enough. Blair can say, without inviting mockery, that human capital is the key to Britain's success and that 'progressive values should be able to govern the 21st century'. As domestic visions go, it may still be incomplete, but it certainly beats the wilting basil plant in David Cameron's kitchen.
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